Millions of dollars spent by UAE to lobbyists in Washington
The ruling regime in the United Arab Emirates spends millions of dollars on lobbyists in the United States and the US media to buy influence and to try to improve their image.
This is linked to the UAE regime efforts to influence the American administration to support its subversive roles in the Arab region, especially the war Yemen and supporting Hafatr’s militias in Libya.
The UAE spending data on pressure groups and influence in Washington is not classified and is publicly available on the FARA website of the US Department of Justice.
In 2017 and 2018, the UAE spent about $ 36 million on lobbyists in the United States, making it the fifth in the list of top 10 countries in this field.
In 2013, the UAE spent $ 14.2 million on American lobbyists making it the top of the list of the top 10 spending countries in that year.
The UAE is seeking to promote itself as the secular model of the Arab state. This is the work of the UAE ambassador to Washington, Yusuf Al Otaiba, who moved to the US as a student at Georgetown University, and then became the director of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed, office.
Al Otaiba represents the size of the UAE’s influence in the US capital and the White House through his views and influence in the corridors of the White House and his active role in passing many of his country’s policies, evidenced by his many meetings with members of the White House and Congress, taking the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown a base for his meetings.
UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Affairs, Anwar Qarqash, praised US President Donald Trump’s veto of a congressional resolution that sought to end US involvement in the war waged by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
“President Trump’s assertion of supporting the Arab alliance in Yemen is a positive sign,” Qarqash said on Twitter. He added that the decision was “strategic and timely.”
The White House said two days ago that Trump vetoed Congress’s decision.
“This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities, endangering the lives of American citizens and brave service members, both today and in the future,” Trump wrote to the Senate announcing the use of the veto.
In a related context, the US Central Command announced the arrival of US F-35A fighter jets to the UAE’s Dhafra base on its first mission in the Middle East.
“The F-35A fighter aircraft of the US Air Force arrives in its first mission in the Middle East at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE to operate within the Central Command operations area,” said the US Central Command.
The Central Command did not mention the indications of the presence of US aircraft to the base of Dhafra, but observers say it likely that the US fears of Iranian movements in the waters of the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.
The F-35 is the most advanced and sophisticated fighter in the world and is the fifth-generation fighter, the newest generation, produced by Lockheed Martin, and in addition to the US military, it has reached Israel and Turkey recently.
This modern aircraft has the ability to land and take off vertically without the need for a runway, and the ability of its sensor systems to provide coverage 360 degrees of the battlefield.
But despite the influx of American media, to the pride of American industry, the current events have proved to be the crash of many of them in a number of countries in the world, especially the United States and Japan.
Israel is the first to receive the American fighter, whose model F-35A for regular take-off and landing is $ 148 million for one fighter. The F-35B is short-haul and vertical landing, costing $ 251 million for one fighter.
