GW's visit to Dubai may be more memorable for the chaos he caused than any political gains. The Emirate declared a holiday and closed all the main roads during his visit. The Russian Information Agency estimates that this caused Dubai to lose $120 million. The road closures caused total gridlock. Traffic is usually so bad that its hard to imagine something making it worse, but evidently GW has done that. I'm sure the laborers were not paid for the day so they won't have fond memories of him. Tourists were told to stay in their hotels thereby cancelling any plans they had - especially if they planned to visit the historical area on the Creek or ride in an abra (Pirogue to the Coon Asses in the audience. Otherwise a small boat used for crossing Dubai Creek).
I found it a little ironic that GW's speech warned Dubai about the dangers of Iran when just down the creek there were hundreds of dhows loading up with goods they would carry across the Gulf to, you guessed it, Iran.
So why visit this little sandy place? Well, for one thing, the US Navy has a "base" there in the Jebel Ali Port. Our Arabian (or Persian, depending upon your point of view) Gulf fleet uses it. I have seen the USS Nimitz there. We need their port.
I found it a little ironic that GW's speech warned Dubai about the dangers of Iran when just down the creek there were hundreds of dhows loading up with goods they would carry across the Gulf to, you guessed it, Iran.
So why visit this little sandy place? Well, for one thing, the US Navy has a "base" there in the Jebel Ali Port. Our Arabian (or Persian, depending upon your point of view) Gulf fleet uses it. I have seen the USS Nimitz there. We need their port.
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