Clarke Visited UAE
Footnotes spell out more details. One names the “UAE official” Clarke called: “NSC memo, Clarke, secure teleconference between UAE Chief of Staff Muhammad bin Zayid and Clarke, Mar. 7, 1999.”
Another notes that Joint Chiefs deputy operations director Maher was incredulous the CIA would approve this call: “Maher told us he thinks it ‘almost impossible’ that the CIA cleared Clarke’s call.”
Another indicates Clarke had been in the UAE just before the contemplated strike at bin Laden and had been assured by both bin Zayid and Dubai’s leader, Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid, that the UAE would help the U.S. against bin Laden. Bin Zayid even insisted UAE officials were not in Afghanistan, even though it turned out that the UAE chief of staff himself had gone hunting in Afghanistan at about the same time as the contemplated U.S. attacks. The commission said:
“Days before overhead imagery confirmed the location of the hunting camp, Clarke had returned from a visit to the UAE … His visit included one-on-one meetings with Army Chief of Staff bin Zayid, as well as talks with Sheikh Muhammad bin Rashid, the ruler of Dubai. Both agreed to try to work with the United States in their efforts against Bin Laden. … On February 10, as the United States considered striking the camp, Clarke reported that during his visit bin Zayid had vehemently denied rumors that high-level UAE officials were in Afghanistan. … Subsequent reporting, however, suggested that high-level UAE officials had indeed been at the desert camp. CIA memo, ‘Recent High Level UAE Visits to Afghanistan,’ Feb. 19, 1999. Gen. Shelton also told us that his UAE counterpart said he had been hunting at a desert camp in Afghanistan at about this time.”
Another footnote says that talking points prepared for DCI Tenet that March mention “the UAE being ‘tipped off’ to the CIA’s knowledge of the camp.”
Richard Clarke believed the UAE was a counter-terrorism ally then. Bush believes it now. Clarke apparently was fooled. But that, at least, was before 9/11.
Rumor and hearsay. Seems the Port Deal foes are getting desperate.
ping
Looks like some will have to face the fact that their claims that the uproar was dying down and would disappear were all just fantasy.
You DO reallize the really damning fact is it MAY NOT be true. That is the problem with these sort of Tin Foil Hat smear jobs. They all rely on the reading ASSUMING things with no FACTS verify the Writer's assumption. I say this is complete BS made up by the Writer. Prove me wrong.
The title of this article should be "Did Richard Clarke Save Bin Ladin".
Richard Clarke...LMAO!!! What an incompetent bastard with no integrity.
Most importantly? I stopped reading right there. This guy thinks he's Jack Bauer but he'd be lucky to be Maxwell Smart.
I notice one prominent name not listed............ Bill Clinton
I really doubt this part.
We have found an issue that will coalesce into a great alliance of yahoos and kneejerks from both parties.
And we'll call it the Mullets and Moonbats party.
We're taking anything Richard Clarke the proven liar says seriously? At any rate, at best this is a circumstantial case even if true.
Well, the first tipster was Clark. He tipped the UAE.
I am going to say it now, and I know what it sounds like.
My gut tells me that Clarke himself provided the tip-off, either unwillingly as a naive dupe of his UAE "connections", or, yes, willingly. I have always seen him as very duplicitious, and now one of his supporters, Madeline Halfbright, heads one of the lobbyist groups pushing for approval of the UAE port deal.
It all does not smell right and we all know the nest of vipers that exists in the permanent government at State and DOD, who are the underlings who approved the deal.
SLICK WILLIE allowed OBL to escape. Several times.
so basically, Clark blem the deal.......what an A##.
Sure, let's turn over management of our ports to a country that protected Bin Laden. That works.
No the REALLY REALLY damning line is -
"may have ***inadvertently*** saved bin Laden"
If this is the judging criteria look no further than Leaky Lehey and others in gov't who leak on purpose!