Qatar is building a facility for combat aircraft at the US base in Idaho

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The United States will allow Qatar to build an air force facility at a US military base in the western state of Idaho, as Washington works to deepen its security partnership with Doha.

The facility, located at Mountain Home Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho, will host Qatari fighter jets and pilots, who will train alongside the Americans.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his Qatari counterpart Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani signed the agreement at the Pentagon on Friday.

This comes after President Donald Trump pledged to do so in an executive order last week Ensuring the security of its ally Considering any attack on the Gulf state as a threat to “the peace and security of the United States.”

Trump’s move came a month after Israel launched a raid targeting a building in Doha in an attempt to kill senior officials from the Palestinian Hamas movement. Which angers Trump.

The Gulf state played a central role in mediation efforts between Israel and Hamas to end the war in Gaza.

The president later watched Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologize for the attack during his recent visit to Washington.

On Friday, Laura Loomer, an influential figure in MAGA magazine and a close associate of Trump, criticized the Pentagon’s agreement with Qatar regarding the Idaho base.

“So we agreed to go to war for Qatar and now we allow them to train pilots on American soil? Qatari influence over the Trump administration is completely out of control,” Loomer said. Written on X Friday.

“Why is there so much Islamic influence on the Trump administration?” She added. “Will the next 9/11 end with F-15s? I guess we’ll find out.”

Under the agreement, the base will host dozens of Qatari F-15QA aircraft for 10 years, with an option to extend the duration, according to the Pentagon. About 300 additional soldiers from the Qatari and American air forces will live at the base.

Hegseth said the base will host “a contingent of F-15 aircraft and Qatari pilots to enhance our joint training and increase lethality and interoperability.” “It’s just another example of our partnership.”

Qatar’s Defense Minister praised his country’s “deep defense relationship” with the United States and said Friday’s agreement “will advance our common defense goals.”

Qatar, a long-time US ally, hosts Washington’s largest military base in the Middle East and has significant investments in US assets. The US Al-Udeid base was briefly caught up in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last June, after Tehran fired a ballistic missile. A barrage of missiles In it.

Qatar also gifted the United States a… A $400 million luxury jumbo jet In May for use as Air Force One, which the Air Force began modifying.

No foreign country has military bases in the United States in the same way that Washington has around the world, but allied forces travel to America for training. Mountain Home hosts some Singaporean aircraft as part of a training programme, but building a facility like the one in Qatar is unusual.

The Pentagon said the measure is “necessary to help ensure combat readiness and enhance the performance of this partner nation in the event of multinational conflicts.” The Qatari aircraft will operate as a “separate but integrated fighter squadron” under the command of the 366th Fighter Wing Commander.

Hegseth said: “In those moments when we needed support in the region, Qatar was there without a doubt, without a blink of an eye, and that means a lot.”