|
Get To Know Us!
Hello, America!
Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Sheikh Khalifa
bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of The United Arab Emirates. Yes, I
am the new guy in the palace, but with a full year of ruling beneath my belt
(I speak metaphorically of course, as I wear nothing for a belt to hold up),
I'm ready to get up, get busy, and do it one time, as the American prophet
James Brown once said.
Even those of you who are not
familiar with my benevolent visage surely remember my father, Sheikh Zayed
bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the greatest ruler that the United Arab Emirates has
ever known. Among his many other accomplishments, he built incredibly secure
terrorist free operation known as Dubai Ports World, the second largest port
operations business in the whole wide world. as well as the one with the
coolest name. You can tell a lot from a name.
Many of you in the United States
knew my father as the man who introduced the 'Be
My Friend' program to foster camaraderie between Arabs and American boys
and girls. I do believe that his intentions were good, regardless of the
unfortunate turn that particular initiative took. At heart, my father was a
good man.
As am I, although I have the
good common sense to seek friendship primarily with American grown-ups. When
thinking about my country, do any of you Americans ever ask yourself 'What
the heck is an Emirate?' Good question. Get to know us! An Emirate is a
kingdom ruled by an Emir. And I suppose that the best way to explain the
role of the Emir is to compare it to the role of the Governor to one of the
states in you land, except than an Emir may be quicker to behead you when
you talk smart about him.
So let's be friends. United Arab
Emirates are one of the good guys. We're not those scary hairy Arab
countries that you can't trust around your wife or around your airport. Your
country and mine, we even have the same first name. And how very cool is
that?
 |
