This Is Nuts

[Gold9472]

Sept. 11 Report Ties Bin Laden to UAE

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060223/...orts_bin_laden

By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The United States raised concerns with the United Arab Emirates seven years ago about possible ties between officials in that country and Osama bin Laden, according to a section of the Sept. 11 commission's report that details a possible missed opportunity to kill the al-Qaida leader.

Republicans and Democrats alike are raising concerns this week about the Bush administration's decision to let a UAE-operated company take over operations at six American ports, in part citing ties the Sept. 11 hijackers had to the Persian Gulf country.

President Bush has called the UAE a close partner on the war on terror since Sept. 11, and his aides have listed numerous examples of the country's help.

The Sept. 11 commission's report released last year also raised concerns UAE officials were directly associating with bin Laden as recently as 1999.

The report states U.S. intelligence believed that bin Laden was visiting an area in the Afghan desert in February 1999 near a hunting camp used by UAE officials, and that the U.S. military planned a missile strike.

Intelligence from local tribal sources indicated "bin Laden regularly went from his adjacent camp to the larger camp where he visited the Emiratis," the report said.

"National technical intelligence confirmed the location and description of the larger camp and showed the nearby presence of an official aircraft of the United Arab Emirates. But the location of bin Laden's quarters could not be pinned down so precisely," the report said.

The missile attack was never launched, and bin Laden moved on, the report said.

A month later, top White House counterterrorism official Richard Clarke "called a UAE official to express his concerns about possible associations between Emirati officials and bin Laden," the report said.

CIA officials hope to continue staking out the Afghan camp in hopes bin Laden would return and a possible strike could be launched.

But "imagery confirmed that less than a week after Clarke's phone call, the camp was hurriedly dismantled and the site was deserted," the report said.

CIA officials were "irate" and "thought the dismantling of the camp erased a possible site for targeting bin Laden, the report said.

At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday, Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), the ranking Democrat, asked Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt if he was aware of the 9-11 commission's assertion that the United Arab Emirates represents "a persistent counterterrorism problem"for the United States.

Kimmitt replied that administration figures involved in the decision to approve the deal "looked very carefully" at information from the intelligence community.

"Any time a foreign-government controlled company comes in," Kimmitt said, "the intelligence assessment is of both the country and the company."

"Just raise your hand if anybody talked to the 9-11 commission," Levin told the administration representatives at the witness table. Nobody raised a hand.

[Gold9472]

Bill O'Reilly Spins The Story... Unbelievably Spins The Story

Click Here

[PhilosophyGenius]

I agree that it makes more sense having an American company run the security here, on everything (not just ports). But I also don't think it's fair if Britain can run our ports, but not the UAE. The UAE govnt and the security company had no links to any hijackers or al-Qaeda. The govt of UAE is also a friend of the U.S. So if they take over some of our ports which were previously secured by Britain, and we tell the UAE to fuck off, that's a problem. It would be racially profiling and telling a good ally to go screw themsevles. It would also make us look worse in the muslim world.

[Gold9472]

The UAE Government did have links to the alleged hijackers.

[PhilosophyGenius]

Which was? Tommy Franks has even said there were none.

[Gold9472]

Which was? Tommy Franks has even said there were none.

http://www.msnbc.com/modules/wtc/mou....asp?p=1&cp1=1

21. On or about June 29, 2000, $4,790 was wired from the United Arab Emirates ("UAE") to Marwan al-Shehhi (#175) in Manhattan.

22. On or about July 19, 2000, $9,985 was wired from UAE into a Florida SunTrust bank account in the names of Mohammed Atta (#11) and Marwan al-Shehhi (#175).

23. On or about August 7, 2000, $9,485 was wired from UAE into a Florida SunTrust bank account in the names of Mohammed Atta (#11) and Marwan al-Shehhi (#175).

24. On or about August 30, 2000, $19,985 was wired from UAE into a Florida SunTrust bank account in the names of Mohammed Atta (#11) and Marwan al-Shehhi (#175).

26. On or about September 18, 2000, $69,985 was wired from UAE into a Florida SunTrust bank account in the names of Mohamed Atta (#11) and Marwan al-Shehhi (#175).

The company that made the deal for the ports is state-owned.

[PhilosophyGenius]

I know that UAE is used by al-Qaeda for financing world wide. That that doesn't mean the govnt or the bank knew about it. If I wanted to I could open an account with the UAE and start sending money to people in any part of the world, that's just the way banks work.

[Gold9472]

I know that UAE is used by al-Qaeda for financing world wide. That that doesn't mean the govnt or the bank knew about it. If I wanted to I could open an account with the UAE and start sending money to people in any part of the world, that's just the way banks work.

http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/sho...5&postcount=21

[PhilosophyGenius]

Hmmmm....you got me there. But it's not like UAE is gonna help orchestrate an attack through the ports and later have it traced back to them. And even if there is someone who works for the company in question who has bad intentions, there never gonna get away with smuggling something, to many people and security around. UAE also helped in the war in Iraq and capture al-Qaeda.

[Gold9472]

United Arab Emirates Donated At Least $1M To Bush Library

http://www.click2houston.com/news/73...s=hou&psp=news

POSTED: 7:37 am CST February 24, 2006

HOUSTON -- A sheik from the United Arab Emirates contributed at least $1 million to the Bush Library Foundation, which established the George Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station.

The UAE owns Dubai Ports World, which is taking operations from London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which operates six U.S. ports.

A political uproar has ensued over the deal, which the White House approved without congressional oversight. Dubai Ports World offered Thursday night to delay part of the takeover to give the Bush administration more time to convince lawmakers the deal poses no security risks.

The donations were made in the early 1990s for the library, which houses the papers of former President George Bush, the current president's father.

The list of donors names Sheik Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyan and the people of the United Arab Emirates as one donor in the $1 million or more category.

The amount of the gift grants them recognition on the engraved donor wall in the library entrance or on the paving bricks that line the library's walkways, according to library documents.

Roman Popaduik, chairman of the Bush Library Foundation that collects donations, said he could not discuss details of the gifts except to say the amount category and whether it was before or after 1997.

The chief executive of the Dubai company, Ahmed bin Sulayem, did not donate individually.

The hundreds of large donors include longtime Bush associates, including Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials as well as business titans -- such as Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay -- and big Republican donors.

Other Arab donors include the state of Kuwait, the Bandar bin Sultan family, the Sultanate of Oman, King Hassan II of Morocco and the amir of Qatar. The former Korean prime minister and China also gave tens of thousands of dollars to the library.