Why Is Bush Entertaining Abu Dhabi Crown Prince?

[Woodmonkey]

Why is the president of the United States entertaining Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince, Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at Camp David when his own State Department has singled out the Sheik’s homeland, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), for its continuing violations of human rights?

Abu Dhabi is one of seven oil-rich — and anti-Israel states — in the United Arab Emirates. Using its massive sovereign wealth fund of over $875 billion, Abu Dhabi has been gobbling up American assets, buying considerable stakes in U.S. businesses like Citigroup, the Carlyle Group, Advanced Micro Devices, and Toll Brother and is now bidding on the Chrysler Building.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of State has singled out the U.A.E. for its continuing violation of human rights. Here’s what it said in its latest report for 2007:

“Citizens did not have the right to change their government. In some cases, security forces reportedly employed flogging as judicially sanctioned punishment. Arbitrary detention and incommunicado detention remained problems…”

“The judiciary lacked full independence. The government restricted civil liberties, including freedoms of speech, press (including the Internet), assembly, association, and religion. There were limited reports of corruption, and the government lacked transparency.”

“Domestic abuse of women remained a problem, and there were allegations that it was sometimes enabled by police. Trafficking in women and children and legal and societal discrimination against women and non-citizens also remained problems.”

“The government severely restricted workers’ rights, and the abuse of foreign domestic servants remained a problem…Political organizations, political parties, and trade unions are illegal.”

Last year, Sheik Mohammed was dismissed from a Houston lawsuit brought by a former adviser to the U.A.E. royal family, alleging that he aided and abetted his brother Sheik Issa in brutal torture and false imprisonment. Without ruling on the merits of the plaintiff’s claims, the Court held that Sheik Mohammed had sovereign immunity and could not be tried because, among other things, such torture had not been demonstrated to be illegal in the U.A.E.

And, apparently, torture it was: tapes provided to the Associated Press “showed a man who appeared to be Sheik Issa beating another man with lumber, firing an automatic weapon into the sand around him and forcing an apparent cattle prod into his anus. The victim also appeared to have been partly run over by a SUV and had salt poured on his wounds… Lawyers said the video also showed the victim’s genitals being lit on fire. They said the abuse began because the sheik felt he had been overcharged in a grain deal.”

The suit against Sheik Issa continues. After the release of the embarrassing tapes, the Embassy of the U.A.E. in the U.S. refused to comment on the lawsuit, since it is not actually against the government of the U.A.E., nor has the Embassy commented on the brutality of the documented torture. No action has been taken against the Crown Prince’s brother.

The U.A.E. does not permit Israeli citizens to enter the country and gives special scrutiny to those with Israeli stamps on their passports. Here’s what the U.S. State Department reported on institutionalized anti-Semitism:

“There was a small resident non-citizen Jewish population of unknown size. There were no synagogues. There were no reported acts of physical violence against or harassment of Jewish persons, however, anti-Semitism in the media was present in articles and editorial cartoons, which depicted negative images of Jews. These expressions occurred primarily in the government affiliated daily newspapers Al-Ittihad (government-owned) Al-Bayan (government-owned), and Al-Khaleej (pro-government, privately owned). The articles and cartoons appeared without government response.”

So why is the Crown Prince at Camp David? Maybe they’re talking about the obscene price of oil. Or, if history is any guide, one outcome of the visit might be a big donation to the George W. Bush Presidential Library. If Bush follows Clinton’s example — and his own father’s — he’ll be spending a lot of time at Camp David with prospective rich donors in the next six months.

One thing that is likely missing from the agenda is a discussion of human rights.

The Source

[Shooterman]

Civil Rights is only an issue when it is convenient and doesn't interfere with 'bidness'.

Besides, when the foreigners are in a position to buy us and own us, we can't say too much except 'Yes, Master'.

[pepe]

Thirteen to fifteeen percent of our daily oil requirements come from the Middle East.

That is somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 Billion per year that we send to the folks who don't care for us or our culture.

And we have been doing this for decades.

Considering the rapid decline of the Venezuelen and Mexican Oil Fields, that number is bound to climb with a notable exception of "demand destruction" through higher prices.

However it should be noted that for every one American driver forced off the road due to economics there are 10 Brazillion, Indian and Chinese moving into the world of "happy motoring."

So now the Arabs want "something" for their money because they realize that the "Day of Reckoning" for the Fiat Dollar has or soon will arrive.

We the People deserve exactly the Government we have.

We made our own bed..... now we must learn to live with the consequences of our own political decisions.

Oil: The Final Warning

And the Band plays on..........................................

[Snowden]

Pepe, that article gives us a good many reasons that could be behind this meeting with the Dubai crown prince. I hope Bush can pull something good out of it, as unlikely as that seems.

Dubai is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. As Muslim nations go, it's less "puritanical" than some of the others. I used to watch TV from there and the news anchor was a woman -- no covering. I don't remember whether she wore a scarf though. It's been nearly 10 years since I could get that station. It was because of one of those huge farm satellite dishes that picked up from all over the world. I wish those were still available to use here.

[Shooterman]

Originally Posted by Snowden

Pepe, that article gives us a good many reasons that could be behind this meeting with the Dubai crown prince. I hope Bush can pull something good out of it, as unlikely as that seems.

Dubai is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. As Muslim nations go, it's less "puritanical" than some of the others. I used to watch TV from there and the news anchor was a woman -- no covering. I don't remember whether she wore a scarf though. It's been nearly 10 years since I could get that station. It was because of one of those huge farm satellite dishes that picked up from all over the world. I wish those were still available to use here.

As some, if not most of you know, Pepe, The Old First Sargent, and I go back quite a while on forums, especially one so called conservative forum that shall remain nameless, and another he and I still frequent almost daily. We were both Barry Goldwater supporters of the Old Right persuasion, so when Pepe talks about Oil, Peak and otherwise, I listen. Many are somehow persuaded the correct answer is the old head in the sand syndrome. They either believe the world is awash in oil, or oil, having taken millions of years to form and pool, will miraculously reform almost as we speak, or are completely taken with the idea and there is some merit to this, that the TERRIBLE LIB DIMS are the nasty culprits that are keeping us from Oil Nirvana, ignoring the fact that if we started drilling offshore and in ANWR yesterday, we are 8 to 10 years away from seeing any appreciable difference.

Mr Bush was supposedly an Oil Man, and he had the Bully Pulpit. As we castigate the TERRIBLE LIB DIMS, let's save a little castigation for our President.

[Snowden]

Shooterman, point taken, but with one reservation.

Even if it will take eight to 10 years for drilling here to be effective, if we do not start now it will be that much longer. I have heard from other sources that it would start helping within one year, but I bow to your and Pepe's superior knowledge about that, since it's something I know nothing about.

Bush did try to start drilling here, and so far Congress has forbidden it.

[Shooterman]

Originally Posted by Snowden

Shooterman, point taken, but with one reservation.

Even if it will take eight to 10 years for drilling here to be effective, if we do not start now it will be that much longer. I have heard from other sources that it would start helping within one year, but I bow to your and Pepe's superior knowledge about that, since it's something I know nothing about.

I certainly claim no superior knowledge Miss Marianne, however it is doubtful we would even be starting within a year. Rigs, from what I gather, are contracted out far beyond a years time. The deep water rigs are in very high demand, and the rigs specialized for the shell and oil sands are still being perfected. It also requires huge amounts of water and energy.

Make no mistake, we definitely need to kick the TERRIBLE LIB DIMS in their posteriors and do what we need to do, but from my perspective, it ain't gonna happen. While we are in a kicking mood, we can save a few for our STUPID PUB BRETHREN, as well. This has been coming for over 30 years and yet energy independence is in the future. Surprise, surprise, surprise, as Gomer use to say; the future is now. Coal fired power plants would go a long way to helping the process.

Bush did try to start drilling here, and so far Congress has forbidden it.

He did not try hard enough. The terror has poured across our borders. There is a terror brewing, caused by The FED. The terror will be here big time when the poor folks, not being able to afford 4, 5, and 6 dollar gasoline, decide to take what they want. ( buy Spam, sugar, flour, yeast, gun powder, bullets, primers, and a good reloader. Lot's of MREs wouldn't hurt, either. )