US national security adviser HR McMaster condemned Qatar and Turkey for taking on a “new role” as the main sponsors and sources of funding for extremist Islamist ideology that targets western interests.
“Radical Islamist ideology is a grave threat to all civilised people,” Gen McMaster said.
The US national security adviser said this threat has been identified “myopically” in the past.
“We didn’t pay enough attention to how it’s [radical Islamist ideology] being advanced through charities, madrassas and other social organisations.”
While Gen McMaster made reference to Saudi Arabia’s support for some of these organisations decades ago, he singled out Qatar and Turkey as main supporters at present. “[It] is now done more by Qatar, and by Turkey,” he said.
He claimed Turkey’s growing problems with the West were largely a result of the rise of the Justice and Development Party, to which president Recep Tayyip Erdogan belongs.
In a rare public policy appearance with his British counterpart Mark Sedwill at an event hosted by the Policy Exchange think tank in Washington, Gen McMaster revealed that US president Donald Trump will roll out his latest national security strategy on Monday.
Four “vital national interests” would be prioritised. These are protecting the homeland and American people, advancing American prosperity, preserving peace through strength, and advancing American influence.
Appointed to lead the National Security Agency in February, Gen McMaster said the approach would contest three big threats to US interests globally. Two of these have had a major impact on the Middle East.
China and Russia are viewed by the White House “as revisionist powers” encroaching on US allies and undermining the international order. Another tier of danger was described as rogue regimes, such as Iran and North Korea, which “support terror and are seeking weapons of mass destruction”.
