America’s Chief Ally

Controversy Sells

26 Dec

(2025) David taking an assertive pose as he edges forward on the cream coloured couch he’s seated on. Fist raised, gold watch in view; he aims at the lens of the camera, showing a full confidence regarding his position.

Wooo! Back agaaaaaain.

Controversy Sells!

In a state of excitement, I become increasingly interested in sharing my journalism & findings with y’all. This (the third episode of this excellent series) aims to highlight a wider range of topics than discussed in the past two episodes.

This time, I centre everything around the general prompt and statement made:

“[…] really up until just the other day, there was not a scenario you could conjure in your head in which the United States would take the side of any other country over Israel.”

You guessed it…yet ANOTHER online discussion about Foreign Policy.

Based on Political Commentator: Tucker Carlson’s “Why Are We Defending Mass Murder in Gaza? Because Our Greatest Ally Demands It.” YouTube video (posted 11th December), read on as I break-down the differences in belief system, benefits of each nation, and overall truth behind the phrase “Chief Ally.”

Less about the Israeli-Palestine conflict (and the controversies and terms surrounding it, e.g. genocide, ethnic cleansing, civilian casualty, etc.) this blog is more “which is the best out of the two options?” centric.

More specifically, Tucker raises the example possibility of America having a tighter-knit allegiance with Qatar (the largely developed country in West Asia with population of upwards of 3 million) over Israel, and I’m here to assess that and put it under scrutiny on both sides (for, and against).

American Interest (the United States - Who gets to be it’s closest ally?)

Tucker raises an excellent question in the preliminary stages of the discussion. What attributes are required to constitute “greatest ally” to the large pool called American interests?

“How do you think about - if you’re the United States - who ought to be your closest ally? Who gets that job? Who do you take to the prom?”

Natural Resources (energy, gas, minerals & metals)

Russia

17.1 million km² “encompassing more than one-eighth of Earth's inhabited land area” according to sources: Wikipedia, and Worldometer (2025) making it the world’s largest land mass (as Tucker rightly claims)
“In January of 2023, Russia held the world’s largest natural gas reserve, with nearly one-third of the world's total at 1,688 trillion cubic feet.” EBSCO (2025)
“the second in oil production (10% share of world production)” Advantour (2025)

Venezuela

“The proven oil reserves in Venezuela are recognized as the largest in the world, totaling 300 billion barrels (4.8×1010 m3) as of 1 January 2014.” Wikipedia (2025)
“[…] had natural resources estimated at $14.3 trillion, as of 2021” Investopedia (2025)
“They’re in our hemisphere” Tucker says (alternative definition) “half of the earth” proven by being roughly 1,300 to over 3,600 miles away from the US, is a great point made by Tucker.

Saudi Arabia

“The nation has been a leading exporter ever since oil was discovered in 1938.” Investopedia (2025)
“It was reported to have $34.4 trillion worth of natural resources in 2021, notably oil.” Investopedia (2025)

Military (size, active personnel, spend, navalpower/airpower)

China

Ranking 2nd at 314 billion dollars in “Countries with the highest military spending worldwide in 2024” Statista (2025)
Is the world's largest standing army, with upwards of 2 million active personnel - according to International Institute for Strategic Studies (2025)

India

Top 5 global military power, ranked 4th - Global Firepower (2025)

Summary

By raw facts alone, there are clearly numerous countries able to provide immeasurable amounts of value to the United States. But of course, Israel being a current ally (major Non-NATO Ally Status, 1987) and many other factors illustrating alliance (military aid, defense cooperation, intelligence sharing, etc.), there is naturally a conflict of interests with many of the countries listed under the sections I have made: Natural Resources and Military (the main two topic areas discussed by Tucker, but only two of the countless factors behind power and potential value) and the principles that Israel as a nation has.

Qatar vs Israel (in-depth)

Besides this, in a more binary decision between the two nations (pertaining to the most useful to America), Tucker provides evidence for Qatar specifically (the country that is central to the discussion) being a better candidate than Israel (for being the best possible closest ally) in a classic “this vs that” standoff.

Considering that a commentator is unlikely to make baseless claims, I write not discrediting the probability that Tucker already did his own research into the matter to make strong claims, but I fact-check each section that he makes points about to ensure that I am being consistent and honest in the pursuit of truth regardless of my own position.

Natural Resources:

Israel

“[…] Israel has basically no resources, at all. I mean, it’s gasoline comes from Azerbaijan - I mean, it needs to import basically everything it uses (not everything; got a thriving tech sector, but for for natural resources they are very very limited (and that would include water)).”

Qatar

“Qatar has- well, some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world (in their famous “north gas field”). And they are the (I think) number one, LNG exporter to Europe, and one of the biggest certainly to Asia. Liquified natural gas, it’s what a lot of the world runs on, it s also where a lot of consumer products come from ‘cause it’s converted to plastics […]
having a lot of natural gas is not just something that make you rich, it’s something that’s really good for your country, your economy, and it can help your friends.”

Fact Check: Mostly True

“The country [Israel] has limited natural resources. These include copper, phosphates, bromide, potash, clay, sand, sulfur, asphalt, and manganese.” OECD (2025)
“As the country [Israel] is relatively poor in natural resources, it consequently depends on imports of petroleum, raw materials, wheat, motor vehicles, uncut diamonds and production inputs.” Wikipedia (2025)
“Qatar holds 11% of the world’s proved natural gas reserves and almost 30% of the Middle East’s reserves, according to the Oil & Gas Journal.” EIA.GOV (2023)
“Qatar sent more than 70% of its LNG exports to Asia and 25% to Europe in 2022, according to Kpler tanker tracking data. High electricity demand in Asia has resulted in high natural gas demand in Asia.” EIA.GOV (2023)
“Qatar is planning to expand its presence in the global LNG market as it shifts its emphasis from oil markets. Qatar, one of OPEC’s longest-standing members, left the organisation in January 2019, saying the country wanted to shift resources away from oil to natural gas, according to press reports.” EIA.GOV (2023)

Social Climate (investment into the US & Foreign wars)

“The second thing to know is that Qatar is a very enthusiastic investor in the United States. So that’s being spun as a bad thing ‘they’re trying to take over our society’ […] Qatar is in fact quite a socially conservative society (in contrast to say- Tel Aviv (which has got to be the world capital for drag queen story hours). Qatar is the opposite of that […] so they don’t have a lot of pride parades in Qatar - let’s see none. Qatari diplomats - ask them. Ask anybody when they’re posted to the west - US, Canada, Great Britain. They send their kids to Christian schools because […] they’re more socially conservative, they don’t have government subsidised abortion on demand in Qatar (as Israel does), they basically have - in a lot of ways - the same social values a- (broadly speaking, of course, they’re not Christian - they’re muslim) but broadly speaking, very similar social values to a lot of [Donald] Trump voters […].
[…] But they’re investing in a lot of businesses. Qatar has pledged $500bn in investment (I think they put 150bn in so far […]). You can say that’s a bad thing but, tell us how, and why? Unless they’re subverting out values to make them more ‘cuttery’ or whatever […].
Probably not bad to have other people invest in your country (especially on the brink of a recession, maybe?)
How much does Israel invest in the country. Well, actually, Israel’s on the other side of the ledger. Israel is a massive, massive net cost to the United States […] the cost of defending, backstopping that country in every conflict in which it enters, which is like at this point, more than half a dozen. I mean, where are they not having a war? Who’s paying for that? Well, we are. We are. every single year going back - well almost 80 years. Every single one. Trillions of dollars spent prosecuting wars on Israel’s behalf, or wars that we waged at the behest of Israel: including the Iraq war, including whatever that was in Syria, including the regime change they are pushing the United States government to have in Iran. Those are costs.”

Fact Check: Mostly True

“$38 billion agreement over ten years negotiated under former US President Barack Obama in 2016.” Wikipedia (2025)
“Israel has received hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid in the post–World War II era, a level of support that reflects many factors, including a U.S. commitment to Israel’s security and the countries’ shared foreign policy interests in a volatile and strategically important part of the world.” Council on Foreign Relations (2025)
“Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding, receiving over $300 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance.” Council on Foreign Relations (2025)
“[…] the United States has provided Israel $174 billion (current, or non-inflation-adjusted, dollars) in bilateral assistance and missile defence funding.” Congressional Research Service - CONGRESS.GOV Overview (2025)
“In just one year, the U.S. has spent at least $22.76 billion on military aid to Israel and related U.S. operations in the region (through September 30). This was true, even before the U.S. expanded its presence in the region in late September/ early October 2024 in events too recent to be included in this report.” Brown University - The Watson School of International and Public Affairs (2025)
“QIA [Qatar’s wealth fund] plans to invest an additional $500 billion in the US over the next decade, targeting areas like artificial intelligence, data centers […]” Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, and Pension & Investments (2025)
“Qatar's greenfield investment in the United States totaled $3.3 billion in 2023, focused on hotels and tourism, information technology, advanced manufacturing, financial services, and oil and gas […] Qatar’s expansive investment in and trade with the United States contribute to U.S. and Qatari economic growth and prosperity, and Qatar’s choice of U.S. industry’s best-fit solutions supports the U.S. strategic goal of growing our industrial presence throughout the Gulf and the region as a whole.” The White House (2025)
“The United States had a $2 billion trade surplus with Qatar in 2024 and has had a positive trade balance with Qatar since 2003.” The White House (2025)
“Demonstrations against the Israeli government’s efforts to radically overhaul the country’s judicial system have become a weekly occurrence. Often rainbow pride banners pop with color amid the sea of blue and white national flags.” The Conversation (2023)
“In an international ‘morality’ survey, Israelis have emerged as more relaxed than the average global citizen on a range of issues including homosexuality and pre-marital sex […] What is more, one in four Israelis said that homosexuality was not an issue for moral judgment, while among everyone polled only 13 per cent voiced this opinion.” The Jewish Chronicle (2014)
“According to Qatar's constitution, Sharia is a main source of Qatari legislation.Sharia is believed to constitute a divine revelation conveyed by God to the Prophet Muhammad, the eminent figure in the establishment of Islam, in 570 AD […] Sharia is applied to laws pertaining to family law, inheritance, and several criminal acts (including adultery, robbery and murder). In some cases in Sharia-based family courts, a female's testimony is worth half a man's and in some cases a female witness is not accepted at all.” Wikipedia (2025)

Values (Morals & Principles)

“[…] I like the American system. So it’s not a matter of preferring somebody else’s system over ours, it’s merely a matter of batting down some of the absurd lies.”

So Qatar, like every country in that region […] every one of those countries is an Islamic state. Islam is the official religion of the country, and so in all of those countries it’s probably a bad idea - illegal, if not unacceptable, or some variety of the two - to run around trying to convert people to *say* Christianity […] By the way, same thing is true in Israel (not attacking Israel). It’s a Jewish state, they don’t want you showing up in Israel and terying two convert a lot Israelis to Christianity […].

But if the deeper question is where do Christians feel more comfortable…in Qatar or Israel (I mean its sort of hard to know what people actually think) […] maybe the best way to measure that is by where they live. […] There are twice as many questions living in Qatar as there are in Israel […] did you know that?”

Fact Check: Mostly True

Qatar’s legal system is based on civil and Islamic Sharia laws. Qatar’s constitution takes precedence over all laws, followed by decrees and ministerial decisions. The Supreme Judicial Council established under Law 10/2003 appoints all judges, oversees Qatari courts, and functions independently from the executive branch. US Department of State (2025)
“The Christian population in Qatar is significant, estimated around 13-15% of the total population” Based on Wikipedia (2025)

Commander-in-Chief (The President’s Position)

“Here is the punchline. The idea that Qatar should be our greatest ally - Donald trump seems to agree […] no one screaming about Qatar has any interest in telling you the truth, which is that Donald Trump who was elected on a peace program […] has taken sides in the Qatar-Israel dispute.

And it is actually more than a dispute, it became a military conflict on September 9th. Israel Bombed Qatar. Qatar by the way, is the site (in case you’re wondering if they were an ally or not) of the largest US air base in the entire region, right outside Doha […] Israel bombs them, kills people in downtown Doha […] and doesn’t apologise for it. And why did they do that? Because Donald Trump was working to bring peace between Iran and Israel, and Israel didn’t want that at all. And so they tried to murder the negotiators in that round of peace talks from Hamas in Doha.”

Fact Check: Mostly True

“[…] In the event of such an attack, the United States shall take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability.” Section 2, Commitment (b) of ASSURING THE SECURITY OF THE STATE OF QATAR - The White House (2025)
“Over the years, the United States and the State of Qatar have been bound together by close cooperation, shared interests, and the close relationship between our armed forces. The State of Qatar has hosted United States forces, enabled critical security operations, and stood as a steadfast ally in pursuit of peace, stability, and prosperity, both in the Middle East and abroad, including as a mediator that has assisted the United States’ attempts to resolve significant regional and global conflicts. In recognition of this history, and in light of the continuing threats to the State of Qatar posed by foreign aggression, it is the policy of the United States to guarantee the security and territorial integrity of the State of Qatar against external attack.” Section 1. Policy of ASSURING THE SECURITY OF THE STATE OF QATAR - The White House (2025)

Editor’s Final Note

Well..a lot of stats and data, but what’s the verdict?

Based on my assessment, I believe it’s undeniable to at least question whether the United States should have as much of an involvement in Israel as it currently does. Regardless of religious belief or conviction, the trade-off for investing into a country in the Middle East that objectively has been involved in many wars (funded by the tax-payers of the United States) should be calculated, and (in agreement with Tucker) evidence shows that there is hardly any return-on-investment for the support that America provides to Israel.

It’s important to allow this topic to remain negotiable, and never to throw around accusations of antisemitism or racism, but once again, to always do a thorough analysis of if there are allies that might serve as better candidates to the United States in important areas than Israel.

A few points however…

I think that Tucker Carlson does an excellent job bringing to light that (in the original video that this blog is based on - Tucker Carlson’s channel), in the same month Israel’s bombs were sent off on Qatar, the issue of the executive order was made. In other words, this drives the only correlation between “act of aggression” and Israel’s actions, placing a type of security net around the United States-Qatar alliance.

Tucker Carlson also does another wonderful job of making very truthful claims backed up by data. Although possibly available somewhere, I can’t find much data that suggests otherwise in 90%+ of the claims made.

And lastly, I think that it’s scary how much information is kept away from the media headlines purely due to ulterior motives. Had it not been for independent journalism such as the Tucker Carlson show, a lot of the information, links behind tensions, and explanations behind seemingly “extreme” claims would go unexplained, as Tucker likely rightly says:

“I bet not one in a hundred people knows this even happened.” (in regard to Israel bombing Qatar)

But…I think on data alone, Qatar definitely can do a good job being: