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Just unbelievable for the guy who promised “We the People” he would pursue and kill Osama Bin Laden. Being entertained in the Emirates with the same sport and by the same sovereign leaders.
US President George W. Bush holds a falcon with Crown Prince of Adu Dhabi Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Royal Stables at the Al Asayl Racing and Equestrian Club, near the town of Sowaihan in United Arab Emirates. (Photo AP)
The Falcon and the Blowman and Bitburg
In the meantime he has led the U.S. into a costly war claiming 200,000 Iraqi lives, multiple wounded and 3-4 million Iraqi’s fleeing the country.
What nation is this that has grown into an empire the Founding Fathers fought the War of Independence for? How far have the President and Congress strayed from the Constitution and the protection of Our Rights as citizens of this once great nation!
More below the fold …
Questions linger about the role high-ranking United Arab Emirates officials played in supporting Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida in the years leading up to Sept. 11.
In fact, some U.S. government reports suggest that the United States lost a clear opportunity to kill bin Laden because he was too close to U.A.E. officials traveling in his entourage – officials Clinton security adviser Richard Clarke may have thought were too important to harm.
On Feb. 8, 1999, the Pentagon and the CIA were preparing a military strike on a luxury hunting camp in the desert south of Kandahar, Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden had been sighted. There were problems, however.
Satellite imagery revealed the presence of a military aircraft belonging to the U.A.E., and “policymakers were concerned about the danger that a strike would kill an Emirati prince or other senior officials who might be with bin Laden or close by,” according to the 9/11 Commission report.
Who were these U.S. “policymakers” mentioned in the 9/11 report who thwarted the opportunity to kill one of the world’s most wanted men? The report does not say.
"We will prosecute these men and send a clear message to those who kill Americans: No matter how long it takes, we will find you and bring you to justice."
Coincidentally, the Clinton administration National Security Council advisor, Richard Clarke, had just returned to the United States from consultations with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, chief of staff of the U.A.E. armed forces, regarding a proposed sale of F-16s to the Gulf state as well as counter-terrorism issues, according to the report.
Clarke revealed to the 9/11 Commission that during a one-on-one meeting with Sheikh Mohammad, the sheikh had “vehemently denied rumors that high-level U.A.E. officials were in Afghanistan” hunting with bin Laden.
Clarke said the failure to strike bin Laden was a CIA decision.
The proposed air strike was called off four days later “after consultations with [CIA] Director [George] Tenet because the intelligence was dubious,” Clarke told the Commission. But the CIA contested Clarke’s assertions, as did former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Hugh Shelton.
And according to Alan Parrot, an Arabist and falconry expert who became close to Sheikh Mohammad’s father, U.A.E. leader Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, there was never any question that bin Laden was present at the luxury hunting camp in southern Afghanistan along with top U.A.E. officials.
“Osama bin Laden’s hunting partner was none other than Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, and a full brother of the sheikh who signed the F-16 deal.”
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
