Qatar Awareness Campaign – Texas A & M

October 7, 2014

President Mark A. Hussey
Office of the Presidentqatar_awareness_campaign_logo
1246 TAMU
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-1246

Dear Dr. Hussey:

This letter is being sent to you on behalf of the Qatar Awareness Campaign Coalition. The purpose is to inform you and the public of the activities of Qatar, the country whose capital hosts a campus of Texas A&M University. Since 2003, when Robert Gates (later Secretary of Defense) was president of the university, the Qatar Foundation has borne all campus development costs associated with the campus. (Also see here.)

Texas A&M University at Qatar plays an important part in the Qatari economy, educating students in disciplines including: chemical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and petroleum engineering. Qatar possessing the world’s third largest natural gas reserves, and significant reserves of oil, engineering is particularly important to their economy.

The president of Texas A&M in 2003, when the Doha campus was established, was Robert Gates, who served until December 2006. Gates resigned from his role as president of the university to accept the nomination for Secretary of Defense by President George W. Bush, and went on to serve in the same role under President Barack Obama until July 2011, at perhaps the peak of the Arab Spring.

We urge to you read the information below, which includes evidence that Qatar is arguably the preeminent sponsor of terror in the world today. It is a benefactor of the genocidal armies of ISIS, al Qaeda, and Boko Haram; it is involved in Taliban narcotics trafficking through a relationship with the Pakistani National Logistics Cell; and profits from operating a virtual slave state. Qatar has leveraged its relationships with violent jihadi groups to its own benefit, and to the detriment of the United States and her allies.

So the public understands why this letter is addressed to you:

• In May 2009, Texas A&M University at Qatar awarded the Medal for Leadership to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Sheikh Tamim is the current Emir of Qatar, reigning through the same period of time which saw Qatar-backed Hamas attack Israel, and the rise of Qatar-backed ISIS.
• In May, 2014, the university received $31.7 million in research awards from the Qatar National Research Fund.
• In 2001, the Qatar Foundation funded an initiative in Doha, the Education City. It welcomed six American universities, Texas A&M among them (in 2003), to build campuses in the complex. The Qatar Foundation, which has noted links to terrorism, pays all associated campus development costs.
• The University benefits Qatar financially; according to the University’s website, “Research activities that address issues important to the State of Qatar are valued at over $159 million.” It also states that the University is “a valued resource of the State of Qatar.”

The QAC Coalition and petitioners ask that you consider the attached sourced report on Qatar’s activities. The links cited are vetted and credible sources. We hope you take the time to verify the truth of the statements for yourself.

After doing so, the Coalition of the Qatar Awareness Campaign calls on you to exert due influence on the Qatari government to cease any type of involvement in all forms of Islamic terrorism, slavery, and drug trafficking!