QAEDA CLAIM: WE 'INFILTRATED' UAE GOV'T (NY Post)

[kpete]

QAEDA CLAIM: WE 'INFILTRATED' UAE GOV'T

By NILES LATHEM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

February 25, 2006 -- WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda warned the government of the United Arab Emirates more than three years ago that it "infiltrated" key government agencies, according to a disturbing document released by the U.S. military.

The warning was contained in a June 2002 message to UAE rulers, in which the terror network demanded the release of an unknown number of "mujahedeen detainees," who it said had been arrested during a government crackdown in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

The explosive document is certain to become ammunition for critics of the controversial UAE port deal, who fear the Dubai-based firm could be used by terrorists to sneak money and personnel into the United States.

Little is known about the origins or authorship of the message.

"You are well aware that we have infiltrated your security, censorship and monetary agencies, along with other agencies that should not be mentioned," the message said.

"Therefore, we warn of the continuation of practicing . . . policies which do not serve your interest and will only cost you many problems that will place you in an embarrassing state before your citizens.

"Your homeland is exposed to us. There are many vital interests that will hurt you if we decided to harm them."

http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/64126.htm

[tularetom]

1. Whether true or not

A statement like this should have raised a great big stinky red flag in front of the committee that reviewed this ports deal/ Yet it appears that they didn't consider this. Were there overriding considerations? Was somebody tolf to back off? Were committee members bribed or threatened? WTF is going on? This thing has more holes in it than cheney's story about shooting that guy.

[berner59]

2. "stinky red flag"...

yes... This has "follow the money" written all over it...

[Dr. Jones]

3. And perhaps MIHOP?

n/t

[Daphne08]

4. I smell a rat somewhere in the woodshed, just don't know where

:shrug:

[johnaries]

5. THIS is my issue with the port sale!

It's not that they are "A-rabs", not because I don't think that the UAE is "on our side", but it's obvious that they have been infiltrated.

"Experts" say that Dubai Ports have "done a good job", which means they have made a profit. But it's obvious from the reports of drugs, illegal black market weapons, etc. that they HAVE been infiltrated.

I'm not scared of the UAE government, I'm not scared of the DP leadership - I'm afraid of the infiltrators.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. They would have an easier time of it if they were in charge of our

southern border.... not much resistance there.... tunnels already dug.... welcome mat in front of the door so to speak.

[MADem]

7. Infiltrated, my ass...more like awakened dormant sentiments

UAE was one of only three countries that recognized the friken TALIBAN. We aren't talking a liberal and progressive society, there--seven guys own everything, and anyone in that country has to be on the good side of those guys to make any dough or live a comfortable life. The only thing they do with abandon is practice aggressive capitalism.

I mean, come on--those guys under the thumbs of these absolute rulers can't be watching Al Jazeerah and Al Arabiya every evening and sincerely come away with a rosy view of our actions in Iraq.

Gee, wonder if Timmy Two Shoes will mention this on Meet Timmy the Potato Head tomorrow? He's slated to have John Warner, who thinks the port deal is just fine, and Peter King, who was initially "outraged" but apparently Karl twisted his scrotal sac, so now he's moved over to "maybe" and is expressing "cautious optimism."

[Babel_17]

8. K&R: Have you seen this?

http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2006/02/west_point_cent.html

February 23, 2006
Al Qaeda Claimed Infiltration of Key UAE Agencies in 2002

Lorenzo Vidino, on travel and unable to post, sent me one of the DOD Harmony database documents released by the West Point CTC last week (and publicized for the first time anywhere here). It's a communication in May or June of 2002 from Al Qaeda to "Officials in the United Arab Emirates and especially the two emirates of Abu-Dhabi and Dubai," warning them to cease the detainment of "Mujahideen" for handing over to "suppressive organizations in their country." Al Qaeda warns the officials, "You are well aware that we have infiltrated your security, censorship, and monetary agencies along with other agencies that should not be mentioned." Al Qaeda also pokes at the perceived weaknesses in their intelligence and security operations and at American counterterrorism programs: "Also, we are confident that you are fully aware that your agencies will not get to the same high level of your American Lords. Furthermore, your intelligence will not be cleverer than theirs, and your censorship capabilities are not worth much against what they have reached. In spite of all this Allah has granted us success to get even with them and harm them. However, you are an easier target than them; your homeland is exposed to us." The communication ends with a demand that the UAE release its detainees or face its wrath.

We don't know whether Al Qaeda actually infiltrated the agencies as claimed. I haven't found any news story indicating the release by the UAE or the emirates of any detainee or the escape of any suspected terrorist prisoner held by them at any point since the date of the communication. EDIT: Here's a good U.S. News & World Report article on Dubai as "the region's criminal crossroads, a hub for smuggling, money laundering, and underground banking." Here is an AP story on the strategic importance of the UAE to the U.S. You can download the translated Al Qaeda communication below.

Download AlQaedaUAEInfiltrationHarmony.pdf

Posted by Andrew Cochran at 03:33 PM | Permalink


And this ....

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051205/5terror.b1.htm

An Unlikely Criminal Crossroads

12/5/05

From Egypt to Afghanistan, when terrorists and gangsters need a place to meet, to relax, maybe to invest, they head to Dubai, a bustling city-state on the Persian Gulf. The Middle East's unquestioned financial capital, Dubai is the showcase of the United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich federation of sheikdoms. Forty years ago, Dubai was a backwater; today, it hosts dozens of banks and one of the world's busiest ports; its free-trade zones are crammed with thousands of companies. Construction is everywhere--skyscrapers, malls, hotels, and, soon, the world's tallest building.

But Dubai also serves as the region's criminal crossroads, a hub for smuggling, money laundering, and underground banking. There are Russian and Indian mobsters, Iranian arms traffickers, and Arab jihadists. Funds for the 9/11 hijackers and African embassy bombers were transferred through the city. It was the heart of Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan's black market in nuclear technology and other proliferation cases. Half of all applications to buy U.S. military equipment from Dubai are from bogus front companies, officials say. "Iran," adds one U.S. official, "is building a bomb through Dubai." Last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents thwarted the shipment of 3,000 U.S. military night-vision goggles by an Iranian pair based in Dubai. Moving goods undetected is not hard. Dhows--rickety wooden boats that have plowed the Arabian Sea for centuries--move along the city center, uninspected, down the aptly named Smuggler's Creek.

U.A.E. rulers have taken terrorism seriously since 9/11, but Washington has a half-dozen extradition requests that they refuse to honor. The list includes people accused of rape, murder, and arms trafficking, and the last fugitive of the BCCI banking scandal. The country has put money laundering controls on the books but has made few cases. Interior Minister Sheik Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan told U.S. News the U.A.E. has made great strides in cracking down, but he insists that the real problems lie elsewhere. "We are a neutral country, like Switzerland," he says. "Give us the evidence, and we will do something about it. Don't blame others." Not everyone agrees. "All roads lead to Dubai," says former treasury agent John Cassara, author of Hide and Seek, a forthcoming book on terrorism finance. Cassara tried explaining U.S. concerns about Dubai to a local businessman but got only a puzzled look: "Mr. John, money laundering? But that's what we do. " -David E. Kaplan

[kpete]

9. thanks, adding to my evening reading...

[sundancekid]

14. thanks for the post - especially the usnews find - a really good summary

that was done PRIOR to the current hellaballoo ...

UAE = Uninvited Atomic Exports
UAE = United Advancemen for Exploitation
UAE = Unfettered Aristocratic Excesses

oh, the imagination station is working overtime here ...

[mikehiggins]

10. I really think BushCo has thrown in the towel on the "War on

Terrorism" and that his cronies and hangers on are doing nothing but looking for ways to line their pockets before the crap finally hits the fan.

Judging by the incredible ineffectiveness of these people, it seems to me that if Osama was really anything like a serious threat, the much hyped "second attack" would have taken place by now.

God knows we don't have a nation of Jack Bauers running around thwarting the evildoers.

Allthough we do have a President who is eerily similar to the one playing that role currently on "24."

[ananda]

11. Yeah, Charles and Martha...

Charles Logan is such a weak, wishywashy president, trying
to depend on Mike Novick to make his decisions for him.

And Martha, that shrewd, intelligent wife of his, and the one
with a heart.... The only problem is that it's pretty unbelievable
that she's still with him, after what he done to make her think
she was crazy.

What a couple.

Too bad Laura Bush ain't no Martha Logan. Can you imagine
Pickles having a mind of her own?

Sue

[Wordie]

12. Whoa! "Little is known about the origins or authorship of the message. "

...and this is the NY Post, ya know? Not exactly a bastion of unbiased reporting on issues about the middle east!

This looks like yet another red herring.

[kpete]

13. Three More Reasons Why The UAE Shouldn't Be Entrusted With Our Ports Of En

Saturday :: Feb 25, 2006
Three More Reasons Why The UAE Shouldn't Be Entrusted With Our Ports Of Entry

by Steve Soto
Now that the Bush Administration has decided to ram the Dubai ports deal through without regard for what Congress thinks, I suppose it is a tad bit inconvenient to point out the following:

Reader Joe Musco points us to the following testimony just last year in front of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, in which our own Chief of Staff to the US Mission to the United Nations, told Congress that the UAE was participating in the ferrying of prohibited goods to and from Saddam Hussein in violation of the UN sanctions.

Musco also points us to the fact that the UAE allowed the Al Wasel and Babel Company to be set up as a front for Saddam Hussein, so that he could violate the sanctions by engaging in kickbacks and attempts to procure such lovely things like surface-to-air missile systems. Who said so? Why, John Snow’s Treasury Department, that’s who. Although the UAE eventually shut down the Al Wasel and Babel Company, they continue to allow its parent company the Lootah Group to operate inside the country as their version of Halliburton, a giant enterprise also named the Lootah General Trading Company, which operates among other things a container inspection business. The Lootah Group has already been identified as a front company that violated the “Oil for Food” program by the Treasury Department and as a front company for Saddam by Charles Duelfer in his report for the CIA. So how can the right wing in this country use the Oil for Food program as a whipping boy anymore against anyone if they themselves now want to turn our ports of entry over to a country that itself was complicit?

And to cap it off, reader Kim Stewart directs us to this gem, in today’s New York Post (registration required), of all places:

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/006943.php

[Babel_17]

15. If on tomorrow's shows

none of the good guys raise the points mentioned on these boards I'm going to be angry as well as disappointed.

Maybe we need new spokespeople or they should at least take crash courses in how to perform information gathering.

Those with large staffs have no excuse.

Oh yeah, KICKED! :)