| http://www.dailytexanonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2001/12/11/3c15aae1abad4
Viewpoint: Carlyle's tentacles stretch far George W.'s escalation of the war will create more and more military contracts, boosting stocks in Carlyle portfolios, profiting the elder Bush and, eventually, George W. December 11, 2001 The reason for presenting the illustration to the right is simple. America's war on terrorism will never be won as long as we allow terrorists and bankers to profit from both sides of the same war. The Carlyle Group is a global private investment firm, anchored in Washington, D.C., with heavy stakes in military contracting. What makes Carlyle significant is the powerhouse payroll of the firm which includes former U.S. president George Bush, former secretary of state and current G.W. Bush confidant James Baker, former defense secretary Frank Carlucci, and former British prime minister John Major. Those versed in process of revolving door politics will realize that the Carlyle Group is perhaps the world's pinnacle of cronyism and business opportunism. For instance, former president Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2000 and met with the royal family on behalf of the Carlyle Group. This is significant because it was Bush's Persian Gulf war that protected Saudi Arabia from an advancing Iraqi army. In theory, the Saudis owe Bush one, and he went to collect - with the profits flowing into private pockets. To date, the United States has treated the Saudi government, which has done very little to freeze terrorist assets, with kid gloves. The Saudi royal family is well-known for financing terrorism outside its borders to keep the revolutionaries away from the politics of the corrupt Saudi government. A revolution inside Saudi Arabia would be bad for business since the Saudis control a large percentage of the world's oil reserves, and the United States is well aware of that. This is also important because Bush Sr.'s son is now the president and is currently waging a war. The Carlyle Group can profit heavily from military action in the Middle East. The Wall Street Journal recently raised issues with former president Bush's involvement in the Carlyle Group and Judicial Watch, no friend of liberals or Democrats, has called for Bush's outright resignation from a group that could profit from his son's economic and military decisions. George W.'s escalation of the war will create more and more military contracts, boosting stocks in Carlyle portfolios, profiting the elder Bush, and, eventually, George W. Carlyle's extensive connections to the bin Laden family of Saudi Arabia don't help Bush's cause either. While the bin Ladens recently sold their stake in Carlyle II, a subsidiary fund, the Bush family's involvement with the bin Ladens goes back decades to the Houston and Dallas oil scenes. Ultimately, much of the reason America is currently involved in Afghanistan may have more to do with oil than terrorism. Our war has morphed from congressionally-approved retaliation for the attacks of Sept. 11 to an all-out war on the Taliban and is now apparently moving into Iraq, something Congress did not approve. Global reports of American and British forces in Tajikistan prior to Sept. 11 lend credit to the idea that British, Argentinean and American oil companies have long coveted Afghanistan for its accessibility to oil-rich Central Asia and were planning to enter Afghanistan anyway. This money trail has nothing to do with the large numbers of people who dumped massive amounts of airline shares before Sept. 11 all around the world. The old adage in politics is to find out where someone stands, follow the money. The same could be said for our effort to end terrorism. |
