The U.S. has done a lot for Arab dictators. For years, Democrats and Republicans have been seeking to give Saudi Arabia, the largest purchaser of American weapons in the world, a NATO-like defense pact. And Washington is drawing closer to Qatar, the Saudi kingdom's nearby frenemy. After pledging to defend Qatar last month, the Trump administration announced a new training facility for Qatari military pilots in Idaho last week.
One of the many favors that the U.S. has given to these governments is helping to drown out dissenting voices, documents given to The Washington Post by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reveal. Over the past three years, U.S. officials led meetings of Middle Eastern countries to plan "information operations," the documents show, and planned to create a "Combined Middle East Cyber Center" and an "Information Fusion Center" to systematize these efforts.
