On Monday, Hot Air posted an article about the new alliances that have formed in the Middle East as a result of Iran’s behavior.

The article reports:

It’s been little noticed by the media, but ever since the beginning of the Iran War, Arab countries have been quietly, but not secretly, coordinating with Israel.

The UAE, for instance, has Israeli advisors on the ground who are helping with air defense, and an Iron Dome battery is based in the UAE. During the 12-Day War, several Arab countries shot down Iranian drones aimed at Israel.

…And now, the UAE has made clear that they are entering the kinetic side of the war, and are coordinating with Israel and presumably the United States, and are not hiding their cooperation with Israel in the least.

…While the media portrays this war as primarily the US and Israel against Iran, most of the strikes that Iran has made have been against the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. During the 12-Day war, Iran not only struck Israel, but also Qatar, which has a US base.

The article concludes:

It is possible that today’s attacks on the UAE are intended to create a rift among the GCC states, especially following the UAE’s exit from OPEC. Qatar’s recent condemnation of the Iranian attacks suggests that this is unlikely. 

Things are getting interesting again. 

Qatar has been playing both sides of the street up until recently. Much of the Hamas leadership was safely ensconced in Qatar after the September 7 attack on Israel. Qatar has also historically been a major funding source for terrorism. It will be interesting to see if that changes. The countries in the Middle East have a choice–do they align with the country ruled by a tyrant whose ordinary citizens still live in the 5th century with very little freedom or do they align with a successful democracy that leads the world in scientific achievement and continues to prosper despite attacks from all sides. Who would you want as your trade partner?