Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

[Chertoff's spokesman, Russ] Knocke said the reason Mr. Chertoff was not informed was because CFIUS canvassed scores of government agencies and none objected to Dubai Ports World's (DPW) bid to buy terminal operations on national security grounds.

No objections? Hardly. Both Chertoff's Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard raised a red flag on the deal. Likely, the lifted brows were the result of the noted ties amongst Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the Emirates.

For example, the bombing of a suspected Bin Laden camp in Afghanistan in February 1999 was thwarted because Bin Laden was thought to be meeting with the UAE royal family, or, as former CIA Director George Tenet said in his March 24, 2004 testimony to the 9/11 commission, if you bombed the camp, "you might have wiped out half the royal family in the UAE in the process, which I'm sure entered into everybody's calculation in all this."

And from the 9/11 Staff report:

On February 8, the military began to ready itself for a possible strike. The next day, national technical intelligence confirmed the location and description of the larger camp and showed the nearby presence of an official aircraft of the United Arab Emirates. But the location of Bin Ladin's quarters could not be pinned down so precisely...According to reporting from the tribals, Bin Ladin regularly went from his adjacent camp to the larger camp where he visited the Emirates; the tribals expected him to be at the hunting camp for such a visit at least until midmorning on February 11...No strike was launched. By February 12 Bin Ladin had apparently moved on, and the immediate strike plans became moot. According to CIA and Defense officials, policymakers were concerned about the danger that a strike would kill an Emirati prince or other senior officials who might be with Bin Ladin or close by.

And finally, from counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke:

On March 7, 1999, Clarke called a UAE official to express his concerns about possible associations between Emirati officials and Bin Ladin...The United Arab Emirates was becoming both a valued counterterrorism ally of the United States and a persistent counterterrorism problem...

Add to all this, the boasting of Al Qaeda's infiltration of the United Arab Emirate's government:

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...

And yet the deal went through.

Bush even promised to veto any attempt to block the takeover without apparently knowing all the related details. Bush buddy, Trent Lott opined, "I don't think [President Bush has] handled [the port deal] very well. I personally was offended when" Bush said "before he even knew -- we didn't know all the details and what we might do, he said I'll veto the bill. That's kind of like, hey, in your face, I'll veto." -- MSNBC's Hardball

So the Bush Administration has excacerbated the rift within its own party and created a grave political risk for the same in 2006. What could motivate such a lapse in political judgment? Rove and Bush are supposed to be political masters. Apparently that ship has sailed.

Or has it? Perhaps there was an overriding reason for this decision -- you know, like the 14-hour delay in reporting Cheney's shooting incident.

But what could the reason be?

Was it because a GOP ex-presidential candidate was brokering the deal?

Ex-Senator Bob Dole's lobbying on behalf of Dubai Ports World "is creating a political problem for his wife," North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole." North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek yesterday "called on Sen. Dole to remove herself from 'any congressional oversight' of the Dubai port deal." A spokeswoman for Sen. Dole "rejected the criticism as 'a partisan attack' and defended the senator's role as a lawmaker and her husband's as a lobbyist."

Was it because DP World honors a Boycott of Israel, one of the United States closest allies?

Was it because the United Arab Emirates is a major stakeholder in the Carlyle Group -- the same private equity firm that has been dominated by such Republican emissaries as George H. W. Bush, former Secretary of State James A. Baker, and ex-secretary of defense Frank Carlucci -- AND that the UAE government-run firm, Dubai International Capital backs an $8 billion Carlyle fund?

Or was it simply because The UAE even gave more than a million dollars to the elder Bush's presidential library in Texas.

All very interesting questions, but not quite as interesting as the following:

Why did Treasury Secretary John Snow first approve the DPW deal and then deny that he did so?

I don't know, but I do know some things that you should know as well.

First, in 2002, while Treasury Secretary John Snow was still the CEO of CSX Corp., the Carlyle Group bought the company.

In 2003, Snow was appointed Treasury Secretary by George W. Bush

One year later, CSX sold its port operations to Dubai Ports for $1.15 billion.

Now, John Snow has approved the U.S. port takeover by U.A.E. state-owned Dubai Ports World.

So immersed in this is John Snow that Republican insiders (according to the subscription-only newsletter U.S. Bulletin News) are targeting him as the "Dubai fall guy":

Some Republican advisers to Hill leaders, angered with the poor handling of the plan to hand over operations at major U.S. ports to a Dubai company, are suggesting today that Treasury Secretary John Snow may take the fall for the White House, US News Bulletin has learned. Even as administration officials dismissed the suggestion outright, some lawmakers and their aides were looking to pin the blame on somebody other than the President and the White House, and are focused on Snow because he is the head of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which approves such deals.

Snow has said he didn't learn about the port deal until it was publicized last week. While he is still liked inside the White House, it has long been rumored that Snow would be resigning this year. And some conservative opponents of the deal are suggesting that he -- and whomever he designated as his representative during the review -- bow out soon to take the heat off the President.

Of course the buck -- particularly for issues of national security -- must stop with the president.

So again, why would the Bush Administration accept such political risk in the run-up to the 2006 election?

Follow the money...

The UAE invests heavily in George H. W. Bush's Carlyle Group >> George H. W. Bush's Carlyle Group buys John Snow's CSX >> George W. Bush Appoints John Snow to Treasury Secretary >> CSX Sells its port operations to Dubai Ports >> John Snow approves US Port Takeover by UAE state-owned DP World.

Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching! Cha-Ching!

Everybody's happy.

 ***

And on a lighter note, check out a little late-night Bush/Port comedy:

David Letterman: "Everybody is angry because an Arab country, company has been hired to run six American ports. And President Bush is now saying he did not know what was going on. That is so out of character."

Jay Leno: "You know who's in charge of all the US ports? Neither does President Bush."

Jay Leno: "Now Bush is saying he was not aware that we signed a deal to give Arab countries control of our Eastern sea ports. Yeah. In fact, today President Bush began tapping his own phones so he could find out what's going on."

Jay Leno: "President Bush now says he didn't know about the Dubai port deal until after it was approved. Apparently this is part of the White House's 'Don't ask him, don't tell him' policy."

David Letterman: "How about this, President Bush is letting an Arab company run American ports. That's like letting Robert Blake take your wife to dinner."

Jay Leno: "I guess you heard, today was a big White House President's Day clearance sale. All our ports must go. No offer refused. No enemy turned down. Crazy George is insane, come on down!"

David Letterman: "But you think about it, an Arab company running a US port, that's like putting FEMA in charge of disaster relief."

Jay Leno: "The United States has made a deal that will put a company based in the United Arab Emirates in control of our largest ports. They're going to be doing security. Apparently, this is called 'Operation Let's Make It As Easy As We Can For The Terrorists.'"

Jay Leno: "They said when President Bush arrives in India...he'll have 5,000 security personnel protecting him. 5,000. I wonder if any of them work for that Arab government that Bush says we're going to trust with our ports?"

Jay Leno: "With all this port security stuff going on, the White House is now looking back at the Cheney shooting as the good old days."