EFL
The emir of Qatar has become the first Arab leader to visit Washington after the war. Analysts said the move was designed to show support for the U.S. and to signal to other Arab nations that America was willing to hear Arab postwar concerns. It also revealed Qatar as a small country with big ideas that had the clout to win an audience with President Bush. ``(It was) ... an occasion for the Americans to hear from the Arabs, behind closed doors, how the Arabs feel after the end of the war in Iraq, their worries and their concerns,'' said Gulf-based political analyst Qassem Jafaar. Emir Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani met with Bush a day after holding discussions with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and congressional leaders. He also was traveling to Britain and France to meet with leaders there. Like other Arab countries, Qatar is pushing for the quick establishment of a locally run administration in a unified Iraq. Bush ``is more prepared to listen to what Qatar has to say, and will find it easier to accept'' than from other Arab nations, Jafaar said. We'll listen to our friends.
In an affirmation of its ties with Qatar, the United States announced two weeks ago that its air operations base would move from Saudi Arabia to Qatar's al-Udeid base. About 3,000 coalition troops are operating out of Qatar now. Like most Arab countries, Qatar favored a diplomatic solution to the war in Iraq, but unlike the others, it did not hide its cooperation with Washington as Saudi Arabia did. Mohammed al-Musfir, a Qatari political analyst, said talks with the United States would also be smoothed by the fact that — unlike other Arab countries — Qatar has no vested interests in Iraq. ``It position is clear. It doesn't seek economic assistance from the United States, and is not worried about its internal security from instability in Iraq,'' he said. So we should listen, filter what they say through the BS meter, and take care not to offend them.
From the tiny bit I know of al-Thani, there won't be much BS to filter. He's smart, and he's a stayer.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/09/2003 02:20 am ||
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#1
Does Qatar rhyme with butter or guitar. A thousand monkeys for an answer.
#2
Any reasonable and sane person wants a diplomatic solution to all problems. Unfortunately, some of the problems ARE insane or unreasonable people. Thus, sane and PRACTICAL people are usually forced to use force to solve some problems.
#3
guitar if you accept their spokesman's pronunciation, gutter if you don't like their politics
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/09/2003 11:52 Comments ||
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#4
A friend of mine who is a computer programmer from Qatar says it's pronounced "Kha-tar", accent on the first syllable. The second 'a' is a long vowel sound.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/09/2003 12:23 Comments ||
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#5
Old Patriot--Can you rhyme that with a familiar word? Most of the newscasts I've heard pronounce it as "Kotter", like "Welcome Back, Qatar". Does that match your phonetics?
Posted by: Dar ||
05/09/2003 12:54 Comments ||
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I called up the Qatari embassy in Washington. The receptionist answered, âGood morning, Embassy of Qa-TAHR [not âGutterâ ].â I smiled. I then asked â this was a native â how Qataris (âguttereesâ?) pronounced the name of their country. She said âgutter,â or something close. But one gets the feeling that she wouldnât say âgutterâ when speaking in English. Neither would an American say âUnited Statesâ instead of âEtats-Unisâ when speaking French.
And this brings me to a marvelous note from a reader: âJay, I just watched the 60 Minutes piece on Qatar and was sent racing to my computer to e-mail you. Thatâs because, while Ed Bradley was pronouncing the name of the country as something close to âgutter,â none other than the Emir of Qatar himself â responding to Bradleyâs questions in English â pronounced it âQa-TAHRâ (i.e., the way it used be pronounced in the Anglosphere before it was subjected to sensitivity-police brutality).
âNotwithstanding my profound respect for the linguistic expertise of the talking heads on CBS, CNN, etc., I think we should all feel pretty comfortable following the lead of the good Emir when it comes to pronouncing his countryâs name.â
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