4/10/06 George W. Bush quotes- ``We need to understand that we're
a nation of immigrants" (Thanks for the info but... you left out the word legal)"And
therefore, it makes sense to allow the good-hearted ...uh... people who are coming here to
do jobs that... uh... Americans won't do a legal way to do so" (Americans won't do a
legal way to do so? Double W speak)
"We want our Border Patrol agents chasing, you know...uh.. crooks and thieves and
drug-runners and uh...terrorists, not good-hearted people who are coming here to
work." (He left out the word legally at the end)
June 1977
George W. Bush formed his own oil drilling company, Arbusto Energy, in Midland, Tex. James
R. Bath, a friend and neighbor, was used to funnel money from Osama bin Laden's brother,
Salem bin Laden to set up George W. Bush in the oil business, according to The Wall Street
Journal and other reputable sources.
Salem bin Laden, a close friend of the Saudi King Fahd had "invested heavily in
Bush's first business venture," according to The Daily Mail (U.K.).
Bath found investors for Arbusto and "made his fortune" by investing the money
of two BCCI-connected Saudi sheiks, Khalid bin Mahfouz and Salem bin Laden. Mahfouz was
one of the richest men in the world and a controlling shareholder in BCCI.
Note: BCCI was not a bank. It was a drug and weapons conduit and money laundering
operation fronting as a bank
Bill White, a former real estate business partner of Bath, said: "He had put up
$50,000 to help George, Jr., get started in oil business" at a time when "Bath
had no substantial money of his own," according to The Outlaw Bank. Shortly after
Bush's father was appointed director of the CIA, Salem bin Laden appointed Bath as his
business representative in Texas. (American Free Press, 10-07-01)
Accusations appeared that entrepreneur James R. Bath guided money to Houston from Saudi
investors who wanted to influence US policy under the Reagan and Bush administrations. Tax
documents and personal financial records show that Bath personally had a 5 percent
interest in Arbusto '79 Ltd., and Arbusto '80 Ltd., limited partnerships controlled by
George W. Bush, President Bush's eldest son. Arbusto means 'bush' in Spanish. Bath
invested $ 50,000 in the limited partnerships, according to the documents. There is no
available evidence to show whether the money came from Saudi interests.
Bush said that to his knowledge, Bath's investment was from personal funds, and no Saudi
money was invested in Arbusto.
Bath, 55, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, declined to comment for the record. Spokesmen for
FinCEN and the FBI also declined to comment. According to a 1976 trust agreement, drawn
shortly after Bush was appointed director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Saudi Sheik
Salem M. Binladen appointed Bath as his business representative in Houston. Binladen,
along with his brothers, owns Binladen Brothers Construction, one of the largest
construction companies in the Middle East. According to White, Bath told him that he had
assisted the CIA in a liaison role with Saudi Arabia since 1976. Bath has previously
denied having worked for the CIA . . . Bath received a 5 percent interest in the companies
that own and operate Houston Gulf Airport after purchasing it on behalf of Binladen in
1977.
George W. Bush's company, Bush Exploration Co., general partner in the limited
partnerships, went through several mergers, eventually evolving into Harken Energy
Corp., a suburban Dallas-based company. Stock symbol HEC
1990
George W. Bush sells two-thirds of his Harken Energy stock at the top of the market for
$850,000, a 200% profit, but makes no report to the SEC until March 1991. Bush Jr. says
later the SEC misplaced the report. An SEC representative responds: "nobody ever
found the 'lost' filing." One week after Bush's sale, Harken reports an earnings
plunge. Harken stock falls more than 60%. Bush uses most of the proceeds to pay off the
bank loan he had taken a year earlier to finance his portion of the Texas Rangers deal.
Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait. Harken's stock price drops substantially.
Two months after Bush sells his stock, Harken posts losses for the 2nd quarter of well
over $20 million and is shares fall another 24%, by year end Harken is trading at $1.25.
Bush has insisted that he did not know about the firm's mounting losses and that his stock
sell-off was approved by Harken's general counsel.
1992
First of Harken Energy's wells off Bahrain comes up dry. George W. Bush takes a leave of
absence from the firm to work in his father's campaign, saying "I don't want to
involve this company in any kind of allegations of conflicts or whatever may arise."
In his earliest known tie to the Enron Corporation, President Bush, then an oil man in
West Texas, joined an energy drilling venture organized in 1986 by a subsidiary of Enron.
The drilling operation which succeeded in striking oil and natural gas in Martin County
came as Mr. Bush's company, the Spectrum 7 Energy Corporation, was struggling to stay
afloat during a collapse in world oil prices. The company was also in final negotiations
to be taken over by a Dallas-based company, Harken Energy. Executives involved in the
drilling venture characterized it as an ordinary business deal. Enron Oil and Gas, then an
exploration subsidiary with offices here in Midland, served as operator and majority
partner. Mr. Bush's company, which had a 10 percent working interest in the deal, was one
of a handful of minority investors . . . It is unclear whether Mr. Bush was involved in
the deal because he controlled adjacent mineral leases or if Spectrum 7 was simply sought
out as an investor. Bill Morrison, who ran the Midland office of Enron Oil and Gas at the
time, said he recalled soliciting about 12 to 15 companies as potential investors in the
project, including Spectrum 7. He said many companies, struggling for capital, declined
the offer, but Spectrum 7, apparently with cash on hand, signed on for the 10 percent
interest. |
