Caught in a Lie: Despite Denials, US Refused to Help in Dubai Probe

WikiLeaks Cable Showed US Refused to Probe Use of US Credit Cards in Assassination

The Obama Administration has been caught out in yet another lie by the release of a WikiLeaks cable, in this case relating to the January 2010 Dubai assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhoh, a top Hamas member.

Dubai Police Chief KhaifanAt the time the US had been insisting that they had never been approached by Dubai officials to help in the investigation. The cable shows not only was that a lie, but that the US overtly refused to help the US with the probe.

Dubai police had explicitly sought help from the US embassy with details relating to a number of credit cards issued by a US bank used by the apparent assassins. The assassins were later revealed to be using stolen identities, and in many cases forged passports.

At the time Israel, which was responsible for the assassination, had taken a position of vagueness at the time, and the administration refusal to help probe the crime appeared to be aimed at avoiding embarrassing Israel. Since then officials have openly bragged about the killing.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.