James R. Bath

James Reynolds Bath
Born August 18, 1936
Nationality United States of America
Occupation Banker, businessman
Employer C.I.A[1]
Salem bin Laden[2]

James Reynolds Bath (born August 18, 1936)[3] is a former director of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), a former frontman for Salem bin Laden (Osama bin Laden's older half-brother),[4] and also former part owner of Arbusto Energy with George W. Bush, with whom Bath served as a member of the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, protecting the Gulf Coast.[5] He has business interests in the aircraft business and real estate.

Biography

Bath, a native of Natchitoches, Louisiana, moved to Houston in 1965 at age 29 to join the Texas Air National Guard, where he became friends with George W. Bush. In 1972, he and Bush were both suspended from flying for failing to show up for a scheduled physical exam.[6]

In the late 1960s, after working for Atlantic Aviation, Bath moved to Houston and became an aircraft broker.[7]

Bath got his start in real estate in 1973 by forming a partnership with Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen's son, Lan, in finding investments for the Senator's blind trust, Bath Bentsen Interests.

In 1978, Bath became a Director of the Main Bank, based in Houston, Texas. His fellow investors were John Connally; Saudi financier Ghaith Pharaon; and Khalid bin Mahfouz. Also at this time, he founded JB&A Aviation, a corporate aviation brokerage firm, along with fellow businessmen Johnson Taylor and Jerry Smith.

In 1980, Bath was named company president of Cotopax Investments, registered in the Cayman Islands. The name was changed to Skyway Aircraft Leasing Ltd. The company board then resigned en masse, leaving Bath as a sole director. The company acted as a supplier of large passenger and air cargo jets.[8]

Bath founded Southwest Airport Services to manage the Houston Gulf Airport, and to provide military fueling services at Ellington Field.

Bath's discharge from the National Guard and his relationships to the bin Laden family, the Bush family, and Arbusto were among the allegations discussed in Michael Moore's 2004 documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, as well as his 2003 book Dude, Where's My Country?.[9] These topics are also explored in Greg Palast's 2002 book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and 2004 film Bush Family Fortunes, as well as Russ Baker's 2009 book Family of Secrets.[10]

Jim Bath lived in River Oaks, Houston with his wife, Sandra. Their house was behind the house of Khalid bin Mahfouz.[11]

Southwest Airport Services

The defense fuels contractor that operates out of a 12,500-square-foot (1,160 m2) facility at Ellington Field in the U.S. state of Texas providing on-site car rentals, computerized weather systems and high-speed Internet access. It also provides fueling services for the military as well as training facilities.

Southwest Airport Services was established in 1985 by James R. Bath to manage the Houston Gulf Airport until it closed in 2002.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/conspiracytheories/white.pdf BILL WHITE Interview by: Bob McKeown LET’S GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING,WHEN DID YOU FIRST MEET JAMES BATH?
  2. ↑ http://www.nndb.com/people/529/000050379/
  3. ↑ "You searched: James Reynolds Bath 19360818". Public Background Checks. Retrieved 2011-04-15.
  4. ↑ http://www.nndb.com/people/113/000055945/
  5. ↑ Time Magazine, June 24, 2001
  6. ↑ Rutenberg, Jim (May 17, 2004). "A Film to Polarize Along Party Lines". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ Unger, Craig. House of Bush House of Saud. Scribner. September 28, 2004. 19. ISBN 0-7432-5339-6, ISBN 978-0-7432-5339-0.
  8. ↑ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,155760,00.html A Mysterious Mover of Money and Planes By Jonathan Beaty Sunday, June 24, 2001.
  9. ↑ Moore, Michael. Dude, Where's My Country? ISBN 0-446-53223-1
  10. ↑ Baker, Russ. Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, The Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America. Bloomsbury Press, 2009
  11. ↑ Coll, Steve. The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century. New York City: The Penguin Press, 2008. 297.