Obama pal does business with Saddam’s nuke scientist

Tied to Arab company that quietly took over Florida port

NEW YORK – It was in a beat-up VW van that Barack Obama’s “Choom Gang” of high-school buddies in Hawaii traveled more than three decades ago.

Last weekend, some of those old friends – “choom” means to smoke marijuana – and a college roommate rode with the president to a wedding in Florida, this time on Air Force One.

Choom gangers Greg Orme and Bobby Titcomb were among the guests, according to a White House press pool report, along with Occidental College roommate Hassan Chandoo.

Another Occidental roommate, Wahid Hamid, joined Chandoo and former members of the Choom Gang in August for a flight on Marine One to Camp David to celebrate Obama’s 55th birthday.

Hamid, who became a campaign fundraiser for the president, accompanied Obama to Karachi, Pakistan, in 1981 to visit Chandoo’s family, a trip Obama touted during his 2008 run to bolster his foreign-policy credentials.

More