In the Gulf, Windfalls and Worries

I've been checking in with contacts in the Arab Gulf countries this week. Places like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Qatar are booming, thanks to vast development projects fueled by the region's astronomical oil and gas windfalls. But there's a lot of apprehension over the growing crisis with Iran. There's wariness about the Islamic regime, of course, but most of the concern I hear focuses on the Bush administration's aggressive approach.

I've been a little taken aback by the extent to which people here have lost faith in the U.S. A good number of people were quite happy four years ago when the U.S. overthrew Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi dictator had threatened them once upon a time--remember Iraq's overnight takeover of Kuwait in 1990. Qatar hosted U.S. forces at the Al Udaid military base outside Doha for Gulf War II. Now, people can't believe how badly the U.S. botched the war and its aftermath.

Specifics later, but meanwhile take a look at my analysis of this week's U.S.-Iran maneuverings on time.com.

--By Scott MacLeod/Doha