I don't think it's blackmail but it does seem to be something important, I decided that after Carter got vocal supporting the deal (that sort of rules out Bush family cronyism).
It also does sound rather secret, at least very low profile, it's hard to find anyone who will admit being involved in the decision.
Posted by jerry at February 28, 2006 04:30 AMThe blackmail involves our ability to use the ports in UAE for resupplying out debacle in the dessert.
Quite a quandry for the chimpster and the rubber stamp lickspittels in congress.
Rock, meet hard place. This presidentin is hard work, and chimpy didn't sign on for this shit.
Watch for him to try to quit and take his ball and go home.
Posted by SnarkyShark at February 28, 2006 05:22 AMI say "it has crossed my mind". Blackmail is a hard case to make without very convincing proof and a willingness to fight blackmail. I am not prepared to say there is anything to it. I am prepared to say that our relations with Arab states do not have the transparency nor longevity of some other nations, and added to the secrecy already demonstrated by this Administration, make the whole relationship worth probing.
This information (which I have not seen in the MSM, only blogs) is a useful bit. Someone actually bothers to explain how a port manager like Dubai Ports World might be vulnerable to terrorist influence:
(quote)
Joseph King, who headed the customs agency's anti-terrorism efforts under the Treasury Department and the new Department of Homeland Security, said national security fears are well grounded.
He said a company the size of Dubai Ports World would be able to get hundreds of visas to relocate managers and other employees to the United States. Using appeals to Muslim solidarity or threats of violence, al-Qaeda operatives could force low-level managers to provide some of those visas to al-Qaeda sympathizers, said King, who for years tracked similar efforts by organized crime to infiltrate ports in New York and New Jersey. Those sympathizers could obtain legitimate driver's licenses, work permits and mortgages that could then be used by terrorist operatives.
Dubai Ports World could also offer a simple conduit for wire transfers to terrorist operatives in the Middle East. Large wire transfers from individuals would quickly attract federal scrutiny, but such transfers, buried in the dozens of wire transfers a day from Dubai Ports World's operations in the United States to the Middle East would go undetected, King said. (end quote)
Why can this kind of thing get coverage in the mainstream press? Because it is understandable by voters----
Posted by suds at February 28, 2006 05:29 AMarrrrr--I meant "why can't this kind of thing get coverage..." Bad typing combined with being too clever are a terrible thing....
Posted by suds at February 28, 2006 05:32 AMBlackmail is an interesting analysis and quite intriguing.
A week ago, I blogged about the financial payback aspects of the Dubai port deal handover.
The exeuctive board at DP World is made up of British knights, former execs from the Bank of England and the Rothschild Bank.
In a nutshell, the Rothschild bank operates a real estate investment arm in the USA that funded high-end corporate real estate development in Dallas and Austin built on land acquired from wealthy Republican supporters of both the campaigns of Poppy Bush and his kid, George Jr.
I argued the Dubai port deal was payback to the powerful rightwingers who made Bush #41 and Bush #43 possible.
Also, the government of the UAE forked over $1 million to help build Bush #41's presidential library in TX. How much as the UAE pledged in advance to build the kid's presidential library too?
Posted by Christopher at February 28, 2006 05:36 AMI think it is probably port access and war related favors, but also a bad case of 'can't let it look like the bitch can push me around'. Our nation's security is in the hands of this nut.
Posted by Via at February 28, 2006 05:50 AMThe blackmail involves our ability to use the ports in UAE for resupplying out debacle in the dessert.
or the one coming up in iran.
Posted by benjoya at February 28, 2006 06:17 AMThe Bush family has always been in the milieu of international crime. I think the list of examples would be endless, but as an overall view I'd suggest Peter Dale Scott's DEEP POLITICS, which describes the relationship between politics, intelligence and police agencies and organized crime.
Think about it: What's the difference between gambling in America in 2006 and gambling in America in the 1960s? Now the links to politicians are overt. Not that they didn't exist, but that they are overt.
The same with drugs. The relationship with Pharma is all over the place, but even the relationship with illicit drugs is there. What's the difference between drugs flowing through Dubai or Marseilles during the "French Connection" days?
It was a scam and a crock and brute force to make the proles build the pyramids or fight the Crusades or the world wars, and someone at the top of the organization chart got rich and fat, unless he overplayed his hand.
Posted by Bob in Pacifica at February 28, 2006 06:40 AMWhere there's smoke, there's fire.
Posted by Doofus at February 28, 2006 06:43 AMThis Port deal cannot be good for Israel.
It's mind boggling, WTF can bu$hco be thinking?
I'm still convinced it is tied to a trade off for US military movement and buku money for the Carlyle Group and Halliburton.
It still doesn't solve the National Security issue!
They have probably become uneasy with Bush's long term chances of staying in office and called in their markers a little ahead of time.I'm sure Bush & Co. have reassured them - no worries - we own the voting machines. It will be difficult to turn a 34% approval rating and probably 34% exit polls into a win in Nov. But I'm sure they will manage somehow.
Posted by Dianne at February 28, 2006 08:12 AMbb: So if US law prohibits a boycott of Israel, and the Dubai co. is publicly on board with it, why isn't this fact being shouted from the rooftops? Would'nt this be a deal-killer on its own merits?
Has this been mentioned in the MSM? Still no rain in Tempe.
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Religion is the foundation of almost all filthy bloodletting.
Posted by TIKI AL at February 28, 2006 10:40 AMTIKI: We might get some rain this evening! 133 days without rain, when the old record was 101 days! That's called shattering a record! Of course the Earth is on steroids now! How come this isn't news in MSM!
Posted by bbtb at February 28, 2006 11:22 AMbb: Just heard Reid on CNN mention that the Dubai Co. is boycotting Israel. You spoke with strait tongue, o fellow dry one.
Have umbrella at the ready.
Posted by TIKI AL at February 28, 2006 01:43 PMIt's mafia-esque, alright, as I have said all the time. The Bush dynasty is real, right down to John Robert's fixed up marriage. Every aspect of today's neorepug has been carefully planned for probably 20 years or so.
Carter probably endorsed this Dubai thing with a gun at his head.
The more outrageous the mafia idea and the way things are going on in the wh, the closer you are to getting to the truth.. Standby and watch the flip over of congress. The deal WILL go through. We're doomed.
Sara Swati, you are so cool, you think as much out of the box as me! Which I mean to say, in this atmosphere of shock upon shock, is anything too preposterous to believe anymore? Leftie Coasties think I'm nutsy to suppose that Bush ordered 9/11; all evidence points to it. Why did the WH stonewall every investigation? Why couldn't the Saudi hi-jackers families be questioned? Give me a break!
Posted by Mal Feaance at February 28, 2006 04:42 PMDon't feel alone,Mal. I believe that someone involved with Bu$hCo, if not Dubai-yah himself, ordered no intervention when the plot was discovered. Everything that came with it was thus ready to be implemented in the resulting confusion and fear.
Posted by pessimist at February 28, 2006 05:38 PMMal and Pessimist: I believe chimp ordered 9/11, and not only that, the plans were being made years before jr. took office. That's probably why the repugs tried to get rid of Clinton - needed him out of the way. etc....
No, I'm not paranoid - I'm sure of this. I am also on the "no fly" list.
Posted by sara swati at February 28, 2006 07:01 PMAh, Jesus, Sarah, only the paranoid survive! How can anyone think Dubya can't think? He's the smartest man in the world! I have family who live in Midland,TX and remember him when he was a youngun' there and many long living Mid's liken him to the mafia. How anyone can think that he didn't order the murder of over three thousand people and the subjugation of millions more, has a rock loose. History tends to repeat itself. Hitler is a junior devil compared to Dubya. It can only happen in America, and it has happened here. In spades!
Posted by Mal Feasance at March 1, 2006 03:45 PM