Newsweek: Moore Distorted Bush Saudi Ties=20
NewsMax Wires
Thursday, July 01, 2004=20
A central theme of Michael Moore's controversial documentary "Fahrenheit =
9/11" is a bare allegation that Saudi Arabian interests provided $1.4 =
billion to firms connected to the family and friends of President George =
W. Bush.=20
However, as a special Newsweek investigative report notes, there is =
really less - not more - than meets the eye re the dramatic Moore claim: =
Story Continues Below=20
a.. Nearly 90 percent of that claimed amount, $1.18 billion, comes from =
contracts in the early to mid-1990's that the Saudi Arabian government =
awarded to a U.S. defense contractor, BDM, for training the country's =
military and National Guard. The "Bush" connection: The firm at the time =
was owned by the Carlyle Group, a private-equity firm whose =
Asian-affiliate advisory board once included the president's father, =
George H.W. Bush.=20
a.. But, points out Newsweek, former president Bush didn't join the =
Carlyle advisory board until April, 1998 -- five months after Carlyle =
had already sold BDM to another defense firm.=20
a.. As for the sitting president's own Carlyle link, his service on the =
board ended when he quit to run for Texas governor -- a few months =
before the first of the Saudi contracts to the unrelated BDM firm was =
awarded.=20
a.. The Carlyle Group is hardly a "Bush Inc," noted Newsweek - but =
rather features a roster of bipartisan Washington power figures. "Its =
founding and still managing partner is Howard Rubenstein, a former top =
domestic policy advisor to Jimmy Carter. Among the firm's senior =
advisors is Thomas "Mack" McLarty, Bill Clinton's former White House =
chief of staff, and Arthur Levitt, Clinton's former chairman of the =
Securities and Exchange Commission. One of its other managing partners =
is William Cannard, Clinton's chairman of the Federal Communications =
Commission."=20
a.. According to the report, the movie neglects to offer any evidence =
that Bush White House intervened in any way to bolster the interests of =
the Carlyle Group. In fact, the one major Bush administration decision =
that most directly affected the company's interest was the cancellation =
of a $11 billion program for the Crusader rocket artillery system. The =
Crusader was manufactured by United Defense, which had been wholly owned =
by Carlyle until it spun the company off in a public offering in =
October, 2001. Carlyle still owned 47 percent of the shares in the =
defense company at the time that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld =
canceled the Crusader program the following year.=20
a.. As Moore's dealings with the matter of the departing Saudis flown =
out of the United States in the days after the September 11 terror =
attacks, the 9/11 commission found that the FBI screened the Saudi =
passengers, ran their names through federal databases, interviewed 30 of =
them and asked many of them "detailed questions." "Nobody of interest to =
the FBI with regard to the 9/11 investigation was allowed to leave the =
country," the commission stated.=20
a.. The entity in the White House that approved the flights wasn't the =
president, or the vice president -- it was Richard Clarke, the =
counter-terrorism czar who was a holdover from the Clinton =
administration. Clarke has testified that he gave the approval =
conditioned on FBI clearance.=20
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