Qatar has kicked out Muslim Brotherhood leaders due to pressure from neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabi and the United Arab Emirates, but Middle East expert Dr. Robert Rabil tells
Newsmax TV that Qatar has a "conflicting policy."
"Qatar has pursued what the State Department calls a multi-directional policy," Rabil told Ed Berliner on "MidPoint" Wednesday, which he said he calls an "independent policy."
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"It pursues a kind of policy that says 'I am going to allow certain descent, I am going to support the Muslim brotherhood, I am going to support the Salafists. Why? Because I believe they are key actors in our politics,'" he explained Rabil, author of the book
"Salafism in Lebanon: From Apoliticism to Transnational Jihadism "
In addition, "in 2012 the former Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad, went to Gaza and pledged $400 million."
"He does give money to the Salafists who are in Syria," the political science professor at Florida Atlantic University said.
"Some of this money will probably go to [the Islamic State] ISIS, but from their position they believe that they are supporting those Salafists, who are not engaged in violence," Rabil explained. "That is a very weak argument they have.
"On the other hand, let's not forget when we went to invade Iraq, the Saudis told us they have a sultan base, they don't know if they are going to use it, and then we used the base in Qatar," he said.
"The base that they host in Qatar is the largest U.S. base in the Gulf and not only that, you have another base which is the largest free positioning base for American equipment in the Gulf," he added.
"Here what you have now is a country that is pursuing conflicting policy and they conflict their objective," Rabil contends.