I mean from the standpoint of winning the WOT opposing this deal is a killer. If we alienate the UAE will lose. We will also alienate any other nation who might be on the fence right now. We will be seen as backstabbers. As another FReeper has been telling me "perception is everything." Perception changes quickly here in the US. Once or twice and hour. It takes a few centuries in the ME.
Could be why Tommy Franks has no problem with the deal. Or Colin Powell. Or George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney.