Posted on 03/03/2006 6:00:17 PM PST by EternalVigilance
WASHINGTON — A United Arab Emirates company formally submitted Friday to a highly unusual, broader examination by the Bush administration of potential security risks over its plans to take over significant operations at major U.S. ports. The new, 45-day investigation was aimed at quieting the furor in Washington over the administration's earlier approval of Dubai-owned DP World's $6.8 billion purchase of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
While the Administration may find a way to extricate itself from this debacle and to mitigate the political damage somewhat over time, the strident charges of racism, etc. by their mouthpieces will echo in the ears of conservative opponents of the deal for a very long time.
The whole thing has been one of the biggest political disasters I've ever seen.
And the real winners are the internal enemies of our country.
How else could the Dems possibly have gotten to the right of the GOP on national security?
Its not clear if this serious bureaucratic blunder by the Bush administration will turn into a damaging political event. These things sometimes have a way of moving off the radar screen never to be seen again. The 45 day review could be a positive for Bush. If its seen as a way to gloss over the issue, then it will stick in the memory for most conservatives. The Congress must address this issue for the long term and change the law that governs these CFIUS decisions.
Time will tell.
The stridency of the attacks on conservative critics of the Administration have reached new levels...or should I say descended to new depths.
That's going to have a longlasting negative effect no matter what.
But the usefulness of the whole thing for Dems is likely to be very shortlived in any case. Speaking out on behalf of national security is just too out of character for them.
As the first bit of evidence to counter such notions, I enter exhibit A, one member of the freshman class at Yale, 27-year-old Sayyid Rahmatullah Hashemi, who served as a diplomat for the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
How on earth does it happen that a Taliban apologist makes his way into one of our top institutions in this way and w/o scrutiny. I'm sure he has nothing but the best of intentions in life. LOL...
Good point!
I heard that he has like a sixth grade education.
I knew standards were low these days in the Ivy League, but sheesh...
;-)
LMAO...
Didn't know that. But somehow I'm sure that "the three Rs" isn't the primary focus in school in the ME. Call me nuts...
Nah, I wouldn't do that....but you are a racist if you oppose this deal, donchaknow! :-)
Or stupid, they say...
they could spin this to a positive in 10 minutes.
use this deal as the turnkey for a comprehensive improvement in port security, with DPW being the first company to be "signed up".
but instead, they appear to want to just try and run out the 45 day clock and push it through "as is". they were saying nothing when the story was exploding for days, then they pounced on it with the "you are a xenophobe, we'll veto it" message, then they were not in favor of the 45 day extension that everyone knew was coming anyway. so when do they realize they have to compromise, on day 30 of 45?
Stupid, racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic (which I am). In fact, the thought of Islamic proliferation should be horrific to all that are not muslim.
But what else? Delusionary, frightened fringe, paranoid, blithely uninterested in facts, issuing of vague indictments of Arabs and muslims, afraid and fear driven, ignoring and defiant as to facts, a fearful fringe, and naive all as implied by Tony Snow in his latest piece in the Jewish World Review today.
I have read nothing yet that makes this a security risk. Having Democrats in power in DC is far worse.
My guess is, you mean the attacks on conservative critics of Bush right here on Free Republic. Because once you move away from FR, its a different world. Roughly 65%-70% of Americans oppose the DPW/UAE deal. Many FReepers who take after Bush`s critics on this website, maybe Republicans in good standing, but aren't strict followers of political conservatism. Basically, in their eyes Bush can do no wrong, thereby making their personal attacks on Bush critics warranted and justified. These FReepers have proven they don't want to debate the issues. They want to stifle free speech and abolish political dissent on FR.
You got it, friend.
the risk is indirect. its not like the Emir is going to walk into a DPW board meeting and say "when do we ship the nerve gas to NY". the risk is that the company management is infiltrated by what appears to be "normal" people from the UAE, perhaps they hire some stateside subcontractor to work at the port that hires "clean" jihadi symapthizers (let's face it, we have plenty of them inside the US already). in addition, this state owned company will have easier mechanisms for visas to the US, given they have a business presence in 6 major cities. now you have a conduit through which some operation can be planned and carried out.
there are plenty of legitimate security concerns, and improvements that can be made. if the administration would start proposing some of them, they might be able to get themselves out of this political mess - save the deal - and maintain this "UAE is a great ally" relationship.
Looks like you've compiled a pretty thorough list of their derogatory labels.
You've got that right. Good point.
LOL...
Most of 'em, all those in that second list all come from one Snow article.
Tony's got it all covered...
; )
There are risks everywhere. UAE is not going to risk having us as an enemy.
In every port they have operations, the local natives are in charge.
If you haven't read this, you should:
Article in upper left hand corner:
Ports & Politics - the UAE/P&O Deal
http://www.globalpiracy.com/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.