El Presidente George studies El Cid

I believe President Bush has been studying Spanish History. The one time Spanish Empire which rivaled Britan's and is still rich in the sense that 1/5 of the World speaks Spanish and is Catholic, was forged by the alliance of Spanish Noblemen and moderate Muslims united to defeat the Radicals (Almoravids) that came in later waves of Moorish Invasions after the inital conquest of the Iberian Penisnula in the 700's. The President is gambling that we can ally ourselves with Moderates in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere to help us fight against Radicals like Bin Laden. Here's a bit of Spanish History.

On the UAE deal here's the scoop, I think! It's a real gamble and Hugh Hewitt is right this gives the enemy great leverage to get a nuke in!

• The move contradicts a forceful U.S. thrust into the Arab world focused on greater openness and free trade.
  
  The Bush administration has proposed a Middle East Free Trade Area (MEFTA), which would link 22 Arab nations, Israel and the United States by 2013.
  
  A free trade agreement between the U.S. and Morocco went into effect on Jan. 1, and a similar agreement with Bahrain was approved by Congress in December and is expected to take force this March. Other trade agreements now exist between the United States and Israel and Jordan. Here's the link
• UAE the third largest U.S. trade partner in the Middle East.

The Prez. is being Penny Wise and Dollar Poor! He wants to open up the Middle East to trading like he has with South America. I think the Arabs are dangerous. However "El Cid" and the Spanish Monarchs defeated the radical Arabs in Medieval Spain with Moderate Arabs. I'll send you info on this if you like. The President reads History. However he Must be very careful as you must rent rent "24" 2nd season to see what I mean!

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cid
• Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1044 – July 1099), nicknamed El Cid Campeador, was a Castilian military and political leader in medieval Spain.
• Born of the Spanish nobility, El Cid was educated in the royal Castilian court and became an important general and administrator, fighting against the Moors in the early Reconquista.
• Later exiled by King Alfonso VI, El Cid left service in Castile and worked as a mercenary-general for other rulers, both Moor and Christian. Late in life, El Cid captured the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia, ruling it until his death in 1099.
• Around this time, El Cid, with a combined Christian and Moorish army, began maneuvering in order to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia. Several obstacles lay in his way. First was Ramón Berenguer II, who ruled nearby Barcelona. In May 1090, the Cid defeated and captured Berenguer in the Battle of Tébar. Berenguer was later ransomed and his son, Ramón Berenguer III, married the Cid's youngest daughter Maria to ward against future conflicts.
• The Cid gradually came to have more influence on Valencia, then ruled by al-Qadir. In October 1092 an uprising occurred in Valencia inspired by the city's chief judge, Ibn Jahhaf, and the Almoravids. The Cid began a siege of Valencia. The siege lasted several years; in December 1093 an attempt to break it failed. In May 1094, the siege ended, and the Cid had carved out his own kingdom on the coast of the Mediterranean. Officially the Cid ruled in the name of Alfonso; in reality, the Cid was fully independent. The city was both Christian and Muslim, and both Moors and Christians served in the army and as administrators. In 1096, Valencia's nine mosques were "Christianized"; Jérôme, a French bishop, was appointed archbishop of the city.

I think President Bush is trying to create an Alliance with Moderates but the Ports are too great a gamble and if these Imirs turn it'll be an "Et tu, Brute?" moment. According to legend, the last words of Julius Caesar. In English, it means "You too, Brutus?" This Brutus Moment will take place in the form of a nuke deliveried to a port of the USA!