[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Bush, Fuel, and Funding Friends of Terrorists Written by Catherine Mullins In a June 4 ABC News report, it was revealed that an 80-million-dollar contract from the U.S. military for jet fuel was given to an Arab businessman wanted by the FBI. Even worse, a closer look shows this seeming conflict of interests may not be just a matter of incompetence. “If you do business with terrorists, if you support or sponsor them, you will not do business with the United States of America” President Bush adamantly proclaimed in his memorable address September 24, 2001, just a few days after “the war on terror” had been launched. However, after allowing the military to give a jet-fuel contract to a Saudi indicted for fraud and formerly wanted by the French for connections with terrorists, it seems the president doesn’t feel this statement should include his own adminisration. In the report, ABC observed that a Saudi named Ghait Pharaon, wanted by the FBI for fraud in the BCCI banking scandal, gained a contract for $80,452,502.39 with the US military. “Perhaps the U.S. Justice Department should give the Pentagon a jingle,” suggested Douglas J. Hagman Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network in an article for the site connected with Homeland Security. Seeing, however, that this is the second time this indicted Saudi has been given a large contract, (the first time being in 2007 for $40 million) there has been plenty of time for telephone calls to be initiated. In fact the FBI did make several attempts to find Pharaon, including a raid of his luxury yacht off an Italian port, and the posting of a webpage about him on their site in 2006. Since then, however, no more known attempts have been made, and, although the webpage about him has been removed, he is still wanted by the FBI. How, then, does a man indicted for money laundering in scandal that cost American tax payers $1.7 billion land a deal with the U.S. military for 80 million dollars? One explanation: Having connections with President Bush might help. “Interestingly, Pharaon was also an investor in President George W. Bush's first business venture, Arbusto Energy” Gretchen Peters reports in the ABC news article. “Interestingly” is not the word, especially as it turns out Arbusto (the word means “Bush” in Spanish) Energy was not the only time these two had dealings with each other. George W. Bush and Ghaith Pharaon were classmates at Harvard Business School. (Which, “interestingly,” one of the Bin Laden children later attended.) Not long after Bush’s graduation in 1977, Pharaon became a key investor — along with Salem Bin Laden, Osama’s oldest brother — in George Bush’s Harken Corporation. (formerly Arbusto Energy). In fact, Paul Thompson notes in his Complete 911 timeline “… In 1988, the same year his (George W.’s) father becomes president, some Saudis (including key investors Bin Laden and Pharaon) buy a portion of his small company, Harken, which has never performed work outside of Texas. Later in the year, Harken wins a contract in the Persian Gulf and starts doing well financially.” Pharaon and Bush would continue having indirect ties through the BCCI, Bank of Credit and Commerce International (jokingly referred to as the “Bank of crooks and criminals” by the CIA Deputy Director Robert Gates for its ties to money laundering), terrorist group funding, and drug cartels. Founded in 1972 by Agha Hasan Abedi, a man who wished to “fight the evil influence of the West,” the infamous BCCI went on to secretly loan Pakistan money to build up its economy and funnel money to its nuclear program. Later, it served to bring money and weapons to Afghan terrorists and took part in the Iran-Contra affair. The Los Angles Times reported that it went on to become “the biggest clandestine money network in history” as journalist Joseph Trento called it, doing “dirty work for every major terrorist in the world” would smuggle drug money from the Pakistani and South American drug cartels including those of Manuel Noriega. It also held accounts for 1985 Palestinian terrorist Nidal, and towards the end of its days served as the major bank for Osama bin Laden and helped fund Al Qaeda. The similarities between Osama’s terrorist financing network and the BCCI’s are so similar that later some would claim Osama had used its structure as a model. Hence the BCCI became known as “the mother and father of terrorist financing,” as a senior U.S. investigator first coined it. Ghaith Pharaon not only had accounts in the BCCI, but was a key figure in it, laundering money and acting as a front man for false charities, whose money went to terrorist networks. French intelligence agencies found direct links “…to (Osama) bin Laden through banks, holding companies, and charities” as the British newspaper, the Guardian reported. Later, George W. Bush would find a place in the BCCI as well. “As The Wall Street Journal reported in 1991, there was a ‘mosaic of BCCI connections surrounding [Harken] since George W. Bush came on board.’ In 1987, Bush secured a critical $25 million-loan from a bank the Kerry Commission would later reveal to be a BCCI joint venture” as David Sirota and Jonathin Baskin mentioned in the Washington Monthly. Though the liberal Washington Monthly report excused Bush in the BCCI scandal, saying “Certainly Bush did not suspect such questionable connections at the time,” the fact that he obtained a loan from a bank which had such distinct ties to a key investor in his company suggests possible insider dealings between him and Ghaith Pharaon. When Saudi Arabian money is going towards the potential acquisition of nuclear missiles, it seems treasonous to see our president, our military, and our Justice Department expressly giving American money to a man who not only has a record of cheating, but of secretly funding terrorists, including those who caused the September 11 attacks. “Just to show you how insidious these terrorists are, they oftentimes use nice-sounding, non-governmental organizations as fronts for their activities…,” President Bush said on that same memorable September 24th morning. With friends like Ghaith Pharaon, he should know.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
|
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||