America's most dubious partners in the war on terror

BESTIES George W. Bush holding hands with America's best frenemy, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, as they stroll the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas

As the Bush administration desperately seeks some semblance of stability in Iraq, it has taken to arming and equipping militias that U.S. forces formerly faced on the battlefield. In pursuing these partnerships, the administration carries on the unnerving but sometimes necessary American tradition of counting on frenemies to help us get through tough times.

The gold standard in recent history for an ally that undermines us as it assists was undoubtedly the mujahideen, who received billions in U.S. military aid and had their fury against the Soviet Union stoked with the help of militant Islamic propaganda happily supplied by the United States. For a while, this partnership forged by U.S. officials was nothing but sunshine and lollipops, effectively chasing the bear back over the mountain in Afghanistan while inspiring Rambo III, a good chunk of Spies Like Us, and a classic MacGyver episode here at home.

But we learned the hard way how encouraging religious militancy can come with devastating side effects. Though we are now more sensitive to such perils, the massive weapons sale proposed last month underscores how partnerships with those sowing the seeds of our destruction are hardly a thing of the past. Of Radar's review of five top frenemies in the fight against terrorism (which excludes the countries we've invaded), four will benefit from the $63 billion weapons package proposed by the administration; the other has already received more than $10 billion in U.S. assistance since the 9/11 attacks.

As for our future, aspiring presidents are staking out a variety of positions. Democratic candidate Senator Barack Obama arguably called for deepening the frenemy roster by bringing some of the world's leading terror sponsors into the fold, but then suggested that he might invade a country that the Bush administration calls our "most indispensable ally" in fighting terrorism. Republican candidate Ron Paul has rocketed to Internet superstardom thanks in part to a distinctive foreign policy platform that rejects our dysfunctional entanglements straightaway, arguing that "too often we have supported those who turn on us." Scanning the wreckage of our many sordid pairings after the 9/11 attacks, Paul asked, "Will this foolishness ever end?"

Will it? Should it? Who are our international underminers? Radar takes a look at some of our top frenemies in the fight against terror.

SAUDI ARABIA:

IN SULTAN One of Bush's frequent meetings with Prince Bandar bin Sultan, then the Saudi Arabian ambassador, in Crawford, Texas

Referring to the cozy alliance between his kingdom and the United States, Saudi Prince Bandar alleged, "If you knew what we were really doing for America...you would give us nuclear weapons." Despite his exaggeration, Bandar's claim actually speaks to a certain truth about the relationship kick-started by FDR and King Abdul Aziz during World War II. By filling U.S. gas tanks and countering Soviet expansion with commie-hating freedom fighters, Saudi Arabia played the role of critically important sidekick in America's Cannonball Run to superpower status in the second half of the 20th century.

But cracks that spread through the relationship after the Soviet collapse erupted into gruesome fractures with September 11 and the Iraq war. The awkward hand-holding between President Bush and King Abdullah is but one of the many indignities now endured by U.S. officials trying to stay in the good graces of the militant theocracy that holds the health of the American economy in its hands.

More troubling examples can be found with the paralysis of U.S. officials who know that the commission the Saudis "created" in 2004 to prevent charitable funds from supporting terrorism doesn't actually exist, and that prominent accused Al Qaeda financiers are very likely living freely in Saudi Arabia (with the curious exception of the Saudi official who was found dead shortly after reports of his post-9/11 assistance to Bin Laden surfaced). And though the Saudis assure us that the 9/11 attacks have indeed unified the two countries against a shared Al Qaeda threat, King Abdullah nurses conspiracy theories about who was behind the 9/11 attacks (or at least he seemed to in a meeting attended by the author in 2005) while forging closer ties with less judgmental allies such as China.

U.S. officials have recently offered a little tough talk about the Saudis' failure to adopt U.S. objectives in Iraq as their own, though they do so while gifting them with a $20 billion arms package. As the global competition for Saudi crude intensifies, it's a good bet that the U.S. government will continue tolerating dangerous discomfitures for many years to come.

PAKISTAN:

FIRM GRIP Bush and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan after a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a top U.S. diplomat reportedly broached with Pakistan the issue of renewing their dormant alliance by advising President Pervez Musharraf of America's intention to bomb Pakistan "back to the stone age" if they demurred.

Musharraf found this to be a "very rude remark," but didn't let it stand in the way of his decision to saddle up with President Bush in targeting the Taliban forces that Pakistan had itself spun up to meddle with neighboring Afghanistan's business. In the six years following their blustery diplomatic entrée, U.S. officials have approached Musharraf's Pakistan like a game of high-stakes Jenga, agonizing over each potential move for fear of collapsing their new ally's tenuous command over the nuclear-armed hornet's nest of Islamic militants.

The upshot has been an exasperating delicacy in reckoning with the instigators of the 9/11 attacks who now reportedly call Pakistan home. In 2005, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld waved off a covert mission to snatch Bin Laden's top lieutenant from Pakistan in large part because of the political turbulence it would have generated for Musharraf. Last year, U.S. officials explicitly approved a truce Musharraf struck with Taliban leaders near the Afghan border, calling it a "complex cooperative relationship." But the agreement simply increased attacks into Afghanistan and ensured an Al Qaeda safe haven that has facilitated the network's ominous resurgence.

The United States has invested more than $10 billion in this alliance, and though Pakistan has sacrificed hundreds of soldiers to fighting the Taliban and has helped us capture many Al Qaeda operatives (including the mastermind of 9/11), the Congressional Research Service recently concluded that Pakistani efforts "have neither neutralized anti-Western militants and reduced religious extremism in that country, nor have they contributed sufficiently to the stabilization of neighboring Afghanistan." The United States is gently increasing pressure on Pakistan for better results, though all the while praising Musharraf as its "most indispensable ally" in fighting terrorism.

ISRAEL:

COOKIE MONSTER Bush offers pre-stroke Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon some flag treats

Being Israel's ally is kind of like being pals with someone who's being chased by a Mafia hit man—his interests rarely stray from things you can do to keep him from getting whacked, while you grow increasingly concerned about getting clipped in the cross fire. Israel's existential dread is tragically justified, but its pronounced whatever-it-takes survival instinct has rustled up big trouble for its most loyal supporter.

Exhibit A is the widespread perception in the Muslim world that U.S. support for Israel has enabled unjustified aggression against defenseless Palestinians—a view that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed claims motivated him to target innocent Americans on 9/11.

Americans can also put Israel's habit of selling U.S. weapons technology to China in the "not helpful" category. The practice has given China an end-run around sanctions imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre, and has strengthened its ability to impose more forceful methods for breaking Taiwan's rebel spirit—a circumstance that could quickly escalate into a full-blown U.S.–China cage match.

Also noteworthy is Israel's rogue pursuit of nuclear weapons, which succeeded in part because of its elaborate scam on America. President John F. Kennedy, deeming Israeli officials "sons of bitches [who] lie to me constantly," sent U.S. inspectors to Israel's desert nuclear facility armed with his (correct) suspicions about its non-peaceful purpose. But his inspectors got punk'd by a fake control room constructed specifically for their visit—the weapons-making areas of the facility were safely concealed behind freshly built brick walls. An Israeli who squired Americans through the Potemkin Village later recalled pretending to translate American questions into Hebrew to make sure on-site engineers didn't talk too much to the clueless inspectors ("Listen, you motherfucker, don't answer that question"). Israel's nuclear success lo these many years still taints U.S. efforts to prevent further nuclear proliferation, particularly with an Iran that appears to be mimicking its rival's duplicitous tactics.

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QATAR:

UNDERCOVER SHIEK Then Israeli Premier Shimon Peres (left) is received by Sheik Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, Qatar's deputy premier, at Doha Airport, on Tuesday, April 2, 1996

The tiny emirate of Qatar has won American favor by pursuing a progressive reform agenda unequaled by any other Arab state, by donating $60 million to Hurricane Katrina relief, and, most important, by hosting a new, massive U.S. air base on its mini-peninsula that conveniently thrusts upward through the Persian Gulf like a dagger toward Iran. With this last gesture, Qatar willingly placed itself at the very top of Iran's "Places to Bomb" list in the event of a throw-down with the United States and earned the deep gratitude of President Bush. But before you become too enamored of America's new lil' buddy, there is an ugly dark side that must be considered. You might find Qatar's willingness to headquarter anti-American rabble-rousers like Al-Jazeera and firebrand cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi troublesome but not deal-breaking.

You might have more difficulty, however, looking past the 9/11 blood that seems to be on the hands of a high-ranking Qatari government official. As this website shows, Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalid Al-Thani is Qatar's Minister of Interior. In the 1990s, he routinely rolled with top Al Qaeda VIPs like Osama bin Laden and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He reportedly hooked up Mohammed with a Qatari government job and housed him at his rural compound. When a team of FBI agents was on the verge of capturing Mohammed in 1996, a Qatari government official—believed by several top U.S. officials to be Abdullah bin Khalid—tipped off Mohammed and reportedly arranged for the terrorist's narrow escape to Afghanistan, a full five years before the 9/11 attacks. While it has been suggested that Abdullah is no longer involved in the day-to-day affairs of the Qatari government, he likely retains the support of factions within Qatar displeased with the U.S. alliance, and was reappointed to his ministerial position just earlier this year.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE):

JUST DESERTS Dubai's skyscrapers behind the islands of The World, off the coast of the Gulf emirate. Due to be finished by the end of 2008, The World is made of 300 small artificial islands forming the planet Earth

The UAE's emirate of Dubai is well known as a mythical desert paradise of indoor ski slopes, man-made archipelagos, and seven-star hotels. And though President Bush famously stuck his neck out for this "valuable partner in fighting the war on terror" during last year's Dubai Ports World debacle, the UAE is also a place where homosexuals are subjected to public lashings and forced hormone treatments while terrorist operatives and nuclear proliferators go about their business with little fear of interference.

The UAE has long provided an open, welcoming environment for the world's most dangerous elements. Al Qaeda has used Dubai as a financial and transit point both before and after the 9/11 attacks, while rogue nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan used Dubai as a chief conduit for illegal shipments of nuclear technology to North Korea, Libya, and Iran. This can be attributed in part to the sheer volume of trade accommodated by the global financial hub and a historic "willful blindness" when it comes to matters of illicit commerce. But the UAE's frequent bouts of indifference regarding U.S. concerns have been a factor as well—it has blown off numerous U.S. extradition requests, and in 2003 it ignored a U.S. request to intercept an illegal shipment of nuclear technology going through its ports.

The UAE has tried to strengthen its commercial oversight and cooperation on key intelligence matters, particularly as it lobbies for a trade agreement with the United States. But its ports and financial system continue to be used for very bad things. Last year, a UAE-based company was busted for ferrying Improvised Explosive Device (IED) components that are being used against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The UAE only narrowly averted sanctions earlier this year after U.S. officials expressed their concerns with the flow of supplies to Syria and Iran made possible by UAE's ports. And though the UAE claimed last year to have stopped letting notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout use its airports, "Merchant of Death" author Douglas Farah reports that Bout continues to use the UAE as a hub for his criminal enterprise to this very day.

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