BUSHLADEN

"We will starve the terrorists of funding," he said. "If you do business with terrorists, if
you support or sponsor them, you will not do business with the United States of America."

--George Bush, 24 September 2001

While thousands of human beings lie buried under tons of rubble and hundreds of thousands of
desperate human beings flee raids on Afghan cities employing Tomahawk missile which have deadly
uranium as ballast, some folks are doing OK. [On uranium ballast, see notes at 'Further
Reading']

Below we have reprinted an article from the 'Wall Street Journal'. It reveals that Saudi
Binladin Group, the conglomerate owned by Osama bin Laden's family, has invested in:

"Carlyle Group, a well-connected Washington merchant bank specializing in buyouts of defense
and aerospace companies."

Through his lofty position at Carlyle and as a consultant, George Bush Sr. is closely linked to
the bin Ladens. As are other powerhouse U.S. politicians.

Given that their business is "defense," the Bushes and bin Ladens will profit handsomely from
the current war.

There has been no outcry in the mass media about this. No U.S. newspaper has picked up the WSJ
story. Nor has CNN or Fox.

As for politicians, only those involved commented, and they dismissed the bin Laden link
without a blush. For instance, Caspar Weinberger, Reagan's Secretary of Defense and part of the
Saudi Binladin connection says:

"I don't think the sins of the son should be visited on the father or the brother and the
cousins and the aunts."

How stern Weinberger was when it came to invading little Granada; how non-judgmental when his
own interests are at stake.

At first, Bush spokeswoman Jean Becker told the 'Wall Street Journal' that her boss had met
with the bin Ladens only once.

But "after being read the ex-president's subsequent thank-you note" the original "only once"
claim was revised. In other words, she got caught in a lie and switched to a new story:

"President Bush does not have a relationship with the bin Laden family," says Ms. Becker. "He's
met them twice."

Once, twice, who's counting?

Clearly a) Bush has a guilty conscience, otherwise why not tell the truth? And b) since he's
clearly in stonewall-mode there is no reason to believe there weren't more meetings with the
bin Ladens. How many more? Who knows? But his spokeswoman's behavior shows this: if Bush did
have more meetings, he surely won't come clean unless confronted with proof.

EVEN IN AN EXPOSÉ, THE WSJ TOES THE LINE

The 'Wall Street Journal' article implicitly supports the official story, that Osama has broken
with his family, by writing, as if it were a fact, that Osama only "worked briefly in the
[family] business."

This is not true.

In an article in preparation, Emperor's Clothes will show that Osama directed the family
business in carrying out at least two large projects for the CIA, one in the 1980s and one in
the late 1990s, building facilities to be used by terrorists.

Moreover, the only pieces of evidence that Osama bin Laden broke with his family are statements
by him, his family, and U.S. officials. Since these parties have an interest in convincing the
public that the connection was broken, their statements are of scant value.

Also, there is evidence to the contrary. In "Body of Secrets," the new book by National
Security Agency expert James Bamford, the author cites freedom of information documents
revealing that:

"[National Security] Agency officials have sometimes played tapes of bin Laden talking to his
mother to impress members of Congress and select visitors to the agency." (quoted in 'Baltimore
Sun', 24 April 2001)

And another article states:

"Yossef Bodansky, director of the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare,
said "Osama maintains connections" with some of his nearly two dozen brothers. He would not
elaborate." ('San Antonio Express-News,' 14 September 1998)

Note: The 'Wall Street Journal' Bushladen exposé is also discussed in the article, "Judicial
Watch Condemns Bush-Binladin Group Connection," at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/jw.htm

- Jared Israel and others at Emperor's Clothes

***

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Special Report: Aftermath of Terror
Bin Laden Family Could Profit From a Jump
In Defense Spending Due to Ties to U.S. Bank
By DANIEL GOLDEN, JAMES BANDLER and MARCUS WALKER
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

A U.S. inquiry into bin Laden family business dealings could brush against some big names
associated with the U.S. government. Former President Bush said through his chief of staff,
Jean Becker, that he recalled only one meeting with the bin Laden family, which took place in
November 1998. Ms. Becker confirmed that there was a second meeting in January 2000, after
being read the ex-president's subsequent thank-you note. "President Bush does not have a
relationship with the bin Laden family," says Ms. Becker. "He's met them twice."

Special Report: Aftermath of Terror Bin Laden Family Could Profit From a Jump In Defense
Spending Due to Ties to U.S. Bank By Daniel Golden, James Bandler And Marcus Walker, Staff
Reporters of 'THE WALL STREET JOURNAL'

If the U.S. boosts defense spending in its quest to stop Osama bin Laden's alleged terrorist
activities, there may be one unexpected beneficiary: Mr. bin Laden's family.

Among its far-flung business interests, the well-heeled Saudi Arabian clan -- which says it is
estranged from Osama -- is an investor in a fund established by Carlyle Group, a well-connected
Washington merchant bank specializing in buyouts of defense and aerospace companies.

Through this investment and its ties to Saudi royalty, the bin Laden family has become
acquainted with some of the biggest names in the Republican Party. In recent years, former
President Bush, ex-Secretary of State James Baker and ex-Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci
have made the pilgrimage to the bin Laden family's headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mr.
Bush makes speeches on behalf of Carlyle Group and is senior adviser to its Asian Partners
fund, while Mr. Baker is its senior counselor. Mr. Carlucci is the group's chairman.

Osama is one of more than 50 children of Mohammed bin Laden, who built the family's $5 billion
business, Saudi Binladin Group, largely with construction contracts from the Saudi government.
Osama worked briefly in the business and is believed to have inherited as much as $50 million
from his father in cash and stock, although he doesn't have access to the shares, a family
spokesman says. Because his Saudi citizenship was revoked in 1994, Mr. bin Laden is ineligible
to own assets in the kingdom, the spokesman added.

The bin Laden family has long disavowed Osama, and has cooperated fully with several federal
investigations into his activities. The family business, headed by Osama's half-brother Bakr,
epitomizes the U.S.-Saudi alliance that the suspected terrorist often rails against. After the
1996 truck bombing in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, that killed 19 U.S. servicemen, Saudi Binladin
Group built military barracks and airfields for U.S. troops.

But the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued subpoenas to banks used by the bin Laden
family seeking records of family dealings, a person familiar with the matter said. This person
said the subpoenas weren't an indication the FBI had found any suspicious behavior by the
family. A family spokesman said he had no knowledge of the subpoenas but that the family
welcomes them and has nothing to hide.

People familiar with the family's finances say the bin Ladens do much of their banking with
National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia and with the London branch of Deutsche Bank AG. They
also use Citigroup Inc. and ABN Amro, the people said.

"If there were ever any company closely connected to the U.S. and its presence in Saudi Arabia,
it's the Saudi Binladin Group," says Charles Freeman, president of the Middle East Policy
Council, a Washington nonprofit concern that receives tens of thousands of dollars a year from
the bin Laden family. "They're the establishment that Osama's trying to overthrow."

Mr. Freeman, who served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, says he has
spoken to two of Osama's brothers since hijacked airplanes rammed the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon on Sept. 11. They told him, he says, that the FBI has been "remarkably sensitive,
tactful and protective" of the family during the current crisis, recognizing its longstanding
friendship with the U.S.

A Carlyle executive said the bin Laden family committed $2 million through a London investment
arm in 1995 in Carlyle Partners II Fund, which raised $1.3 billion overall. The fund has
purchased several aerospace companies among 29 deals. So far, the family has received $1.3
million back in completed investments and should ultimately realize a 40% annualized rate of
return, the Carlyle executive said.

But a foreign financier with ties to the bin Laden family says the family's overall investment
with Carlyle is considerably larger. He called the $2 million merely an initial contribution.
"It's like plowing a field," this person said. "You seed it once. You plow it, and then you
reseed it again."

The Carlyle executive added that he would think twice before accepting any future investments
by the bin Ladens. "The situation's changed now," he said. "I don't want to spend my life
talking to reporters."

A U.S. inquiry into bin Laden family business dealings could brush against some big names
associated with the U.S. government. Former President Bush said through his chief of staff,
Jean Becker, that he recalled only one meeting with the bin Laden family, which took place in
November1998. Ms. Becker confirmed that there was a second meeting in January 2000, after being
read the ex-president's subsequent thank-you note. "President Bush does not have a relationship
with the bin Laden family," says Ms. Becker. "He's met them twice."

Mr. Baker visited the bin Laden family in both 1998 and 1999, according to people close to the
family. In the second trip, he traveled on a family plane. Mr. Baker declined comment, as did
Mr. Carlucci, a past chairman of Nortel Networks Corp., which has partnered with Saudi Binladin
Group on telecommunications ventures.

Former President Carter met with 10 of Osama's brothers early in 2000 on a fund-raising trip
for the Carter Center in Atlanta. According to John Hardman, executive director of the center,
the brothers told Mr. Carter that Osama was completely removed from the family. After Mr.
Carter and his wife followed up with breakfast with Bakr bin Laden in New York in September
2000, the bin Laden family gave $200,000 to the center. "We don't have any reason to think
there's a connection" between Osama and the rest of the family, Mr. Hardman says.

During the past several years, the family's close ties to the Saudi royal family prompted
executives and staff from closely held New York publisher Forbes Inc. to make two trips to the
family headquarters, according to Forbes Chairman Caspar Weinberger, a former U.S. secretary of
defense in the Reagan administration. "We would call on them to get their view of the country
and what would be of interest to investors."

Mr. Weinberger said no trips to Saudi Arabia were planned. "If we went," he said, "we may or
may not call upon them. I don't think the sins of the son should be visited on the father or
the brother and the cousins and the aunts."

There is no indication President George W. Bush has met any of the bin Ladens, but he was
indirectly linked to one of them two decades ago. His longtime friend James W. Bath, who met
Mr. Bush when they were both pilots in the Air National Guard, acted as a Texas business
representative for Osama's older brother, Salem bin Laden, from 1976 to 1988, when Salem died
in a plane crash. Mr. Bath brought real-estate acquisitions and other deals to Salem bin Laden,
an ebullient man who headed the family construction business. Mr. Bath generally received a 5%
interest as his fee, and was sometimes listed as a trustee in related corporate documents. Mr.
Bath acknowledged that during the same period he invested $50,000 in two funds controlled by
Mr. Bush but said that stake was unrelated to his dealings with Mr. bin Laden.

Among the properties that Salem bin Laden bought on Mr. Bath's recommendation was the Houston
Gulf Airport, a lightly used airfield in League City, Texas, 25 miles east of Houston. But Mr.
bin Laden's hope that it would develop a major overflow airport for Houston never materialized,
in part due to concern over wetlands. Ever since his death, his estate has sought to sell the
airfield -- without success. Today, it is still on the market.

Click here to email the link to this article to a friend!

= = = = = = = = = = = =
Further Reading
= = = = = = = = = =

'Why Washington Wants Afghanistan' by Jared Israel, Rick Rozoff & Nico Varkevisser at
http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/afghan.htm
'NATO Buildup in the Balkans: Part of a Deadly Game' by Jared Israel at
http://emperors-clothes.com/news/farish.htm
'Why is NATO Decimating the Balkans and Trying to Force Milosevic to Surrender?' By Jared
Israel and Nico Varkevisser at http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/whyisn.htm

Concerning Tomahawk Missiles and Depleted Uranium: William Arkin, a former U.S. intlligence
officer who routinely downplays the harm of U.S. military actions, admitted during the bombing
of Yugoslavia that Depleted Uranium is used as ballast in Tomahawk missiles but argued that the
harm caused by DU is unproven. See
http://.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/zforum/99/arkin042699.htm Arkin has been refuted the
hard way: by the DU-caused deaths of NATO soldiers in Kosovo. On DU see article by Dr. Doug
Rokke, former head of the Pentagon's DU Project at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/v2.htm 'Der
spiegel' ran an article on the use of Depleted Uraium in Germany (!) and Somalia. Here is an
excerpt, detailing hte U.S. Army's instructions for handling urine samples from soldiers
possibly contaminated with Depleted Uranium:
"Every urine sample was to be "sealed in an absolutely solid, 1 liter, sealed container".
"This was to be placed in a second, "similarly watertight container," in which there was to be
"sufficient absorbent material to suck up the entire urine sample were it nevertheless to
leak."
"This package was to be placed in a "heavy duty cardboard box" swathed in warning labels
proclaiming: "Biohazard!"
[Full translation at http://emperors-clothes.com/docs/spiegel.htm ]

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