1115.org

Ted Bridis of AP put out a (deliberately inflammatory?) story on February 24, saying:

The United Arab Emirates gave the Bush administration $100 million to help victims of Hurricane Katrina weeks before a state-owned company there sought U.S. approval for its ports deal.
[…]
The U.S. government (said) the money it received from the United Arab Emirates was nearly four times as much as it received from all other countries combined. Other nations, including some in the Middle East, also pledged large contributions but have not yet sent the money.

The money from the UAE was previously described by the State Department only as a “very large” contribution. The White House said so far it has received $126 million in international donations, including the UAE money.

Robert Kimmitt, deputy secretary at the Treasury Department, told senators Thursday that Dubai Ports World first approached U.S. officials Oct. 17 to discuss a proposed purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which runs significant operations at six large U.S. ports.
[…]
The United Arab Emirates sent its $100 million Katrina donation on Sept. 21…

All of that is factually correct, certainly. And unsavory implications certainly seem to emerge. But what happens if we add just a few facts which are somehow missing entirely from the AP story?

I don’t know about you, but from where I’m sitting, it doesn’t appear that the UAE made a disproportionately large donation with the aim of influencing the DP World approval.