Posted on 02/23/2006 10:52:27 AM PST by Tulsa Ramjet
WASHINGTON — The United States raised concerns with the United Arab Emirates seven years ago about possible ties between officials in that country and Usama bin Laden, according to a section of the Sept. 11 commission's report that details a possible missed opportunity to kill the Al Qaeda 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday, Sen. Carl Levin, 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.
Move along, nothing to see here (say the Bushbots).
Leave it to the AP to pick up the anti-Bush mantra.
They're just putting a fresh ball on the field for the hyperventilation team to pick up and run with.
But what about his socks? Where does he get his socks from?.......
As opposed to you guys getting played by a leftist, Bush bashing media?
And just when did the DEMOCRATS believe the ARABS were our enemy????? Give us ALL a break !
Paige <--rather be a Bushbot than falling for the LEFT WING HYPE!
The UAE cut ties with the Taliban after 9-11. To be balanced here, that should have been included in your post.
Leave it to the AP to distort what we just saw with our own eyes.
Yes the 9/11 commission is the say all end all say the Bush bashbots.
I just saw the headline and was going to ping you.
Look who is "cherry picking" intel now.
To be balanced even more:
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.
LOL. Did you coin this phrase? If so, it's great!
If somebody wants to see ties, check out the links between the billionaire Iranian mullahs and Dubai. It seems all Iran vacations in Dubai.
Plus we saw the press conference..geez what is the AP smoking, can I have some?
There's pre-Sept. 11, 2001, and then there's post-Sept. 11. The AP and the Democrat party are distinctly pre-9/11.
"Move along, nothing to see here (say the Bushbots)."
Still a chance for you to listen to Rush today, it's something to hear. He's blowing fuses, his own. I thought I might call the paramedics for him. Playing the Hillary card like a demagogue, denouncing others as demagogues, etc. etc.
""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."
Seems like a good thing to me. What the hell does the 9-11 Commission know about any of this? We're suppose to take seriously a commission of political hacks that totally missed Able Danger and gave a seat to Jamie Goerlick? I love how the 9-11 Commission has been endowed with oracle status by the Dems. and their MSM lapdogs and that they're automatically experts on any issue under the sun.
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