Qatari soldiers in the US and the Pentagon’s new media rules: When our solutions make the problem worse
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 16 October 2025
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
The US sold Qatar a contingent of F-15 fighter jets in 2016, and allowing their pilots to train in the continental US was a condition of the purchase. Qatar—which is smaller than the state of Connecticut—does not have the space to adequately train with the jets in its territory, and the topography around the Mountain Home base is the closest fit to what they have back home. Last month, Hegseth announced that any journalist who wants to maintain access to the Pentagon must sign a statement acknowledging that Defense Department “information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified.” Unfortunately, that tendency to cling to answers that only exacerbate the issues is hardly limited to the Department of War.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Greetings on this Thursday, October the 16th, 2025. |
| 0:06.4 | Welcome to Denison Forum's Daily Article podcast, written today by our senior editor for theology, |
| 0:13.3 | Dr. Ryan Dennison, and narrated by yours truly, Chris Elkins. |
| 0:18.1 | When Secretary of War or Defense, Pete Hexeth announced last Friday that the U.S. would allow |
| 0:24.7 | Qatar to build an Air Force facility at the Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, the response |
| 0:31.1 | was far from positive. The thought of a foreign nation, particularly one that has not been a |
| 0:36.1 | reliable ally for very long, |
| 0:38.3 | building a base on American soil sounded like an unprecedented leap from how America usually operates. |
| 0:45.3 | And, were the description accurate, it would be. |
| 0:48.3 | Fortunately, that's not what's happening. |
| 0:51.3 | Egsth later clarified that, quote, |
| 0:53.3 | Qatar will not have their own base in the United States, |
| 0:56.2 | nor anything like a base. |
| 0:58.1 | We control the existing base, like we do with all partners, in quote. |
| 1:03.2 | As Will Kabak described, |
| 1:05.3 | further details make the news seem a lot less alarming |
| 1:08.7 | than a 150-character push notification might imply. |
| 1:12.8 | This arrangement is not unprecedented. It's not common, but it certainly is far from unique, |
| 1:18.9 | end quote. So what's actually going on? The U.S. sold Qatar, a contingent of F-15 fighter jets |
| 1:25.5 | in 2016, and allowing their pilots to train in the continental U.S. |
| 1:30.5 | was a condition of the purchase. |
| 1:32.6 | Qatar, which is smaller than the state of Connecticut, does not have the space to adequately |
... |
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