Bu$hCo Is Subtle & Intellectual - Hell Freezes Over!

Dan Froomkin of the WaPo's White House Briefing suggests that President Bush is "Reaping What He Sows" with the AUE/Dubai port deal. Solid summaries with links on some of the reporting are provided by Mr. Froomkin. I have surely found it odd to see Bu$h talk with a pre-9-11 mentality.

Back in the run up to the election in 2004, Bu$h spoke in Wilks-Barre Pennsylvania, with the trancript provided to us via CNN. Bu$h said,

Our differences are also clear on issues of national security. When I took office in 2001 ... Since that day we have waged a global campaign to protect the American people and bring our enemies to account. Our government has trained over a half a million first responders. We tripled spending on homeland security. Law enforcement intelligence have better tools to stop terrorists thanks to the Patriot Act -- which Senator Kerry voted for, but now wants to weaken. The Taliban regime that sheltered Al Qaida is gone from power and the people of Afghanistan will vote in free elections this very week. ... A black market network that provided weapons materials to North Korea and Libya and Iran is now out of business. ... After September the 11th, America had to assess every potential threat in a new light. Our nation awakened to an even greater danger: the prospect that terrorists who killed thousands with hijacked airplanes would kill many more with weapons of mass murder. We had to take a hard look at everyplace where terrorists might get those weapons and one regime stood out: the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. ... We'll confront governments that support terrorists and could arm them, because they're equally guilty of terrorist murder. ...In our debate, Senator Kerry said that removing Saddam Hussein was a mistake because the threat was not imminent. The problem with this approach is obvious: If America waits until a threat is at our doorstep, it might be too late to save lives. ... My opponent has also announced the Kerry doctrine, declaring that Americans actions in the war on terror must pass a global test.Under this test, America would not be able to act quickly against threats because we're sitting around waiting for our grade from other nations and other leaders.I have a different view. America will always work with allies for security and peace, but the president's job is not to pass a global test. The president's job is to protect the American people. ... This mindset will paralyze America in a dangerous world. I will never hand over America's security decisions to foreign leaders and international bodies that do not have America's interests at heart. ... I wake up every morning thinking about how to make our country more secure. I have acted again and again to protect our people. I will never relent in defending America whatever it takes.

Apparently now that Bu$hCo has some financial interests in play for his Big Mule backers we'll see the subtle side. And it may be that this arrangement is appropriate. Still, given how Bu$h has lived in a black and white world and painted with such a broad brush I hope to see the Progressive community make him squirm. Bu$hCo will readily shred civil liberties guaranteed by the "goddamned piece of paper" in his post-9-11 world plus invade a country that is no threat to the United States yet when money is at stake then he tries the intellectual approach!


As for other resources on this issue ... Digby sends us to Robert Parry for a connection with the assassins of Lebanon's former PM perhaps escaping through the UAE. Katrina vanden Heuvel gives us "The Truth about Dubya and Dubai" focusing on the failures to enact real security reform and also the role of corporate profits for any Bu$hCo decision. Marty Kaplan, posting at HuffPo, works with W's "my" government describing it not as a Freudian slip but rather an Orwellian siren. Common Dreams' Kevin Phillips gives us "The Barreling Bushes" that provides detailed insights into the apparent entanglements of the family with Mideastern power structures. Michael Smerconish, often an apologist for Bu$hCo, writing at HuffPo today however, sends us to page 138 of the 9-11 Commission report suggesting that the UAE might have prevented the US from killing Bin Laden back in 1999. Larry Johnson at No Quarter tells us that Dubai World Ports hardly has a solid record on contraband. While the Captain hates to link to the Moonie Times, this article points out the dueling interests of this committee vetting the deal. I feel somewhat the same hesitancy about the National Review yet Andrew McCarthy gives abuse to the left and right in "The Politically Correct vs. the Politically Ridiculous: No heroes in the port drama". Think Progress has suggested that Bu$hCo did not complete the 45 day investigation required by CFIUS. Nor was Treasury Secretary John Snow even present for the meetings as required by the CFIUS laws. He's the Chairman and he wasn't there? So out of Bu$h, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Snow ... none knew of the deal until it was hitting the papers this week?

This seems like a classic Bu$hCo disaster and might indeed be a tipping point for much of middle America. Worst administration ever! Peace ... or War!