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By: Scott Wheeler
Whose interest was President Obama serving on March 30, when he ordered Chrysler to either conclude a merger with Italian automaker Fiat within 30 days or lose federal bailout funds which would lead to its immediate demise?
That untimely announcement placed Chrysler in the untenable position of accepting whatever Fiat offered, literally cutting the legs out from under the struggling American carmaker's negotiating platform. Some financial analysts had already determined that what Fiat was offering was a very bad deal for Chrysler.
“The steal of the century,” Forbes columnist Jerry Flint wrote of the deal back in January. “Fiat gets Chrysler for next to no money, and American taxpayers must throw in $7 billion to make it happen.” By most accounts, Chrysler was in real trouble, but by announcing to the world that Chrysler had no other alternatives Obama effectively told Fiat that Chrysler would accept whatever Fiat offered, eliminating Chrysler's ability to cut a better deal.
Why would Obama undercut a U.S. company, involved in a heated negotiation, in favor of a foreign company's interest?
Clear answers are not available, but the presence one very curious shareholder in Fiat raises some interesting questions. The African nation of Libya owns at least a 2 percent stake in Fiat and thus makes Moammar Gadhafi, who controls the wealth of Libya, a direct beneficiary of the deal favoring Fiat.
Does Obama owe Gadhafi?
That is a tough question to answer, but Obama's record-shattering $700 million presidential fundraising operation and a revealing speech Gadhafi delivered nearly a year ago, seem to undress Obama's inexplicable sabotage of Chrysler's negotiating position with Fiat.
Before anyone was suspicious of the sources of Obama's campaign funds, Gadhafi made a speech that Al Jazeera carried on June 11, 2008, and translated by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
"All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man. They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency."
Is Gadhafi revealing his knowledge of something that no one else even suspected at the time?
Since Gadhafi's June 2008 speech, other evidence has surfaced suggesting that Obama raised significant sums from dubious sources in Gadhafi's neighborhood, including tens of thousands of dollars the campaign was forced to return once it was revealed the origin of the funds was in Gaza, the Middle East.
So far there has been very little interest in the sources of Obama's massive fundraising, and with Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, it is unlikely that there will be an investigation into what many believe is the most prolific fundraising abuse ever.
Gadhafi's prescient speech didn't end with his apparent knowledge of Obama's sources of campaign funds though. MEMRI's translation also included Gadhafi's foreknowledge that Obama's campaign rhetoric about supporting Israel also was just a head fake.
"But we were taken by surprise when our African Kenyan brother who is an American national, made statements [about Jerusalem] that shocked all his supporters in the Arab world, in Africa, and in the Islamic world . . .
"As you know, this is the farce of elections — a person lies and lies to people, just so that they will vote for him,” Gadhafi stated in his speech that got no coverage from the mainstream American media.
Since his election, pro-Israel Americans have been shocked at how quickly Obama's policies turned hostile toward Israel, such as the $900 million in aid headed to Gaza after they attacked Israel with mortars late last year, and forcing Israel to negotiate with Hamas.
With the precision of a campaign insider, Gadhafi also predicted a recently announced Obama policy regarding Israel nearly a year ago: "We thought he would say: 'I have decided that if I win, I will monitor the Dimona nuclear plant, and the other WMD in Israeli's possession.'”
Last week, a State Department official announced that the Obama administration would pressure Israel to sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty that would allow among other details, Obama to inspect Israel's nuclear weapons program, something the Israeli's have kept secret since its inception.
What is most amazing is that the propaganda arm of the Middle East, the anti-American Al Jazeera network, has proven more informative about Obama's Middle East policies than the sycophantic American media.
Scott Wheeler is executive director of The National Republican Trust PAC (GOPtrust.com), the nation's third-largest political action committee.