Revisiting Dubai, Inc.

Sheik Mohammed's dream of a new age, internationally-renowned, culture conscious Middle East city may be more than his own. While he boasts of his creation in building a Dubai of luxurious resorts, government backed corporate projects, and an entirely new international trade city, Sheik Mohammed serves as a merely a rich surrogate. As the European and American elite search for new places abroad to live and store wealth, Dubai in the Strait of Hormuz has become a playground for the most wealthy on the planet. A city which touts its creativity and culture, now relies on ultra-rich English speaking tourists to prop up the massive investment. The Bedouin tribes of the UAE have been long forgotten by the oil-sucking monarchical tyrants of the Middle East. Forming ties with Americans, like the George H W Bush's of the world, are more poignant on their pocketbook and world power gauge than sitting satisfied in the present with their countrymen. They are the product of greed and ruthlessness, without a home or morals to call their own. Their allegiance remains only to the clanking of coins, the age-old devil's number consuming what small amount of good heartedness which may have been there. They have no ideology, beyond that of power, and laws, regulations, and justice mean nothing to them. Sheik Mohammed and his thuggish debauchery seem not much different than those which occupy US government offices, bunkers, and nuclear weapons labs. They will not stop at any costs, and unlike what Steve Kroft and CBS's 60 Minutes would have you believe, they do not just come from the Middle East.

In Steve Kroft’s 60 Minutes “Visiting Dubai, Inc.” story on Sheik Mohammed on August 3, 2008, Wallace describes a rapidly changing Middle East, modernizing at the behest of its monarchical rulers who speak perfect English, admire America, and indulge in what their traditional culture would consider taboo. The Sheik drives a large white Mercedes-Benz SUV with Wallace, and speaks of the type of excitement often used to describe Las Vegas. Exhibiting his belief in the free market and the power of entreprenuership, Wallace paints The Sheik as a masterful visionary, unbound from previous backwardness and advancing his glamorous city for the betterment of the international community. The report is not without criticism of Dubai, Inc.'s system of business. However, the story paints the picture of one of reflections of Arab mentality and dreams. However, it could not be farther from the truth.

In Kroft’s style of journalism, we see and judge the Arab through American values. But despite the facade of a hardball story, Kroft does little to confront the true cause for all the growth in Dubai. To point at ourselves is a good place to start. Without American investment and support, Dubai would little be where it is today. The Sheik's strong connection with the Bush family was enumerated in the report during a brief segment on the failed 2006 Dubai-US ports deals. But, this one publicized media event was only a microcosm of what is really happening. Americans, in surprising numbers are more than ever living abroad or spending part of the year in a house on another continent. While this practice still is strictly affordable only for the highest elite, it is one of all the more enticements now. With the ability to hold money and wealth offshore without taxation and independence of the US government, many choose the option as a safe-haven in event of an economic crisis. But, most surprisingly, the ones with interests in Dubai are the ultra-wealthy who have a high stake in our governments. Not only diplomats or ambassadors either. For instance, our own Governor of Texas, Mr. Rick Perry, was living abroad in Europe during the 2008 June Mansion Fire. He has also made several trips to Iraq, Dubai and many other oil hot beds in the Middle East. Furthermore, Bush's support of the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership which ties together Mexico, the United States, and Canada into one economic and political union, further unmasks the internationalist intentions of the ruling American elite. More and more it seems their interests align with those of international corporations, disavowing any allegiance to America, working for the corporate good over the good for the people of this great land. And corporate welfare is far from out of fashion. The U.S. Government still subsidizes the most grossing industries in the world, in the interest of the "American people". But, the American people know better. The enemy isn't a rich Arab billionaire dressed in a strange robe and headdress, although he may be an accomplice. The true enemy is those who work to knowingly sell out the American people at half price and gleam with greed as the coins illuminate the coffers of crooks, creeps, and war pigs.

The corporate media will never give the people the true story on who really is to blame for the devaluation of the U.S. dollar, the so-called "free-trade" agreements which outsource American jobs to the Third World, and the secret agreements which completely subvert the United States Constitution. Once Steve Kroft gets serious on finding the real crooks and exploiters, the enemies of freedom and liberty, can the American people take his newscast seriously and learn about the true culprits, dismantling our nation, piece by piece.