Afrasianet - Munther Suleiman - Wasn't the U.S. Central Command, with all its reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities, aware of Israel's preparations for the aggression against Doha?
Initially, the White House was quick to deny that it had prior knowledge of the attack on Qatar on September 9, as "Israel did not notify the US military of the attack until minutes before it was carried out" while "US space sensors monitored the rockets' trajectory towards Doha," according to a detailed report published by the Wall Street Journal on September 13.
In implementation, ambiguity and ambiguity prevailed in the initial information, perhaps serving a certain narrative that aimed to exclude the reference to the flight path of the hostile air force penetrating the airspace of Arab countries, to cover a distance of 1800 kilometers towards Doha, to be based on a "hypothesis" adopted by the "Wall Street Journal" using "Israel" fighter jets (8 F-15s and 4 F-35s) that flew over the airspace of the Red Sea in an attempt to "avoid penetrating Saudi airspace", and that it fired ballistic missiles from a distance (about 1,800 kilometers), but the width of the area from the port of Jeddah to Doha is about 1,330 kilometers.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the raiders used air-launched ballistic missiles (such as the "ROCKS" or "Golden Horizon" system), which allowed fighter jets to avoid Arab airspace, as they could be launched from long distances and automatically correct their trajectory during the operation. The newspaper may have been based on the assumption that the so-called path (through space) was theoretically and technically feasible, especially with the entity possessing advanced ballistic missiles with a range of up to 2,000 kilometers.
It is worth mentioning the truth of the American technical capabilities to monitor the logistical movements of Israel to launch air strikes, and we have to go back to leaks that came in a recent American intelligence report before the last US presidential elections and during the Biden era that reveals these technologies (we will summarize its main contents later).
Continuing to mislead and divert attention from the real person responsible for the decision to invade, President Donald Trump expressed his "deep frustration" that he did not know about the matter in a phone conversation he had with Benjamin Netanyahu (according to the New York Times, September 9). The White House spokeswoman referred to a post on Trump's Truth Social platform, saying that "the unilateral bombing of Qatar, a sovereign state and a close ally of the United States, does not serve the goals of Israel or America," vowing not to repeat this in the United States. The Future".
In the purely operational aspect, military experts confirm that "this operation has been planned for many months, and has been the subject of very limited weekly meetings between a number of security officials and the Israeli prime minister," which denies the possibility that the US administration was not involved or aware of this plan.
US military experts, who declined to be identified, added that "it is highly unlikely that this attack would have been possible without Donald Trump's approval of it," especially that two days before the incident, the US president issued "a final ultimatum to Hamas, urging it to accept his proposal," explaining on his website: "I have warned Hamas of the consequences of the rejection, and this is my last warning, and there will be no other!"
The Middle East Eye, which is close to British intelligence, noted that the airstrikes were "coordinated in advance with the US administration". CNN, citing an Israeli official, said that the US was "informed before the strike on Qatar".
Trump, as usual, posted on his website that "the decision to carry out the attack on Qatar was made by the Israeli prime minister, not him," and that the United States "warned Qatar, but unfortunately the warning reached them too late to stop the attack."
Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. negotiator and scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, explained about the Doha attack: "At this point, I think Donald Trump is disturbed by Benjamin Netanyahu's tactics, but he instinctively agrees with Netanyahu's view that Hamas as a military organization cannot only be destroyed, but must be radically weakened."
Returning to the aforementioned official report, which included sensitive details about Operation Golden Horizon in the US intelligence assessment, we present the most prominent of what was stated:
Intelligence Leaks
Leaked US intelligence documents (from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency - NGA) in October 2024 revealed Israeli plans for "retaliation" strikes against Iran.
The documents mentioned two Israeli airborne ballistic missile (ALBM) systems: the Golden Horizon and the ROCKS.
The nature and scope of the "Golden Horizon"
The "Golden Horizon" is believed to refer to the Blue Sparrow missile system, an air-launched ballistic missile with a length of 6.5 meters and an estimated range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles).
Originally designed as a missile aimed at simulating Iranian missiles (such as the Shahab-3) to test Israel's missile defense system (AHM), but it was prepared for offensive attacks.
Israeli planes are allowed to launch from long distances (outside Iranian airspace), avoiding hostile airspace.
Israeli Preparations and Plans:
The documents monitored Israeli preparations at air bases (such as Hatzarim and Ramon Air Base) to prepare missiles since October 8, 2024.
Israel has planned "substantially expanded" strikes targeting Iranian military sites (such as air defenses and missile installations).
Repercussions of the leak
The leak revealed that the United States was monitoring Israeli preparations through satellite imagery, which affected US-Israeli relations and the latest possible strikes.
The presence of Israeli nuclear weapons was also revealed for the first time officially in U.S. intelligence documents.
Previous Use:
Israel used similar missiles (such as the Blue Sparrow) in a limited strike against an Iranian radar near Isfahan in April 2024.
Background of the leak
On October 18, 2024, two top-secret U.S. documents were leaked on the Telegram app via a channel called "Middle East Spectator" with ties to Iran.
· The documents, issued by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), include an analysis of satellite imagery and Israeli preparations for a retaliatory strike against Iran.
Contents of the leaked documents:
The documents revealed Israeli preparations, including:
· Rearranging and transporting advanced munitions and military assets needed for the strike.
· Detailed plans for the trajectories of Israeli drones and their strikes against Iranian targets.
· Major exercises for the Israeli Air Force include fighter jets, intelligence planes, and air-to-ground missiles.
· The documents also stated that Israel had been preparing airborne ballistic missiles (ALBMs) such as the Golden Horizon and ROCKS at Hatzarim Air Base since October 8, 2024.
· One document pointed to Israel's possession of nuclear weapons, the first time an official U.S. document has recognized such a capability.
Investigation and Arrest
U.S. authorities launched an immediate investigation after the leak, and the suspect was identified as Asif William Rahman (b. 1990), a CIA analyst with top-secret authorization.
Rahman was arrested by the FBI on November 12, 2024, upon arrival for work in Cambodia, and then transferred to Guam for trial.
On January 17 , 2025, Rahman pleaded guilty in federal court in Virginia to two counts of unlawful retention and transmission of confidential defense information.
Repercussions of the leak:
U.S. officials described the leak as "deeply concerning" and a national security risk, while Israeli authorities acknowledged the seriousness of the leak.
Analysts have warned that U.S.-Israeli relations are strained because of risks to intelligence sharing frameworks.
The leak also revealed close cooperation between the United States and Israel in satellite surveillance, which sparked diplomatic embarrassment.
Questions that need answers from Washington, Doha, and others:
Wasn't the US Central Command, with all its reconnaissance and intelligence capabilities, aware of Israel's preparations for the aggression against Doha? Can Israeli planes fly in the space of the US Central Command's theater of operations without prior notice and coordination of their routes?
Why have the US or Qatari air defenses that provide protection for the Udeid base not been activated? Has Saudi airspace been breached and violated, and why has the violation not been discovered? What does the Israeli liaison officer assigned to the Central Command at the Uaid base do?
What is the Mossad office in Doha doing (according to the Washington Post on September 12, when it reported that it existed, and that the Mossad did not approve the assassination of Hamas leaders in a secret operation in Doha).
How do the Gulf Arab states that rely on U.S. protection explain the absence of such protection when it comes to Israeli aggression against them?
Will the American dissatisfaction with Israel's unilateral action, as the Trump administration claims, change its position by not pressuring Netanyahu, as Rubio has long stated that it is necessary to pardon what happened, and that relations between Washington and Tel Aviv will not be affected, on the eve of his visit to the entity.