Know your BFEE: The Carlyle Group

[Octafish]

27. Crony Capitalism Goes Global

Bush Sr. and others open doors for the Carlyle Group.

Tim Shorrock
The Nation, March 14, 2002; appeared in the April 1, 2002 edition

EXCERPT...

Looking East

Where Carlucci has led Carlyle's foray into defense, Bush Sr. and Baker have helped the bank forge deep ties with the Middle East. Just after his son was sworn into office, Bush was invited by Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz to speak to potential US investors in Saudi Arabia at a two-day conference in Houston. Bandar, who is close to the Bush family, was not relying purely on friendship, however: The Washington Post recently disclosed that Bandar has invested in Carlyle, along with his father, Prince Sultan, the Saudi defense minister. (Bush Jr. also has a Carlyle connection: In the early 1990s he was on the board of Caterair, a Carlyle company that provided in-flight food services to airlines but never made a profit.)

Through a 51 percent joint venture with the Saudi government, Carlyle's United Defense provides tactical training and maintenance for the thousands of Bradley Fighting Vehicles purchased by the Royal Saudi Land Forces after the Gulf War. Carlyle had a long relationship with Saudi Arabia through BDM Corporation and Vinnell Corporation, which train the Saudi National Guard and were sold to TRW in 1998. In the early 1990s Carlyle advised Al-Waleed bin Talal--the Saudi prince whose $10 million donation to the World Trade Center victims' fund was rejected by Rudy Giuliani--on his US investments, including a $600 million bailout of Citicorp, now Citigroup.

Last April, Bush Sr. led a Carlyle delegation to Turkey, where Rubenstein negotiated a joint venture with the Koc Group, Turkey's largest conglomerate, which has holdings in energy, telecommunications and defense. During a dinner with Turkish business executives, Bush reminded the audience of Turkey's support during the Gulf War and promised to "help Turkey as we did in the past." FNSS, a joint venture between United Defense and the Nurol Group, is Turkey's largest manufacturer of armored vehicles and exports to Malaysia and other nations.

Over the past three years, in addition to visiting Turkey, Bush has been to South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, France, Thailand and Hong Kong on Carlyle's behalf. In his speeches to investment conferences, said Conway, Bush "talks about the world, what he sees, what he thinks. Period." Carlyle's newly hired spokesperson, Chris Ullman, would not discuss Bush's compensation or his schedule, but added that Bush "does not and has never represented Carlyle before other governments or government officials. He has made no business deals for Carlyle."

Investors, however, recognize that the Bush name--and the many contacts Bush developed as President, CIA director and ambassador to the UN--carry tremendous weight as he travels around the world on behalf of Carlyle. [font color="red"]"Nothing beats the ability to have George Bush call up some contact he's known for the last twenty years to comment on the worthiness of a particular deal," said Pat Macht, a spokesperson for CalPERS,[/font color] after consulting with investment managers about Bush's role in Carlyle. That is particularly true in Asia, where personal relationships are key to business deals and Bush chairs the annual meeting of Carlyle's Asian Advisory Board.

CONTINUED...

http://www.thenation.com/article/crony-capitalism-goes-global?page=0,0#axzz2brxZHLGi

And most people, including most Democrats, wonder why the wars never end and the rich keep getting richer. Thanks for grokking, Blue Owl.