kanelli wrote:And here is the rest of the article that you left out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The United Arab Emirates was becoming both a valued counterterrorism ally of the United States and a persistent counterterrorism problem" the commission wrote. It said President Clinton personally pressed United Arab Emirates leaders to break financial and travel ties with the Taliban, but they refused.
Hamdan bin Zayid, United Arab Emirates foreign minister, told a U.S. diplomat that his country maintains relations with the Taliban to counterbalance "Iranian dangers."
Those dangers are one reason that the United Arab Emirates stands as the United States' best military ally in the Gulf, opening key parts of its country for U.S. operations.
Its Mina Jebel Ali port, the largest man-made harbor in the world, hosts more U.S. warships than any other rest stop outside the United States. CIA and FBI agents collect intelligence there on militant Islam. The United Arab Emirates has cooperated with the U.S. Treasury Department in shutting down bank accounts linked to al Qaeda.
"The United Arab Emirates is a country that's been an ally in the global war on terror," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said on the Michael Reagan radio show this week. "We have a port there where they help us. They have an airfield. We share intelligence, and we have a partnership that has been very, very helpful to the things we do in that part of the world."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lax rules meant that terrorists were able to travel and access money. So what? There are lots of lax rules here, and who would have guessed that money and terrorists from the UAE would have taken part in such an atrocity as the attacks on the Trade Towers and Pentagon? It was a world first. I'd like to remind you that the US was pretty lax when it came to sharing info between the CIA and FBI - resulting in those organisations sitting on their asses while terrorists took flying lessons and continued to exit and enter the States to carry out their evil plan.
The article may not even be correct, but if it is, it clearly mentions the reasons the Emiratis gave for visiting Bin Laden. How do we know what was being discussed? Why would the UAE be so cooperative with the US with anti-terrorism measures if it was secretly bank-rolling terrorism? Also, the article clearly mentions that the UAE has been cooperating in shutting down bank accounts associated with Al Qaeda.
If the UAE were complicit in terrorism and terrorism was rampant here, there would have already been attacks on Westerners, and many companies would have pulled out.
The politics in the Middle East are complicated and leaders of countries are often visiting and socialising with dictators and tyrants in their region. Western government officials also visit dictators and tyrants around the world!
It is these two faces of the Arab nation -- a one-time sympathizer of al Qaeda, yet strong post-September 11 U.S. partner --
I am not implying that EVERY Emir is complicit, it only takes ONE person to deceive the others.
Listen, I would love if the United states were not the target of militants
Fact is, this deal gives 'somebody' with those intentions an opportunity to subvert the intent of the Rulers.
I wish it were not the case but,Muslim support or SILENCE in regards to these activities has harmed relations which otherwise might be good and beneficial.
