Embarrassment as U.S. probes '£1bn arms bribe'

[emad]

Source: London Evening Standard

Gordon Brown is facing mounting diplomatic tensions with the U.S. as Washington launches a corruption investigation into Britain's biggest arms deal.

The U.S. Department of Justice is to probe alleged £1billion bribes by defence giant BAE Systems to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.

Its inquiry is a blow to the Government, which has been desperate to close down controversy over the affair.

The incoming Prime Minister and his new Defence Secretary will now have to decide whether to co-operate with the U.S. investigation, which could lead to a criminal inquiry under America's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.



Read more: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23402032-details/Embarrassment+as+U.S.+probes+%27%C2%A31bn+arms+bribe%27/article.do

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A huge embarrassment for Bush 1 and 2 who both have had an obeisant relationship with the slimebag Bandar.

It was Bandar's personal jet that picked up Bin Laden family members in the days immediately after 9/11 and scrurried them off to safety outside US.

That plane, an Airbus 340, cost £75million and was a freebie from the UK taxpayer via the Ministry of Defence which was part of the BAE slushfund payments system.

[jwirr]

1. What do the people of the UK feel about this? Brown should be

able to survive the storm as long as he was not personally involved.

[emad]

2. The Serious Fraud Office investigation into Bandar and BAE was

on the verge of making arrests last October when Blair was reported to have received instructions directly from the White House to block the investigation.

Which is what he did, saying on UK TV that it was not "in the British National Interest" for the fraud cops to make arrests.

Brown was the Chancellor who authorised over half of the £.12 billion of UK taxpayers' money to be paid to Bandar as part of the slush fun.

The £75 million that paid for Bandar's Airbus 340 in 1998 was personally authorised for payment from the Treasury to the Ministry of Defence by Gordon Brown.

QED.

[jwirr]

10. Ouch. This is going to be very upsetting for both countries. What

a mess we have made of the world.

[OregonBlue]

4. From KOS article, it may be 80-160 Billion. Cheney involved.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/6/26/21721/5156

Saudi's sold oil for weapons but the value of the oil was 4 times the value of the weapons. Was the oil then sold for it's true value and money funneled through Riggs Bank? Cheney's private slush fund? Set up to fund black ops throughout the middle east? It is getting interesting.

[kbqr]

3. DOJ independence

I don't know the political power in this situation . . . is Bush able to call off the DOJ investigation? If not, then wooh boy, there are many senior British execs and possibly politicians going down.

[blm]

5. This whole deal is the continuing crimewave that is BCCI.

.

[emad]

6. Not only BCCI. UK's Radio 4 programme on Saturday had a

feature about possible Bandar connection to the Pan AM Lockerbie bombing of 1986 for which a Libyan spook, al-Megharhi, "was framed".

According to this report the flight was scheduled to carry a senior NATO official on his way to the US with evidence against Poppy and Bandar's collusion in illicit arms sales when Bush1 was Veep to Ronnie Raygun's first administration.

[blm]

7. That's what I mean - it's ALL about the ongoing overall crimes that are part of the

the entire BCCI deal - IranContra, CIA drugrunnning, the armsdealing, moneylaundering, AQ Khan network, Iraqgate, 9-11, Iraq war are all one continuing crimewave by these global fascists.

[emad]

13. This trail may eventually lead to BCCI's principal former shareholders

in Abu Dhabi - Shaikh Zayed and sons.

And Dubai's current ruler Shaikh Mohammed had BCCI investment portfolios up to 1990 that he liquidated pretty damned quickly before the bank was closed down in NYC by Bob Morgenthau.

[blm]

14. The same folks Bush was going to give sway over our ports.

But we're being told by Dem establishment figures that all these consistent and numerous coincidences are pure 'conspiracy theory bunkum' and we should just shut up.

[bleever]

12. Welcome to DU, kbqr.

:hi:

[kbqr]

19. Thanks bleever!

:bounce:

[blm]

18. That's why Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton are tapped to do what they do.

Bush, Clinton, Blair, Saudis, Bandar, Abu Dhabi, they're in power for all the right FASCIST reasons.

[bobthedrummer]

8. In April of 2002 John Young's cryptome.org published a most remarkable report

that was sent anonymously that I have been reposting for years-it has been proven more than accurate in many respects.

BAE helped fund OBL

"The Soiled Dove II: A Report"
http://cryptome.org/soil/soiled-dove2.htm

On edit: "Embarrassment"-no, treason and war profiteering-also supports LIHOP and other CRIMES

[blm]

9. Good of you to repost that article. I forgot about it.

.

[IndianaGreen]

11. BAE paid bribes to high Saudi officials, so much so that Blair squashed the inquiry

Considering the close ties of the Bush family to the House of Saud, I expect even less from an American "investigation."

[blm]

15. Well, IG, this really is what it is ALL ABOUT. And WHY we are force-fed Bush-Clinton-Bush

Clinton.

And WHY Kerry had to go down from without AND within.

Bushes, Saudis, Abu Dhabi, Clinton, Blair - all for one and one for all.

Gee - any apologists want to explain why BCCI was never even mentioned ONCE in Clinton's book?

[emad]

16. I wondered about that too and assumed that at the time of going

to press the BBCI misfeasance class action in London against the Bank of England was still underway, so Clinton diplomatically avoided mentioning it.

While on the point of Clinton I have a few questionmarks of my own.

Firstly, in 1995 Clinton and his wife were in the UK on a 3 day official presidential visit to commemorate 50 years of the end of World War II.

They stayed with relatives of the late President Harry S Truman in the Sussex countryside as well as in London and took part in official NATO commemorative military pageants which were shown both of national TV (BBC, ITN, etc) as well as pictured in the UK press.

These were billed as "50 Years of Peace In Europe" and included a host of military events at which Clinton was guest of honor.

There is no mention of this in his autobiography. Nor of his subsequent May 1996 visit to the UK when he was interviewed by BBC Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman about his White House 1996 campaign plans.

During that interview (which I have on videotape) he also spoke extensively about problems of foreign policy such as negotiating with the Saudis over arms sales.

He cited Prince Bandar's "continuing" presence in the US as his coutry's ambassador and said that "diplomatic relations were on the whole good" but mired in "technical problems and secrecy".

Clinton wthen took a trip to Ethiopia and Sudan and gave a personal reciprocal interview to ITN news from Airforce One.

This too is missing from his book along with his thoughts about US-Saudi policy at the end of his first term of office.

I have always assumed that either amensia or editorial problems were behind these events being excised from official records.

[blm]

17. Clinton will NOT cross Poppy. They are close and partners now and have managed to

figure out a way to have one side scratch the other's back.

[bobthedrummer]

20. kick