U.S. Intelligence Agencies Backed Dubai Port Deal
U.S. Intelligence Agencies Backed Dubai Port Deal
The question that comes to my mind is whether these agencies were allowed to pass dissenting views or ideas that were contrary to a pre-determine outcome, or was the a rubber stamp on a self-fulfilling prophecy? Given the way in which these very same intelligence agencies were essentially dismissed in regard to intelligence on Iraq, can we be sure that anyone in the chain of command listened, or that there wasn't political and/or supervisory pressure to "bring in the report we want to read"?
It is now being reported that the administration's push of the DPW deal through without a full national security invesitigation violated a couple of laws. The fact that the Bush administration pushed through the deal without complying with the law, without disclosing the receipt of money from the UAE just weeks before the deal went through, and disclosing the hiring of DPW executives into administration positions raises the question of whether the administration is incompetent or involved in a deliberate end-run... or is it a conspiracy... and do we need to look at RICO to resolve the issue? It is also very strange that our "I will keep you safe from terrorists" president also claims not to know anything about the events until just last week. Do we really believe that the daily security briefings for the president, vice president, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (which includes Navy and Coast Guard Admirals having jurisdiction over our ports), the national security council, and the NSA had not mentioned the DPW deal... not even once?
But the royals of the UAE met with Osama bin Laden and have been known to fund Islamic charitable organizations linked to distributing monies to Islamic terror groups in Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Pakistan and elsewhere.
As I said before, our ports are one of the weakest links in our national security. The Coast Guard and Navy were essentially told to stand down in the mid-1990s in terms of Maritime Defense Zone (MARDEZ) planning that included security for our ports. Only about 6% of the containers coming inot our ports are screened.
None of our ports should be operated by foreign corporations. It is alright if foreign corporations do business in our ports, have warehouses and such, but the overall operations, cooperation with law enforcement and security authorities, and the processing of cargo through Customs needs to be tightly controlled and in the hands of American corporations.
Reviews by U.S. intelligence agencies supported Dubai Ports World's purchase of the British company running terminals at six American seaports, and the assessments were made available to the Treasury Department-run interagency committee that approved the deal, according to senior administration officials. The intelligence studies were coordinated by the Intelligence Community Acquisition Risk Center, a new organization under the office of the Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, said one official. The center normally does broad threat analyses of foreign commercial entities that seek to do business with U.S. intelligence agencies.
The question that comes to my mind is whether these agencies were allowed to pass dissenting views or ideas that were contrary to a pre-determine outcome, or was the a rubber stamp on a self-fulfilling prophecy? Given the way in which these very same intelligence agencies were essentially dismissed in regard to intelligence on Iraq, can we be sure that anyone in the chain of command listened, or that there wasn't political and/or supervisory pressure to "bring in the report we want to read"?
Rep. Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, yesterday asked the panel's chairman, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), to have a full briefing on intelligence reviews of the port deal and provide "any classified intelligence community assessments that are pertinent." Holt's concern is finding out how closely potential terrorism threats were examined, according to congressional sources.
While contents of the intelligence assessments remain classified, current and former intelligence officials yesterday spoke highly of the level of counterterrorism cooperation provided after Sept. 11, 2001, by Dubai and several of the other states that make up the United Arab Emirates.
It is now being reported that the administration's push of the DPW deal through without a full national security invesitigation violated a couple of laws. The fact that the Bush administration pushed through the deal without complying with the law, without disclosing the receipt of money from the UAE just weeks before the deal went through, and disclosing the hiring of DPW executives into administration positions raises the question of whether the administration is incompetent or involved in a deliberate end-run... or is it a conspiracy... and do we need to look at RICO to resolve the issue? It is also very strange that our "I will keep you safe from terrorists" president also claims not to know anything about the events until just last week. Do we really believe that the daily security briefings for the president, vice president, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (which includes Navy and Coast Guard Admirals having jurisdiction over our ports), the national security council, and the NSA had not mentioned the DPW deal... not even once?
A former senior CIA official recalled that, although money transfers from Dubai were used by the Sept. 11 hijackers, Dubai's security services "were one of the best in the UAE to work with" after the attacks. He said that once the agency moved against Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and his black-market sales of nuclear technology, "they helped facilitate the CIA's penetration of Khan's network."
Dubai also assisted in the capture of al-Qaeda terrorists. An al-Qaeda statement released in Arabic in spring 2002 refers to UAE officials as wanting to "appease the Americans' wishes" including detaining "a number of Mujahideen," according to captured documents made available last week by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. The al-Qaeda statement threatened the UAE, saying that "you are an easier target than them; your homeland is exposed to us."
But the royals of the UAE met with Osama bin Laden and have been known to fund Islamic charitable organizations linked to distributing monies to Islamic terror groups in Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Pakistan and elsewhere.
As I said before, our ports are one of the weakest links in our national security. The Coast Guard and Navy were essentially told to stand down in the mid-1990s in terms of Maritime Defense Zone (MARDEZ) planning that included security for our ports. Only about 6% of the containers coming inot our ports are screened.
None of our ports should be operated by foreign corporations. It is alright if foreign corporations do business in our ports, have warehouses and such, but the overall operations, cooperation with law enforcement and security authorities, and the processing of cargo through Customs needs to be tightly controlled and in the hands of American corporations.
posted by Jim Downey at 4:29 AM
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