Is Bush being blackmailed by the UAE?

[MiniMe]

My :tinfoilhat: question.

I was reading the CNN story on the congress vote on adding the port legislation into a spending bill:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/08/port.security/index.html

Congress Declares War on Port Deal


This particular paragraph struck me a little strange:

(snip)
Bin Sulayem said Tuesday he has "no doubt" that the 45-day review will allay congressional concerns. And while Sulayem said he appreciates scrutiny from lawmakers, he also said Congress doesn't thoroughly understand the particulars of the deal, "even though the White House does."
(snip)


The bolding is mine. What does it mean that the White House understands the particulars of the deal? What are they holding over *'s head that he is trying to push this through? If * didn't know about it, as the White House suggests, who in the White House "knows the particulars" if the President doesn't?

Like I said, totally tinfoil hat time, but there is something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

[elehhhhna]

1. It's a secret. EVERYTHING is a secret. Even from George.

[Sensitivity]

2. Outside the world of jingoistic U.S. politics, NO ONE has a problem

with the business deal from the stand point of security.

DP World in envied by Port operators around the world for their advanced operations and security infrastructure. I had a meeting with one such about 6 months ago and they were
ga-ga over Dubai Ports.

[lyonn]

7. Dubai sounds like they have better security measures

than we do. Sheesh, so why don't we work on having an operation as fine as Dubais here in the U.S.? It tells me we are failing on all levels in the area of homeland security, or should I say verifies we are failing. Imagine, thousands sneaking over our border and we can do nothing.

[Sensitivity]

16. U.S. Operators are Junk-Yard Dealers compared to Hong Kong, Singapore

Copenhagen and Dubai operators.

Unwillingness of U.S. operators to invest in technology, security, salaries is the main
reason that U.S. Port Authorities have, for the last 30 years, increasingly given terminal contracts to Hutchison (Hong Kong), PSA (Singapore), Cosco(Shanghai) or Maersk (Copenhagen).

These companies, like DP World, have been willing to make long-term investments in the U.S. than their American counter-parts who were looking at short-term profits and their stock performance.

[lyonn]

3. What if congress votes against this port deal

and bush vetos it. Then congress votes again and overrides bushes veto, then bush has a legitimate out with the Arabs. Hey man, I tried but congress got in the way. That appears to get bush off the hook and the port deal fails.

[SPKrazy]

4. Probably Holding Their Knowledge Of LIHOP

or MIHOP
or child sex trafficking and GWHB and the Franklin Sex Scandal

or who the hell knows

[Just Me]

5. Oh, PUH-LEASE!!!! The BFEE,...blackmailed?

:rofl:

If so, they are getting PRECISELY what's coming to them, the rat bastards.

[cannabis_flower]

6. I heard a rumor..

and mind you it is only a rumor, that the IMF has something to do with the port deal being foisted on the US.

[Just Me]

12. Oh, yea,...and who FUNDS the IMF?

:7

:rofl:

Oh, and I would enjoy, perhaps too much, these f*ckers suffering serious blowback!!! I CAN'T HELP MYSELF!!! :evilgrin:

[cannabis_flower]

22. World Bank and

multinational corporations.

[nonconformist]

8. That always seems to be the White House meme

"you don't understand"
"if the American people would just understand"
"what Congress doesn't understand"

And on and on and on. And it's BEYOND condescending.

[teryang]

9. I'd like to see the finance arrangements for the takeover

Usually they involve debt instruments of dubious credit worthiness, money laundering, self dealing, and a devil take the hindmost attitude on the part of the investment banking cronies pushing the deal to line their own pockets. Funding and money trails will dissappear in off shore secret accounts.

[lyonn]

17. The Deal, DPW is buying the British contract

that they had with the U.S. What was Britain's original deal? When was it made, for what length of time and how much? Is Dubai getting a one year contract, or, does it go on into infinity?

[Sensitivity]

20. Deal is tiny compared with U.S. Corp buyouts. U.S. part is only 5%

[sheelz]

10. This has to be the goofiest question ever.!

Bush is the blackmailer.

[yurbud]

11. one angle that aint too tinfoil: bases to go to when we leave Iraq

he'd need to give something in exchange for that.

The most tinfoil explanation is that like the Saudis and Pakistanis, UAE is in on the terrorist crap, and giving them control of ports makes it easier to fake another big terrorist attack because that barn door will be wide open when it needs to be.

[phoebe]

13. where to begin..it's about the "long" war, the "war on terrorism", the

need to keep the people living in fear; the need for Bushco to make more money; the need for Bushco to sell more arms; the need to keep the "religious right" dancing to their tune; the need to keep the people of the UAE angry with the US; the need to outsource jobs to lowest paying workers with no restrictions; the need to break the unions; the need to keep the Middle East in permanent turmoil; the need to make money from ever-decreasing amounts of oil; the need to keep the lobbyists paying; but above all, the need to keep us divided from each other, using whatever means necessary...

[DinahMoeHum]

14. Considering that Osama bin Laden has played W for a cherry

so far, I wouldn't put that notion past the UAE folks.

:evilfrown:

[RagingInMiami]

15. Not blackmailed

Just profiting. Business as usual.

[FreedomAngel82]

18. I think it might be a payback

for 9/11. Remember everything they do is already planned. Only thing else is the timing. Now is perfect before they lose any seats in the upcoming midterms and they can also use it on security (whatever that means).

[Sensitivity]

19. Deal has only SYBOLIC significance for U.S. (only 5% relates to U.S. Port

operations -- terminal operator rights on some terminals on some ports is not as
big a deal as it is being made out to be). The main assets of P&O are in Asia and Europe.

It is symbolicaly critical to the NeoCons and Repub Congress as a tool to stir up
jingoistic, xenophobic bigotry in their base.

It is sybolically critical to the Bush Admin in that killing it could trigger gradual
diss-investment by foreign governments in the U.S. and bring down his tottering economic house of cards -- huge trade and financial deficits now being supported by foreign capital.

[pitohui]

21. victor ashe i presume?

seriously i don't know how you can blackmail a man who has done what the shrub has done, any supposedly secret peccadillos -- the drinking, the getting it on for 20 yrs with a man and then giving him ambassorship of poland, the jeff gannon chronicles etc -- those are the vices of any man and not on a par w. the evil deeds he has openly committed such as invading iraq w.out cause and playing guitar while new orleans drowns

if he is being blackmailed it is because of his own lack of courage and not because anyone would give a happy crap about his affair w. mr. ashe, which we all know abt anyway

hell, cheney shot his friend in the face while drunk and did anyone really care, no it was just fodder for the late night comedy shows

they can get away w. anything, they can't be blackmailed -- if only they had the nuts to realize it