They are rich enough to be self-absorbed and not worry about consequences. I hope they ponder the suffering they brought to others.
4
Mr Worth - What a superb piece of journalism. What a story. I might argue that the real reason for the locals engaging in the "sport" is not quite as sincere, but, nevertheless, I concede you told it as you heard it. Your article has, I know, been of interest to many in the region who wanted to know the true story. Mabrook.
9
How could Qatari royal "felt certain that their captors were ISIS and soon they would all be killed."? ISIS is supported by Saudis, Qataris and others in the neighborhood. How could he fear anything from ISIS?
2
What a great read Robert! Thank you for plunging us in such a mystery that the Al Thanis represent.
3
A simply fantastic piece! Thank you. I can’t wait for the movie.
4
Amazing how you have given all details of this incident. Almost a billion spent to save life of royal and then traded with life of hundreds including children. I guess for people like such life of a royal is worth all and an ordinary nothing.
In the whole article i would say the people that were displaced/ killed were used as pawns while the royals or generals are knights and likes. I guess world just gets inhumane
2
A most unusual story. As I read this article, I imaged up, in my minds-eye, the trajectory of a diving falcon. Its exacting, evolutionary-developed, and more recent, man-trained, honed- hunting skills. As well as a more conventional, and less conventional, man-made container-of-death. Dropped on random-targeted fellow BEINGS; targeted, soon, to un BE come...Both meeting the needs, and pleasures, of those amongst US un-trained, who are enabled NOT to be accountable... Interested readers are referred to Helen Macdonald's 2015 prizewinning book, “H is for Hawk.” This memoir describes an addictive-like nature of falconry. In addition to the issue of a range of risks involved in this “sport” is a direct, more personal, human challenge. What would I, you, pay, monetarily, and with other personal possessions, to ransom a family member or a friend? To extract them from danger to life and limb? How much disruption in our lives would you, and I, be willing to experience? What % of their financial worth did the multi-billionaire al Thanis pay for “reliably” saving their “own;” whatever its sources? Do they care how this money is used? Do we, in the US, care how our “gifts” are being used, and by whom? In a daily culture which enables policymakers, at all levels, not to be personally responsible, or accountable, for their words and deeds? A challenging tale; most of its “actors,” and their deeds, being beyond my ken and imagination.
2
What a great piece of writing. As I was reading I was reminded of two other recent articles, one of them about Ivanka Trump and her 360 million dollar hotel deal ($360 million? Coincidence?) and its financing problems, the other about Kushner's April 2017 dealings with the al Athani family in Qatar (al Athani? Qatar? Another coincidence?) and his subsequent blockade of that country. I'm not one to jump on any conspiracy theory bandwagons ... seriously, I'm not ... but in this case I'm increasingly suspicious.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/ivanka-trump-organization-vancouver
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/02/jared-kushner-real-estate-qatar-bloc...
Thank You Robert Worth for a fantastic piece!
As best I could, I retold "Kidnapped" to a friend today. At the end, and after sitting still for almost 30 minutes of my recounting he took a long pause... "So what happened to the falcons?". Me, "Eh, I dont know, maybe I missed that" My friend, he has a sense of humor, told me he'd have to read the story himself to find out.
What did happen to the falcons?
2
For "foreign workers" read "slaves" in most cases. That's the darkest side of the Qatari building boom.
6
Nice metaphor with the falcon, you are with nature you feel free; this kid has been cultured in a particular way. He is with nature but not a part of it, he is in control of it. It is just a pawn under his control. Thing is you can't control nature. You might be successful to some degree in training it.
Big big money in a tinderbox region, kings and pawns, the future doesn't look too friendly
3
Interesting, but certain aspects leave the reader somewhat suspicious as to how much dramatic license the author has taken. Describing the Qataris as wearing white robes in their camp in winter? Absolutely wrong; they would have been wearing thicker, winter kandora or possibly even tracksuit bottoms. Certainly not white, summer kandora. So what else is puffing up the piece as opposed to being factual? Disappointing the author felt the need to romanticise.
3
Illuminating article!
This sort of journalism requires money - pooh to all the news websites that just steal other people's work.
Thank you Mr.Worth for this excellent article
1
What a great article and fascinating (dramatic) story! Articles like these make me a proud NYT suscriber.
Hope they make a movie out of it!
5
Kinda puts a whole new spin on "the falcon cannot hear the falconer"*, doesn't it?
(Then again, maybe "the ransom cannot hear the ransomer" might be more appropriate under the circumstances.)
* Cf. Yeats's poem "The Second Coming" (In which the quoted phrase appears.).
3
What a truly remarkable read. I think this provides fascinating insight into the complex and deeply troubling decisions made in the Middle East. One takeaway I took from this was the vast wealth the Qatari's are able to employ and just how much money is tossed around in this region that almost always falls into the wrong (or right depending on your politics) hands. I hope more attention is put on the number of innocent lives caught in these messy high-risk politics and we are all able to empathize with the human suffering and loss caused by these political games.
8
Thank you for such an engrossing read, Mr. Worth. A complex and illuminating tale, and an excellent piece of journalism.
6
I was fascinated just now catching up by reading about the cyberattack on Saudi petrochemical plan. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/15/technology/saudi-arabia-hacks-cyberat...
Checking the comments (closed) I find several of the top commenters blame the US and cite stuxnet. Clearly trolls are still busy.
My fellow concerned citizens on the left, don't be a follower when commenters with agendas try to get you to blame your allies.
2
Good example just below ... though there are honest questions and the US is culpable at the very least since helping depose Mossadegh and there's no excuse for Bush II's ill-conceived military adventures abroad (and Trump is worse), his conclusions are perfectly designed to alienate us from each other. Please try to go forward rather than backward, and work together rather than promote hate.
8
The US is the chef mischief and tragedy maker in the Mideast. If the US were not involved in Syria--with special forces and endless backing of jihadists "allies--the situation there would have been resolved long ago. At best the US role is a dark example of doing vast harm in the pursuit of doing "good."
You almost begin to wonder if creating all those Syrian refugees into Europe is some kind of US plutocratic cnspiracy to sabotage European social democracies.
6
scary possibility. when you see the levels of greedy disloyalty at the top, whether its trump selling us out to russia or clinton selling our defense technology to china, you really have to wonder about the new world order of jorge bush, sr.
No sympathy for the people of Iran, Mr Quick?
The Brits and US installed the Shah to replace Mossadegh who threatened British Petroleum's holdings. And was a Socialist.
Interference like that does not breed friendship. Even so, many Iranians admire what the US stands for especially when she actually acts on her beliefs.
The real failure was in not taming the Shah's reliance on a brutal police state.
5
The bigger mistake was Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles foisting the Shah on the Iranians (with the CIA overturning the democratically elected gov't of Iran). But the US never learns from it's mistakes.
6
Excellent article. Refreshing piece of journalism amidst all the social media junk and fake news. Thank you , Mr.Worth.
8
Ah, the gifts of the GOP: lasting disaster by Bush. Don't forget the massive deregulation of the financial sector that led us to the brink of global depression ... which Obama, fighting GOP at ever step, overcame ... only to be blamed by for it by the idiocracy. Let's see if Trump can top that. Bet he can!
9
Much of that deregulation took place under Clinton.
Great story, added to my understanding of why Qatar is getting embargoed, they are too weak and naive compared to the others in that region, and their willingness to spread money around enables all kinds of bad actors.
They are bringing troubles on themselves.
7
"Everyone is welcome as long as you speak the language of money."
Sounds just like Trump's America!
10
Really well written article!
4
What a remarkable tale - thank you!
3
yes, NYT. Great job.
Repeat after me Emerikins:
Iran is your enemy. The Saudis are your dear friends. Iran is your enemy. Saudis are your dear friends.
You will need to repeat these lines, I do it when I bush my teeth in the morning, for example, until a flimsy opening can be found to justify war with Iran.
15
Seems like a powder keg just waiting for some to light the fuse. Trump’s stupidity might just be the lit match.
15
trumpie doesn't know who is on first..he could never follow these complex relationships..
3
Trump doesn’t need (or want) to be able to “follow these complex relationships”. He’s much more likely to start WW3 inadvertently.
3
Or deliberately, if he's about to be impeached and has nothing to lose.
1
Remarkable journalism. There is no equal to the New York Times
18
How dare Iran exert its influence in its back yard!
Only America has the right, based on God's will to tell those that do not believe in Jesus Christ, how they should live.
28
This is reporting of the highest order and what motivates me to stay subscribed to the NYT despite the many faults and failings.
9
Thanks again W...
6
The big picture: Qatar has been by far the leader in fighting back against Assad's rampant slaughter, the worst genocide of modern history.
5
our dear friends Kurds are also with Assad. So what do you say to all those people who cry in the comments that we have abondoned the Kurds when Kurds are allies with Assad. Kurds also forced a lot of sunnis in Syria out of their towns so they could take over. It is complicated right.
The worst genocide in modern history ?
Ever heard of (cross all that applies)
- Stalin
- Hitler
- Mao Tse Tung
- Khmer Rouge
- Rwanda
The extraordinary article shows that the Americans had not the slightest influence in a history that concerns the host country of the largest US military base in the Near East and its ruling family .
After how many billions lost in this region since the Bushes ?
1
Perhaps the genocide has been engineered by the Sausis and Gulf States desire for a pipeline through Syria, and therefore the need to oust Assad. The so-called rebel forces are largely foreigners and JIhadists. Why is the US such a lapdog for the Saudis (under Obama as well as Trump)?
1
Interesting story, but too dramatized. Also a rather one-sided story, specially with NYT standards. I would believe it when it’s confirmed from sources from Iraq and Iran as well.
11
Great writing.
3
Wow! I can hardly wait for Trump to cancel the Iran agreement and thus be completely unable to make any kind of deal with N. Korea (who would make such a deal with the guy that just scotched the previous one?) Indeed, only the N. Koreans can get anything at all, mostly from propaganda, out of such a meeting.
The hubris of men in power seems like a tale only slightly different from Dumb and Dumber. Where’s that time travel box when you need it, Steven?
4
I see many here are commenting on disastrous effects of the US intervention in Iraq in 2003 that added to the mess and opened the door to Iranian expansion. Let us not forgot, though, that there was a philosophy, widely held among the American people at the time, that enabled and encouraged the Bush/Chaney Iraq policy. That era was defined by an anti-intellectualism best summed up in Peggy Noonan's much-repeated quote, "The age of the genius is over, this is the age of the hero," as if it were such a simple choice. There were many experts who warned against the invasion and predicted exactly what happened, but they were scorned by a popular mood that saw intellect and morality as standing in opposition. A simplistic view of morality told us that Saddam was bad, so getting rid of him would be good, and anyone who complicated this equation lacked "moral clarity." (Real moral clarity would, among other things, have stopped us from overthrowing Iran's only democratic government in 1953.) The victory in Iraq was supposed to prove the superiority of moral clarity and expose experts and intellectuals as useless. But moral clarity was confused with a childish view of the world and of morality, and what we have now is the result. And yet, this view was not confined to the Bush White House. It was a popular view that helped enable that administration. To understand how we got here, we have to take an honest look in the mirror.
24
Exactly
It lived on in 2011 when foreign sponsored terrorists supported by NATO destroyed Libya. Its extension to Syria in the same year failed.
A comment above this one wants to see Iran destroyed.
1
You had me at, "23 identical black duffel bags," and "each well over 100 pounds." Solid gold writing. The violence of the fighting depicted in the Middle East stretches my mind's ability to comprehend. Just like the sums of cash these former poor clans now carry breaks the world around them.
8
poor clans are rich clowns now.
3
So, while the occupants of the White House struggle with learning to play checkers, other nations are guided by leaders playing chess.
10
Amazing story!
Thank you
5
This story is why I pay for a subscription. The story behind the story, which every journalist worth their salt wants to write, comes through strongly here. Juxtaposing public pronouncements with the private and often contradictory story behind them, is the stuff of Pulitzers. And it is a pure pleasure to read. I doubt many stories have the kind of deep background and sourcing, and no doubt a thousand journalists are reading this today with astonishment and upright envy, known as admiration in the business, for a piece that managed for once to truly get at the story behind the story ... the purported purpose of a vital free press. Well done. Well done, NYT.
27
Except for one thing, the unexamined and rather simple minded dividing of the parties into bad terrorists and good terrorists and terrorism sponsors as "allies." Which they are, but should they be? Clearly the writer frames the story to maintain access to the Qatari elite.
4
Spectacular reporting. I'm always amazed when well informed friends don't know the difference between Sunni and Shiite muslims. Much of the horror of international terrorism in the past 30 years has been collateral damage resulting from this terrible schism in one of the world's great religions fueled by massive oil money. Those of us in the rest of the world can only wait and pray for its end.
7
Beginning not long after Luther nailed his 95 theses on the doors of Wittenberg churches, Europe descended into a series of wars and massacres between Protestants and Catholics continuing until very recently in North Ireland.
Admirable reporting, well done Robert F. Worth. The Shias of Fua and Kefraya in northwest Syria were to forcibly displace the Sunnis in the towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Lebanon, whose citizens were to be transferred to the heretofore Shia zones. The British of a century ago, with the French, were the first to draw "lines in the sand" in the Middle East, one result of which was "creating" a Sunni kingdom to rule over a majority Shiite population in Iraq. Today, Iran is the main cartographer, erasing what it considers artificial borders that will allow it to knit up disparate Shiite (or, in the case of Bashar al Assad's regime, Alawite, a Shia off-shoot in predominantly Sunni Syria) entities controlled by Iran and its fundamentalist Shia theocracy. This "4 towns exchange" is/was a cynical "ethnic redistribution" designed to cement Bashar al Assad's hold on power, to the benefit of his patron Iran. It is also worth remembering that in order to retake Qusayr in 2013, Assad had to enlist Hezbollah to drive its inhabitants to camps in Lebanon.The people fo Fua, Kefraya, Madaya and Zabadani had no say in where they could live. Their fate was part of a stomach-turning $1 billion "deal" between the Iraqis, Iran and hawk-hunting Qataris who have meddled in Syria almost since the beginning of the uprisings against Assad, funding ultra-Islamist groups who have subverted what was initially a struggle by Syrians for their rights to self-determination and the rule of law.
13
Excellent insights and summation of a very long, complicated saga.
Therese: You are the reason I read the comments.
1
Great illustrations, Francesco!
6
The authors choice of words and the way they used them made for a more enjoyable read. Looking forward to more stories from this writer/journalist
6
What a fascinating piece. Bravo!
2
"How a Ransom for Royal Falconers Reshaped the Middle East".
An interesting tale, but the title is hyperbole. Yes, a few minor pieces got moved on the chessboard, but in the end it was again just the pawns who suffered. In the big picture everything stayed as dismal as ever.
2
1. Every writer/reporter has a bias as do we all. I don’t have a quibble here but I wonder what Robert Worth’s bias is?
2. For the people here who found this story as interesting as I did, I would offer a suggestion: “The Looming Tower” (the book version) by Lawrence Wright offers a broader perspective of the Middle East situation and gave me at least a more nuanced understanding of the history and background of some of the important factions within militant Islam. I highly recommend it to anyone who is curious about the complexities of the various aspects of culture there which mystify and confound so many of us.
7
A bus load of people gets blown up, but it didn’t matter. Depressing to the extreme.
6
Wow. Having followed the story of the kidnapped Qataris contemporaneously, I never would have seen the extensive political goals underpinning the whole ordeal. Exceptional journalism. I would be equally curious to hear how the US was able to safely free the American contractors that were kidnapped in Baghdad during this same time frame...
3
Thank you! It reads like an excellent piece of journalistic work in the best tradition. I last learned such deep views from Peter Scholl-Latour.
1
So, whom among these actors should we embrace as standing for "TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND THE AMERICAN WAY"? How does anything in this epic inform or guide U.S. foreign policy? The Shiites are kidnappers who disdainfully support Assad and his barrel bombs and the Sunnis are still happy to blow up bus loads of innocents, including children, to make political points. Those in the region who have petroleum or gas basically want one thing from the USA and the rest of the industrialized world: cash, even while they blame our cash for destroying their culture. There is so much rivalry and deep seated hatred within the region that the best the Occidental world, and Russia, can hope for is to promote a balance of power among the rivals that hopefully negates warfare between them and incentivizes them to suppress and neutralize non-state actors -- terrorists. Even Ronald Reagan figured this out, in a perverse way, when during the Iran-Iraq war he tilted U.S. policy in favor of whichever side seemed to be losing. But, our present chief executive sees the world only in terms of winners and losers (if you're not winning you're losing), restrained thus far in the ME only by a mandate from his base that precludes the blood of our military personnel from being shed once again in that region.
1
This is really insightful reporting. Trump & Kushner's roles are definitely negative in this, as well as in everything else. George Bush's policies and invasion of Iraq are the genesis. Qatar has few people and huge financial resources. Saudi Arabia seems only capable of making things worse.
5
A group of people,very special Qatari people, chose to do what they wanted to do,because they could.Implications,consequences, risks, etc.,ETC., were obviously not a consideration.That is one of the built-in benefits of being an important person.Reality, and its dimensions of uncertainties, unpredictabilities,randomness and lack of total control, notwithstanding a person's types, levels and qualities of efforts, is neither important nor unimportant. It just IS. All of the time.Even as hovering-hubris invisibly oversees adult Qatari men "playing" with their patiently well trained falcons
in a dessert-scaped time-out as they rested from a daily life-style of exhausting daily leisure.They bagged their hunted targets daily.And then reality's uncertainties, unpredictabilities and lack of total control " bagged" them! And bags of money "unbagged" them. These important Qatari men finally got home as others lost their homes.Did the falcons? Will the Sunnis and Shiites BE, and feel, at home with each other, as well as with themselves? Ever? Under what enabling conditions? Have these ransomed, important, released, Qatari-Royal-men learned to experience the "rush" of personal responsibility and accountability in a daily life in which they don't have to?Did policy makers, HERE or THERE, geographically delineated, or not, learn anything from this grade-B flick that could help create and sustain well being, and safe living for the ravished, powerless, innocents in that part of the world?
2
Only Americans, with our tiny, 200-year-old democracy, could think that what goes on in the Middle East stems from this generation’s oil wars. No, go back 1400 years further, and take note of what religion and tribalism does to a region that has never been at peace. This could be us, if we don’t take care.
8
Wow! What an amazing story told with such artistry, I was transported back into a world I once traveled through in better times. Even then in the early seventies, the schemes, the skullduggery, the guns, the danger was all there. But so was the romance, the deep love for ancient rights and rituals, and the love of family.
I fell in love with the Arabic language in Lebanon where I was trapped in the hills above Baalbek as the Syrian army crossed the border on their way to Beirut where the Wrath of God was taking place. In the middle of all that, I fell in love with more than language which poured over me like a warm and welcome rain after a long drought.
I ate roasted goat squatting on my haunches. I gathered cilantro from the sides of ancient aqueducts for tabouli, I wept as they sang their haunting songs. I felt the insane thrill course through me when they ran out into the night shooting their Kalishnikovs into the air, the women, ululating, head thrown back. Later, I helped them cut their own cousin, who couldn't speak English, out of a huge deal with a wealthy foreign client. So it went. I felt like I was among my people. It changed my life forever.
We know so little about places far away. We think we are so much better than so many in this world and very rarely contemplate they might have something, despite all their failings, we have misplaced in our souls. Thank you Robert Worth. You have given me a great gift with this story.
1
I didn’t see any comments about the suffering of the Syrians in this story. The Syrians in these four villages were forced to leave their homes by this deal, and prior to that, they were starved to death, and killed by snipers. Just because they are part of a hellish war doesn’t diminish their suffering or their worth as humans. The poor and the dispossessed always suffer the most in wars so let’s not forget what happened and continues to happen to them.
10
What I can gather is that Qatar had been funding Sunni forces in Syria, then the ruling clan went hunting where the Shi'a militias had free rein. Buck Fever ME style.
Now that Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have blockaded Qatar, Qatar is making nice with Iran.
Curiouser and curiouser.
2
Extremely rich people with no understanding of ethics and the basic understanding of humanity are a true danger. The story is another chapter to this long book of despicable acts practiced by these wealth arrogant rulers.
3
As recent teachers in a school in Qatar catering to royal relatives and their friends, we concur with Mr. Worth's remarkable portrait of spoiled naive rich kids, and their families desperate to do Anything to ransom their babies, regardless of the impact. They Stand Tall, Above It All: Wahhabi theology tells them of their God-given superiority. And now, with the embargo, they are ironically even more isolated. Not evil, just naive and unprepared for the big bad world outside the peninsula.
2
I have a better explanation for why the Qataris went to Iraq to hunt: like most entitled young men, they thought themselves exempt from the rules the "little people" have to live by. Their ransom, tragically, has proven them correct. Not only are these spoiled brats worth millions, the Qatari government has demonstrated that these fools are infinitely more valuable than any long-suffering Syrian. Falconry? Yeah, right.
3
It is very rare that reporting on the Middle East adds anything worthwhile to our understanding of what’s really going on there. This article is one such rare exception. Brilliant journalism!
3
Unfortunately, the story of these arrogant and bored men broke the fate of thousands of people.
4
"The transfers advanced Tehran’s larger goal of transforming Syria — along with Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen — into satellite states that will enshrine a dominant Iranian role across the region."
So more efforts from the NY Times to make Iran into some regional super villain.
It's redressing of the "Shiite Crescent" idea pushed by the NY Times elsewhere. Also can be used as an excuse for the USA to continue to occupy NE Syria--illegally.
25
Bravo NYT and Robert E. Worth. My first response to this article was simply WOW. I was pretty much left speechless. The insights were far and wide. The difference between the "public story" vs. the "private truth" told to us in this article reminded me a lot of how Iranians have described to me the difference between the "public" and the "private" life you display in that country - at least where the wealthy are concerned, what does on behind closed doors is the opposite of the devout Muslim displayed publicly. It seems the same in Middle Eastern politics, that nothing is as it first appears. And if anything, we must engage diplomatically with Iran even more given it seems their influence in the region is only growing, and it's not as a result of a drive to de-stabilize to gain power for the sake of power, or a grab for wealth - but a deep set fear of being left surrounded by enemies. In some respects, can you blame them?
50
Bravo, NYT. Peerless, informative, entertaining journalism once again. If I could pay more for my subscription than I do, I would!
54
You could buy extra subscriptions for NYTimes in school program and/or to donate to your local school libraries.
8
What a wonderful piece of writing - eloquent and informative at the same time. I had read something about a hunting trip months ago but the sparse details made little sense at the time. So thank you.
But at the end of the day, what hope is there for a land of people whom are still squabbling about one of Muhammed's wives and his son-in-law more than a thousand years later?
63
Probably the same hope there is among those squabbling over Jerusalem and Palestine, Kashmir and Punjab, the Balkans, Hungary, islands in the South China Sea, Rwanda, the Korean Peninsula, Rohingya areas in Myanmar, the US Capitol, Northern Ireland, Indian rights in the Americas, the Congo, Poland and on and on and on...
6
The way that there was major squabbling over being Protestant or Catholic? The Christian differences and the Muslim differences are essentially very similar - there's disagreement on who has the right of leadership.
Every religion has its divisions; ridiculing them from the outside is uninformed, almost willingly ignorant.
3
You do realize that the Catholic Church was still squabbling with the Jewish community about the death of Jesus 1900 years after the fact, right? (Cf. Nostra Aetate.) And Americans still squabble about the impact of Columbus et al. more than half a millennium later. So I wouldn't be so condescending toward Shiites and Sunnis and their squabbles.
7
This morning a superb story on Stephen Hawking and now this story about how complex the middle east is and that on top of our chaos government and there are people who swear by Fox News. Amazing!
There is only the NYT - the likes of Fox are on another world.
47
They should have invited Donny Jr. and Eric on their ‘hunt’ and they would have had Secret Service protection.
27
Amazing article. Finally shed some light into the situation with Qatar and the rest of the gulf states. I know a lot about the region since I worked there for few years and I had no idea what cause the Saudi/UAE and rest to go after Qatar.
25
This piece is so engaging and well written it deserves all sorts of accolades but first, anyone seeking insight to the Middle East situation might do well to read it.
39
My fellow liberals that rage that the latest administration dares to undermine Obama's legacy by challenging and assaulting the deal with the Iranians should read this article. Its not always about Obama.
12
Could even Tom Clancy have created such a turn of events as this?
Truth is stranger than fiction, indeed.
16
The pursuit of falconry in southern Iraq is a worthy sequel to the pursuit of surfing in “Apocalypse Now”. Courtesy Abu Mohammed, we now know that both are notoriously addictive, and both the sport of kings.
The pursuit of falconry in southern Iraq is a worthy sequel to the pursuit of surfing in “Apocalypse Now”. Courtesy Abu Mohammed, we now know that both sports are notoriously addictive, and both the sport of kings.
3
As I recall, surfing was the sport of the Air Cav, not kings! LOL
1
This kind of well-written in-depth reporting is why I gladly subscribe to the NYT. I can get the big headlines anywhere, but I truly enjoy learning all the important little details behind them. Excellent work.
29
Outstanding article, thanks. I had a browser window open beside it with satellite views of the area, gave a little more perspective on the hunting grounds.
8
This statement: "...Qatar was tainted by its association with terrorist groups."
Tainted? Who thinks that? The Saudis? They are the largest state sponsor of terror.
The US? We still are paying the government of Qatar.
How exactly were they tainted by their support of terrorists? Every country in the Mid-East is involved in terrorism.
The US, simply by being involved there, is involved in terrorism.
There are no good actors in the Mid-East. That includes the US.
68
What you say is true, in that there are many in the region involved with terrorism (USA included). Nevertheless, the taint is still real. Sin does not become virtue when everybody else is doing it, and actions have consequences.
For example, prompted by Qatar funding their enemies, Saudi Arabia has placed an embargo on Qatar. The House of Saud has so much blood on their hands that the idea of them having any sort of moral authority is laughable, but when they say the Qataris are funding terrorists... they are not wrong. The Qataris could have chosen to stick to selling gas and stay out of foreign politics. They chose not to. And that, is taint enough.
3
and Israel too.
1
Many years ago, I used to hang out with a bunch of austringers and falconers.
So I feel for hawks and falcons.
The people in the story, on the other hand?
Not so much.
11
The carnage, cruelty, suffering, death and limitless waste of these machinations and barbaric campaigns is heart-wrenching. Thousands of lives are immiserated and destroyed for the ephemeral, wicked benefit of a few. Horrifying and sorrowful beyond measure.
29
And Jared has the mental equipment to deal with this region?
43
"The real estate firm tied to the family of presidential son-in-law and top White House adviser Jared Kushner made a direct pitch to Qatar’s minister of finance in April 2017 in an attempt to secure investment in a critically distressed asset in the company’s portfolio, according to two sources. At the previously unreported meeting, Jared Kushner’s father Charles, who runs Kushner Companies, and Qatari Finance Minister Ali Sharif Al Emadi discussed financing for the Kushners’ signature 666 Fifth Avenue property in New York City." This was the second attempt to get a loan from Qatar. The first request was made to a Qatar billionaire who later declined the loan.
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/10/jared-kushner-tried-and-failed-to-ge...
14
Well let’s see.
He inherited money obtained by ethically and legally challenged means. His college position was bought. His business is leveraged to the hilt. His fathers in jail. His father in law should be in jail. His wife would be in jail but her father paid of the DA. He got loans from organizations after having them as guests in the White House. He has managed to never do anything productive or physical and yet is worth $600M. He’s dispicable.
6
What. A. Story. I hope this article receives a prize somewhere. The opening details--princes camping in tents in the desert, beautiful birds of prey hunting things called busterds, for goodness sake, kidnapping, duffel bags full of millions in cash--are something out of a fantasy novel.
Then a careful presentation of the more-than-Byzantine political alliances in the region! I think I understood a lot of this stuff for the first time.
My two cents: someone should look closely at Jared Kushner's close friendship with the Prince who is running Saudi Arabia. He is all wrapped up in this bigtime.
153
In Doha 2003-2012 I was hosted in maybe two Qatari (not Al-Thani) majlises and a couple "farms". This article took me back to those days... all rang entirely true. Thanks.
10
After reading this fascinating and illuminating story, I can't help but think the Middle East (ME) has become a cauldron of corruption, creepiness and cash--lots of it.
I realize that our need and thirst for oil and desire to protect Israel made the ME important enough to the US for to invade and occupy Iraq in 2003, and to support it militarily and financially ever since, to the tune of well more than $1 trillion. But the Iranian tiger that Cheney and Rumsfeld unleashed on the ME, and whose dark deeds are referred to in this story, has not furthered either of those goals. In fact, access to oil was more secure under Saddam. And if anything, the Saddam-Iraqi threat to Israel has been replaced by a stronger Iranian threat--if Netanyahu can be believed (a big if).
Thus, the take-away from this story should be that the particular ME madness reflected in it is due in no small part to the doings and undoings there on the part of the USA. But if there are a positive sides to the madness reflected in this story: for once American cash was not misappropriated by corrupt ME officials! For once there appears to be no American governmental or military incompetence involved! For once there was no American cupidity driving the actions of the main characters.
In short, this is the best American feel-good story to can come out of the wreckage we have wrought in the ME thanks to our farrago of foolish policies and actions there since 1945.
29
It has been a cauldron of corruption, creepiness and cash for a long time now. Just in this case, the money ended up in the wrong hands from a political perspective.
1
America involvement? Jared Kushner sought loans from Qatar and was later declined. Were Trump's punitive sanctions on Qatar, related?
"Jared Kushner's Real-Estate Firm Sought Money Directly From Qatar Government Weeks Before (U.S.) Blockade."
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/02/jared-kushner-real-estate-qatar-bloc...
2
Amazing reporting! The fact that you were invited to a Qatari Royal’s home and got this information alone makes this priceless let alone understanding the complex relationships of the various sectarian and regional forces that shape the Middle East today .
One has to go back to the 70s to understand how a - relatively- peaceful coexistence between the Sunni’s and Shiites was transformed by the Iranian Revolution and the Iran Iraq war that followed. The passions ignited by the complex fighting that happened in Lebanon in the 80s eventually led to the rise of Hezbollah - and Iran gaining an important foothold in that part of the World. What happened in the post 9/11 scenario with the miscalculated wars launched in Afghanistan and Iraq have directly led to the anarchy we see in Syria today . Syria - the country that played such a leading role in Lebanon’s politics and was Iran’s lifeline is now an example of just how horrific things are between the rival factions of Islam.
The Qataris with their wealth have created mayhem with their sheer stupidity in a situation that has completely gone out of control. One appreciates Obama’s hands off policy in Syria although who thought Russia would use this opportunity to have a resurgent role in the Middle East ? I note that the total lack of Russia in this story shows Iran’s might in the way things happen now.
What a story !
And how sad for the people who lived in peace for decades in those 4 towns !!
126
What a fascinating article. I never could understand how Qatar suddenly became the target of Middle East shaming.....
21
Is there also room to expand on Qatar's declining to extend credit to Jared Kushner's business?
12
Jared Kushner (and his dad, convicted felon Charles) attempted twice to gain funds from Qatar to bail out their real estate, appropriately located at 666....
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/02/jared-kushner-real-estate-qatar-bloc...
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/10/jared-kushner-tried-and-failed-to-ge...
8
Hunting the houbara sounds so.... medieval. Why don;t they instead try to preserve it? Or bring back the extinct antelopes into their joyless deserts?
Or - perish the thought - look within to examine the nihilism of undeserved wealth, the harm of gluttony and the happiness that only natural world can provide?
44
Kia, please write to your Senator And Representative and give them the same advice or perhaps the head of the EPA or even the President. It is clear that the majority party thinks just like the Qataris: it’s all mine.
1
"look within to examine the nihilism of undeserved wealth, the harm of gluttony and the happiness that only natural world can provide"
Funny enough, that's what it seems that falconry helps them do if you read the end of this article.
2
nature and hunting with raptors for the men in that culture is a return to eden. how many americans who read the new york times could get that? Go ask Lawrence...
1
Great reporting. It's fascinating, and terrifying how complex Middle East politics are. Qatar is in an interesting position in the Middle East, and it sounds like their precarious perch is getting more shaky than ever.
24
It shows how extreme wealth can make people think they are immune to the consequences of their actions. It also seems that they are.
20
Further proof that we have no business meddling in this region. Be can buy the energy we need from them. We don't need to get involved otherwise.
24
We no longer need their energy. We could be energy independent now with the right management.
Hawks can fend for themselves IF someone takes off the hood. Even with jesses they can hunt.
Real question is why not transfer hawking interest to conservation? Counts, conservation, and birding have an avid following in the Middle East. Plus houbara are protected as endangered in many countries and hunted out in Qatar if I recall.
25
Thank you for illuminating what for me is the basic question here. Love for the traditional sport should impel cnservation, not thoughtless indulgence.
1
Every member of Congress needs to read this. When have no idea what we are doing in this part of the world.
60
On me thing is certain: The US President won’t read this...or anything else for that matter.
1
Fascinating article on a story that I have not seen covered elsewhere. This is why I treasure and support the NYT.
76
Amazing reporting, and for more about the allure and discipline of raising and flying falcons and hawks, read "H is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald, a Cambridge writer who pairs personal knowledge and experience with the history of falconry, now and historically, in the U.K., Europe, and the Mid-East.
5
Excellent and well crafted story. A real treat to read. Quality pieces like this are why I gladly pay for the NYTimes even though my politics are not popular here.
8
The transformation of Quatar ("their culture — once rooted in thrift and self-reliance — is unrecognizable") is a sad tale of the impact of extreme wealth. Thank you for reporting this remarkable and mysterious story.
82
Well the royals accomplished one thing big time. They got to spend time away from modern society with it’s cell phones, internet and the like. And maybe the next time that need to spend time in falconry, they can travel to Mongolia where it may be a more welcoming environment.
32
There is an anagram for stupid in there somewhere. The rabbit hole just gets deeper as the US messes with an already messed up situation.
27
Great reporting. This explains a lot about that whole dust-up of the Saudis' embargo of Qatar, (and Trump's ham-fisted reaction to it.)
Am I the only one who really wonders what became of the falcons?
140
SSJW, you are not the only one wondering about the fate of the falcons (and salukis). Perhaps because the story overall is such a strange mashup of ultrawealth and war/politics with no real regard for the planet or the poor. No wonder they seek a connection with nature, albeit in a power hungry manner.
34
No, you are not the only one.
5
Don't worry the falcons would be safe, they are worth a lot of money and highly prized in this part of the world.