Sorry, but none of that is true. This is Flyertalk and those of us who have been here a number of years know each other. I know mecabq has many years of experience in the middle east and deeply understands the culture. And as I posted above, I've been traveling to Dubai regularly (and elsewhere in the region) since 1997. We are not at all applying western logic. We are stating the reality of both the political scene and the scene on the ground, and how the enforcement arm of the government behaves. Travelers to Dubai would be better served by talking to experts rather than reading random sensationalist websites.

Secondly the UAE has rule of law and a court system. People cannot simply decide that something is illegal. Sure, the President of the US can violate the law when he feels he has a good reason to, but I'd say the leaders of the UAE have a better track record in that respect.