Posted on 02/23/2006 12:59:55 AM PST by Stellar Dendrite
President George W. Bush justifies the sale of the private British company that manages six U.S. ports to the government owned Dubai Ports World, saying that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a close ally of the U.S. in the war on terror. Indeed, the Jebel Ali terminal in Dubai transports at least 40% of US supplies to the troops in Iraq. Having the deepest port in the Persian Gulf, Dubai is critical for U.S. naval operations in the region. The UAE also provides air bases to support U.S. warplanes and stores materiel for U.S. forces. Moreover, it is also a major market for U.S. arms.
Not surprisingly, the President threatens to veto any legislation to block the deal and challenges lawmakers to step up and explain why a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard" than the British company that ran the ports before.
There are many important differences. To begin with, a private company based in the U.K. a Western democracy with troops fighting along with U.S. soldiers in Iraq, contrasts sharply with the UAE, which supported al-Qaeda, sent 9/11 terrorists and funding, and continues to support Palestinian suicide bombers and particularly HAMAS, which President Bush calls a terrorist organization.
On July 27, 2005, the Palestinian Information Center carried a public HAMAS statement thanking the UAE for its unstinting support. The statement said: We highly appreciate his highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan (UAE president) in particular and the UAE people and government in general for their limitless support that contributed more to consolidating our people's resoluteness in the face of the Israeli occupation".
The HAMAS statement continued: "the sisterly UAE had never hesitated in providing aid for our Mujahid people pertaining to rebuilding their houses demolished by the IOF The UAE also spared no effort to offer financial and material aids to the Palestinian charitable societies." Indeed, as documented by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S), HAMAS charitable societies, are known as integral parts of the HAMAS infrastructure, and are outlawed by Israel and the U.S.
The HAMAS statement included a special tribute: "One can never forget the generous donations of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan, the father of the current UAE president. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahayan of Abu Dhabi, was the first Arab leader to understand the importance of waging economic Jihad against the West, and was the first to use oil as a political weapon following the Yom Kippur War in 1973. On the eve of the 1991 Gulf War he branded the United States our number two enemy after Israel.
The multi-billionaire Sheikh Zayed, was an early patron of the PLO, and from the 1970s until his death in 2004, contributed millions of dollars to the terror agenda of the PLO, HAMAS and Islamic Jihad.
Human Appeal International, a UAE government-operated charitable organization, whose board includes the UAE president, funds HAMAS as well as other Palestinian organizations, martyrs, Palestinian terrorists in Israeli prisons and their families. The HAIs modus operandi is to transfer money to the Palestinian Red Crescent Organization whose West Bank and Gaza branches are operated by HAMAS. They, in turn, distribute the money to HAMAS charities.
For example, according to the Orient Research Center in Toronto, Canada, the UAE compensation plan for the Palestinian intifada in 2001 included $3,000 for every Palestinian shaheed, $2,000 for his family, $1,500 for those detained by Israel, $1,200 for each orphan. In addition, families of those terrorists whose homes Israel demolished each received $10,000.
Also in 2001, in support of the martyrs families in the Palestinian intifada, two telethons were organized in the UAE. We Are All Palestinians raised 135 million dirham, or $36.8 million, and For Your Sake Palestine raised 350 million dirham, or $95.3 million.
According to a detailed report on March 25, 2005, in the Palestinian daily Al Hayat al-Jadeeda, the UAE Friends Society transferred $475,000, through the UAE Red Crescent, to West Bank charitable organizations in Hebron, Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem to distribute to the families of martyrs, orphans, imprisoned Palestinians and others.
The Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam reported on March 22, 2005, that in 2004 the UAE Red Crescent donated $2 million to HAMAS charities to be distributed to 3,158 terrorists orphans.
On February 15, 2005, the HAMAS website reported on funds transferred from HAI to two HAMAS front organizations in the West Bank, IQRA and Rifdah, which Israel had outlawed. And last July, Osama Zaki Muhammad Bashiti of Khan Younis in Gaza was arrested as he returned from the UAE, for often transferring funds of as much as $200,000 at a time to the Gaza HAMAS branch. The suicide bombing and attacks, including one mortar attack on Gush Katif, caused the death of 44 Israeli civilians and dozens of injuries.
The UAE support of HAMAS is in line with the agenda promoted by the late Sheikh Zayed. His Zayed Center for International Coordination and Followup, founded in 1999 as the official Arab League think-tank, was shuttered under international pressure in 2003. It championed Holocaust deniers like Thierry Meyssan and Roger Garaudy and provided a platform for anti-Western, anti-Christian and anti-Jewish extremists like Saudi economist Dr. Yussuf Abdallah Al Zamel, who blamed the war in Iraq on "radical Zionist and right-wing Christian" influence.
Although UAE foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan stated that the Emirates have been and remain a strong ally of the U.S. in combating terrorism, its continuing support of HAMAS and other Islamist organizations contradict his statement. This legitimately raises concerns about trusting U.S. ports to UAE management.
---- Rachel Ehrenfeld, Director of American Center for Democracy (www.public-integrity.org), and author of Funding Evil; How terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It. Paul E Vallely, Major General, US Army Ret and Senior Military Analyst Fox News Channel and Co-author of Endgame -Blueprint for Victory in War on Terror.
Good one raybbr. And I can still hear their now fading chant:
glo-bal-ism, new-world-order,
glo-bal-ism, new-world-order,
glo-bal-ism, new-world-order,
You weren't really silenced, were you? You got your say and Clemenza got his shot in. I don't agree with him and I do agree with you on this issue. Calling names and attacks are a sure sign of a failed argument. Look at it that way and you will feel better about it.
Thanks to info
LOL! There hasn't been a U.S. PORT managed by a British company since we gained our independence. They can't even get the basic facts right.
Others have been. And there are some who will not even enter the fray. I've done that before...........read but not posted, because it degenerated into viciousness instead of debate.
I got that far in your post. I remember some guy saying "Either you are for us or you are against us". It was true then and it is now.
Much as I love Gen. Franks, I think he does not want to risk the bases in Dubai.
This is appeasement.
Yep, General Franks is an appeaser. He even relied on the UAE to provide logistical support and dock facilities for U.S. Navy ships to appease them.
There are many important differences. To begin with, a private company based in the U.K. a Western democracy with troops fighting along with U.S. soldiers in Iraq, contrasts sharply with the UAE, which supported al-Qaeda, sent 9/11 terrorists and funding, and continues to support Palestinian suicide bombers and particularly HAMAS, which President Bush calls a terrorist organization.
As good an answer as any I've seen to the question, "why not?".
His life, and his 'living' is different now.
Not for someone who wore the uniform as long as he did. Not for someone who lost close personal friends in wars. Not for someone who has personally ordered the troops that he cares for into combat where he knows some will not live.
That's the point.
The UAE is just as much a target for Osama as any other Arab nation for doing business with the west
Prove that. They were buds in 99, even hunting in Afghanistan together.
He clearly laid out the Axis of Evil, and the UAE was no where near being in there.
The money for 9/11 was funneled through their bank. There are links all over these threads showing Dubai sells weapons to our enemies. They are NOT our buddies.
Did you read the article?
Welcoming Terror to U.S. Ports (From David Horowitz's Frontpagemag.com)
The HAMAS statement included a special tribute: "One can never forget the generous donations of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan, the father of the current UAE president. Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahayan of Abu Dhabi, was the first Arab leader to understand the importance of waging economic Jihad against the West
What do you suppose economic jihad means?
Wow! That worked on 9/11 didn't it.
Meanwhile, in 99, they hunting with Osama.
Complete 911 Timeline: The hunt for bin Laden
February 1999: Bin Laden Missile Strike Called Off for Fear of Hitting Persian Gulf Royalty
Intelligence reports foresee the presence of bin Laden at a desert hunting camp in Afghanistan for about a week. Information on his presence appears reliable, so preparations are made to target his location with cruise missiles. However, intelligence also puts an official aircraft of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and members of the royal family from that country in the same location. Bin Laden is hunting with the Emirati royals, as he did with leaders from the UAE and Saudi Arabia on other occasions (see 1995-2001). Policy makers are concerned that a strike might kill a prince or other senior officials, so the strike never happens. A top UAE official at the time denies that high-level officials are there, but evidence subsequently confirms their presence.
[9/11 Commission Report, 3/24/04 (B)] People and organizations involved: Osama bin Laden
My point was that the UAE was one of a number of countries which funded the PLO. Included in that number is the US and the EU. That is why The UAE funding them is not a big deal.
Of course you knew this - Still dont let logical debate get in the way of a "they killed jews" deflection eh?
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