Posted on 12/17/2006 12:20:18 PM PST by j_accuse
As allen08gop notes, the chinese company has long term leases on the two ports here. Hopefully the FR urban legend of china running/managing/owning/controlling the canal is sufficiently debunked now.
The real loss with the completion of the treaty in 1999 for the US was Howard AFB/Ft Kobbe and Fort Sherman (JOTB). I know the US uses an air base in Manta, ecuador now but the new govt. there has said they will ask the US to leave. Howard and Sherman are still *mostly* empty as far as I know, interesting in and of itself. Given ARI's zeal to sell everything else they could, sometimes twice, it is certainly odd that those facilities, particularly on howard, were not sold/leased as there were apparently interested bidders on the airfield.
As far as defending the canal, ownership isn't nearly as good as having an active, fully staffed military base a mile away with an airfield.
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