Giuliani's terrorist ties

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/11/30/giuliani_qatar/

Forget Rudy's trysts. The real scandal crying out for investigation is his firm's business with Qatar, a haven for al-Qaida.

By Joe Conason

Nov. 30, 2007 | The familiar herd instinct of the mainstream media is powerful, unswerving and often plain wrong. While editors and producers are supposed to make judgments based on a combination of news value and public interest, their choices often seem to be based on nothing more elevated than an allergy to complexity or an affinity for smut. And occasionally, as in the case of Rudolph Giuliani during this past week, the sudden appearance of not one but two juicy investigations overwhelms the system's capacity to absorb and regurgitate.

But when the nation's news executives decided which of two highly embarrassing Giuliani stories to feature, nearly all of them made the wrong choice. While they lavished enormous attention upon a Politico story dealing with adultery and bureaucracy, they should be devoting at least as much time to yet another in the long series of Wayne Barrett scoops in the Village Voice, because this one involves business and terrorism. snip

Meanwhile, Barrett's latest article -- probing the lucrative relationship between Giuliani's security firm and the emirate of Qatar -- prompts questions that "America's Mayor" might have found truly hard to answer. With Qatar's troubling record as both an American ally and a longtime haven for al-Qaida terrorists, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or "KSM," the little Gulf sheikdom is a curious client indeed for Giuliani Security and Safety, a division of Giuliani Partners.

If Giuliani was unaware of the terrorism issues surrounding Qatar before he signed his initial contract with the emirate in 2005, then he must not be quite the expert he claims to be. And if he knew of those issues but signed up anyway, that raises other questions.

Certainly he should be asked to explain his connections with the emirate and especially with Interior Minister Abdullah bin Khalid al-Thani, who has long been suspected of harboring KSM and facilitating the travel of al-Qaida operatives to and from Qatar. Whatever reasons the United States may have for maintaining diplomatic and military ties with Qatar, the contradictions in doing business with that nation for a hard-liner like Giuliani should be explored.

[annabanana]

1. Thank you! The only coverage I've seen or heard

on this is from Keith O. a couple of nights ago...

[The Stranger]

2. Didn't Gholiani hire NeoCon Grand Dragon Norman Podheretz for his "foreign policy" team?

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Why not both scandals?

We're Democrats, and we're no strangers to multitasking. We can handle this scandal, the 'sex on the city' scandal, mob ties, incompetence - before, during & after - 9/11, Bernie Kerik, and every other scandal yet to make its way down the pike. Sorry, Joe, but I've tasted blood in 'sex on the city,' and I'm not willing to unlock my jaw quite yet. It works on many levels; fundies, fiscal conservatives, and non-sociopaths find plenty with which to take issue.

Granted, Conason's revelation if rife with security questions and examples of piss-poor judgment on the part of 9iu11ani, but it's not the be-all to end-all issue that will torpedo his campaign.