Of all sources, the Guardian informs us that the US is moving its Gulf HQ from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.

My only question is, what took them so long?

There are other reasons for using Qatar beyond the obvious distaste of the Saudis for a potential military operation against Iraq. Qatar is (by the admittedly limited standards of the area) considerably more democratic than SA and may well be more pleasant and less dangerous for US personnel stationed there. Also, the internal tensions building up within SA may lead to it being a rather tumultuous place over the next 10 years or so, and Qatar could provide a more stable location for us while the Saudi's consider their own future.

It could also be, of course, that since Qatar is so much smaller than SA, we will find it easer to manipulate them into doing what we want. I'd prefer not to believe that this plays a major role in the decision, however, since we have a less than stellar record of picking friendly winners in the region.