A Palestinian-American’s ties to the Bush family may go a long way toward explaining why George W. Bush would listen to Grover Norquist and embrace leaders of Muslim Brotherhood front groups after 9/11. Norquist is still very much a power player in American politics as president and founder of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR). This is so despite his verifiable connections to nefarious Muslim groups and individuals. As Shoebat.com has written about on more than one occasion, it simply didn’t make sense that Bush would get in bed with America’s enemies just days after the 21st Century equivalent of Pearl Harbor.

Sadly, it makes far more sense these years later.

One of Norquist’s partners was a man named Talat Othman, a Palestinian-American who served as Chairman of the Islamic Free Market Institute (Islamic Institute) for several years. When the 9/11 attacks happened, Othman’s connections to George W. and his father George H.W. had already gone back several years. Check out the opening two paragraphs of a Wall Street Journal article dated December 6, 1991, when George H.W. Bush was president:

Two years ago, Talat Othman didn’t have the president’s ear. But since August 1990, the Palestinian-born Chicago investor has attended three White House meetings with President Bush to discuss Middle East policy.

Mr. Othman’s political access coincides with the remarkable ascendance of a little Texas oil company on whose board he serves alongside George W. Bush, the president’s oldest son. That company, Harken Energy Corp. — though it had never drilled a single well overseas or in water — recently won the rights to drill potentially lucrative offshore wildcat wells in a contract bestowed by the government of Bahrain.

At the 2000 Republican National Convention, Othman was introduced by RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson to deliver a Muslim prayer to close the first day’s proceedings. Take note of all the people in the audience bowing their heads:

In 2008, there were several figures tied to then candidate Barack Obama that the campaign of Republican Presidential nominee John McCain refused to go after. One of those individuals was Antonin “Tony” Rezko with whom Obama engaged in a shady land deal that should have ended Obama’s campaign. Another was Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian who used to serve as a media spokesman for the PLO and Yasser Arafat. Both Rezko and Khalid are connected directly to Othman.

According to a 2005 article that appeared in the Arab American Media Services, it was Othman who first introduced Rezko to Illinois politics:

Rezko also became an adviser to former Gov. George Ryan, who was later indicted on unrelated government corruption charges, and to Blagojevich. Rezko was introduced to state politics and Ryan’s predecessor, Jim Edgar, by Talat Othman, a longtime fundraiser for state and city government officials. Edgar is now an associate of the PR firm Rezko hired to represent him.

Years later, when the scandal involving an illegal land deal between Obama and Rezko was revealed as a perfect way to hurt Obama, there was very little focus placed on it. One reason why very well may have been that Rezko greatly aided Obama’s political career in a way similar to how Bush’s buddy Othman aided Rezko’s. There was this one ad which helped to explain the problem but once you see it, you’ll wonder why this wasn’t beaten on like a drum:

Another Obama colleague the 2008 McCain campaign seemed happy to avoid discussing was Rashid Khalidi, a former PLO spokesman for Yasser Arafat and college professor. In 2002, Khalidi and Othman attended an event in Chicago with Rezko. In this photo, Othman can be seen standing next to Khalidi:

Talat Othman (blue shirt) standing next two Rashid Khalidi 2002. Rezko was at the event but not in picture.

Here is a photo of Othman with Rezko at a dinner honoring Rezko in 1999:

Rezko (L) and Othman (R) in 1999.

A year later, Khalidi was leaving Chicago to take a job at Columbia University. Obama, along with terrorist Bill Ayers, attended the dinner. In one of the more outrageous events of the 2008 presidential campaign, a videotape of Obama, Ayers and Khalidi at that dinner was confirmed to be in the possession of the Los Angeles Times. Despite it being on the eve of a presidential election, the Times refused to release the tape. Here is a photo from the dinner that shows Obama and Khalidi sharing a table:

Rashid Khalidi and the Obamas in 2003.

Years later, when Sarah Palin was able to talk about her time on the 2008 campaign trail with John McCain, she explained to Greta van Susteren that during the campaign, she was not permitted to talk about Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright and other scandals:

Joining Norquist, Othman and co-founder Khaled Saffuri was another co-founder named Majed Tomeh. Tomeh, a Syrian, has expressed pro-Hamas views as Shoebat.com has reported.

Khaled Saffuri (left arrow) and CAIR Exec Director Nihad Awad (right arrow) with George W. Bush on 9/17/01

On September 13, 2001, President George W. Bush became understandably very emotional when asked to discuss his thoughts about the largest terror attack on U.S. soil. It’s hard to believe that he did not consider his relationships with people like Grover Norquist and Othman. Nonetheless, the next day, Bush would share a podium with the President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) at the National Cathedral. A few days after that, he would join the co-founder of Norquist’s Islamic Institute and the Executive Director of CAIR Nihad Awad inside the Washington Islamic Center to tell the American people that ‘Islam is peace’.

Had the President come clean about his relationships then, there’s no telling where America would be today but one thing is likely; we’d probably be in a much better place than we are.

This is sad on many, many levels:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JOpGFjJg8A&t=1m27s