This could become a big story

A former adviser to the United Arab Emirates says he has video of a member of the royal family torturing people.  The AP was shown 11 still photos from the tape, here is a description,

The tapes have not been made public but The Associated Press viewed 11 still frames from one of the videos. They showed a man who appeared to be Sheik Issa beating another man with lumber, firing an automatic weapon into the sand around him and forcing an apparent cattle prod into his anus. The victim also appeared to have been partly run over by a SUV and had salt poured on his wounds.

Supposedly, there are three torture videos in this adviser's possession.  He's had a lawsuit against the UAE royals languishing in the courts for two years, so one has to consider that a factor too when looking at this story. 

Even if this guy's lawsuit falls through, he could just as easily cause major embarrassment to the UAE's royal family by making it public or selling the videos to the media. 

What will be interesting to see is what the UAE does in reaction to this, they're invested heavily in the US and have major holdings here, and are considered a more 'friendly' Arab nation than most.  Beyond that, the UAE has a lot of oil, which it uses to fund their business ventures. 

I have to imagine if these videos are the real deal the UAE is going to want it to disappear, but the adviser and the tapes are here in the US.  I also have to think we're going to have a situation where the UAE wants this thing suppressed and is gonna be making some noise and threats behind the scenes, the US will want this all to go away, but is ultimately powerless to stop the tapes from getting leaked, shown or sold to the media.  What'll be interesting will be the reaction from the public in the US, and if the UAE starts leaving or investing elsewhere or uses their oil supply as a threat.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 09:32 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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