The Uae Is Meddling In The Us Political System According To An Intelligence Report

Comment U.S. intelligence officials have compiled a classified report outlining extensive efforts to manipulate the U.S. political system by the United Arab Emirates, a powerful, oil-rich Persian Gulf nation long considered a close and trusted partner. The activities covered in the report, described to the Washington Post by three people who have read it, include illegal and legal efforts to steer US foreign policy in ways favorable to Arab autocracy. It exposes the UAE’s attempt, across multiple US governments, to exploit vulnerabilities in US governance, including its reliance on campaign contributions, susceptibility to powerful lobbying firms and lax enforcement of disclosure laws meant to protect against foreign interference governments. Each spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential information. The document was drafted by the National Intelligence Council and has been briefed to top US politicians in recent weeks to guide decision-making on the Middle East and the United Arab Emirates, which wield enormous influence in Washington. The exposure is remarkable in that it focuses on the influence operations of a friendly nation rather than an adversary such as Russia, China or Iran. It is also unusual for a US intelligence product to scrutinize interactions involving US officials, who have been instructed to focus on external threats. “The US intelligence community generally stays away from anything that could be construed as a study of US domestic politics,” said Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served on the National Intelligence Council in the 1990s. “To do something like this to a friendly force is also unique. It’s a sign that the US intelligence community is willing to take on new challenges,” he said. Lauren Frost, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, declined to comment when asked about the report. The UAE’s ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, said he was “proud of the UAE’s influence and good standing in the US”. “It was hard won and deserved. It is the product of decades of close UAE-US cooperation and effective diplomacy. It reflects shared interests and shared values,” he said in a statement. The relationship is unique. Over the years, the United States has agreed to sell the UAE some of its most sophisticated and lethal military equipment, including MQ-9 Predator drones and advanced F-35 fighter jets, a privilege not granted to any other Arab country due to concern about reducing Israel’s qualitative military advantage. Some of the influence operations described in the report are familiar to national security professionals, but such activities have flourished because of Washington’s reluctance to reform foreign influence laws or provide additional resources to the Justice Department. Other activities look more like espionage, people familiar with the report said. The UAE has spent more than $154 million on lobbyists since 2016, according to Justice Ministry records. He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars more on donations to US universities and think tanks, many producing policy papers with findings favorable to UAE interests. There is no prohibition in the United States on lobbyists donating money to political campaigns. A US lawmaker who read the intelligence report told the Post that it shows how American democracy is being distorted by foreign money, saying that should serve as a wake-up call. “A very clear red line must be drawn against the UAE playing into American politics,” the lawmaker said. “I’m not convinced we’ve ever taken it to a high level with the Emirates.” Investigation: Mattis and others guided UAE as it meddled in regional civil wars and US policy Both the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department declined to comment on whether they have raised the matter with senior UAE counterparts. The US administration’s muted public response follows President Biden’s impassioned pitch to midterm voters last week that American democracy is under threat from powerful interests and needs a coordinated safeguard. “With democracy on the ballot, we must remember these first principles: Democracy means the rule of the people — not the rule of monarchs or the economy, but the rule of the people,” Biden said during a speech in Washington. The National Intelligence Council, or NIC, is the intelligence community leading analytical hub. Its products draw on information from the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies to speak with one voice on pressing national security issues. People who shared information about the report declined to provide a copy of it. They said the activities attributed to the UAE in the report go far beyond mere influence. One of the most brazen exploits involved the hiring of three former US intelligence and military officials to help the UAE monitor dissidents, politicians, journalists and US companies. In public legal filings, US prosecutors said the men helped the United Arab Emirates hack into computers in the United States and other countries. Last year, all three admitted in court to providing sophisticated hacking technology to the UAE, agreeing to surrender their security clearances and pay about $1.7 million to settle criminal charges. The Justice Department called the settlement a “first-of-its-kind resolution.” The However, it did not include jail time, and critics viewed the financial penalty as insignificant given the substantial payments the former US officials received for their work, raising concerns that it did little to deter similar future behavior. Biden pledges to expand US role in Middle East as controversial trip ends Those seeking reform also note the federal trial of Thomas Barrack, a longtime adviser to former President Donald Trump, who was acquitted this month charges alleging he was working as a UAE agent and lied to federal investigators about it. US prosecutors have accused Barak of using his access to Trump to benefit the UAE and operating a secret communications channel that included passing sensitive information to Emirati officials. Evidence presented in court included thousands of text messages, social media posts and flight logs, as well as communications showing Emirati officials providing him with talking points for media appearances in which he praised the UAE. After one such interview, Barak emailed a contact saying “I nailed it… for the home team,” referring to the UAE. Barak, who has never registered with the US government to lobby for the Gulf state, has strongly denied the charges and prosecutors have failed to convince jurors that his influence caused the crimes. An aide, Matthew Grimes, was also acquitted. Barak, though a spokesman, declined to comment. The UAE is not alone in using aggressive tactics to try to bend the US political system to its liking. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Taiwan and many other governments are conducting influence campaigns in the United States in an attempt to influence US policy. But scrutiny of the UAE’s intelligence community shows a heightened level of concern and a dramatic shift away from the laudatory way in which the country is discussed publicly by foreign, defense and US presidents, who routinely stress the “importance of further deepening of the US. UAE strategic relationship”. The UAE is a federation of sheikhs with more than 9 million people, including the city-states of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. As of 2012, it is the third-largest buyer of US arms and has built what many consider the most powerful military in the Arab world by cultivating close ties to the US political, defense and military establishment. The UAE armed forces have fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The country also hosts 5,000 US military personnel at al-Dhafra Air Base and US warships at the Jebel Ali deep-water port. The Gulf state’s boosters in US think tanks and military circles often hail it as “Little Sparta” for its military prowess, while glossing over its human rights record and ironclad affinity with Saudi Arabia. There are no elections or political parties in the UAE, and no independent judiciary. Criticism of the government is banned and unions and homosexuality are outlawed. Freedom House ranks the Gulf state among the least free countries in the world. A princess ran to escape the powerful ruler of Dubai. Then her phone appeared on the list. The stifling political environment is in stark contrast to the country’s lavish cosmopolitan offerings, including the world’s tallest building, ski slopes inside a mall and Ferrari World, a theme park inspired by the Italian sports car maker. Its largest city, Dubai, is a duty-free business hub with glitzy five-star hotels, nightclubs and DJ gigs that are no match for the nearby religious zeal of Saudi Arabia. In recent years, US officials and independent watchdogs have warned that smuggling and money laundering in the UAE has allowed criminals and militants to hide their assets there. The focus on the UAE’s role in Washington increased after the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. The CIA concluded that his assassination was ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a revelation that prompted Washington lobbying firms and think tanks to cut their financial ties to Riyadh. Although the UAE had no involvement, the crown protégé status of Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the ruler of the UAE known as MBZ, invited more scrutiny. “MBZ was a big part of the crowd that said the Saudi crown prince would be a reformer, make Saudi Arabia a more normal country, give women…