Posted on 02/19/2006 5:07:48 PM PST by Sweetjustusnow
Well, if nothing else...this whole mess has been an entertaining illustration of showing us which FReepers are on the extreme left end of the IQ Bell Curve...
http://www.warfooting.com/Blog/newsID.472/news_detail.asp
More information. Read the comments.
U.A.E. PORT DEAL LIKELY TO PROVE D.O.A.
By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. | February 16, 2006
Visitor Responses
John Smith
The US and the West in general are making a serious mistake if they hand over control of 21 ports to an Arab company, owned by an Arab government. As a former employee of the DP World I can offer a unique insight ino the goings on of this company, and I'm afraid if you scrap beneath the surface, its not all its cracked up to be. Did you know that several times a year staff receive a company memo informing them that for that particular month, one day's salary will be deducted and given to a Palestine "charity"!!! Staff are allowed to refuse by informing Human Resouces Dept, but no one ever did knowing that this would lead to being over-looked for promotions and/or not having your contract renewed. I recall one poor Indian dock-side labourer on USD 500/month complaining that he couldn't afford to make the payment as he had his wife and three children back in India to feed. He promptly was fired! They have a reputation and a track record of not honouring staff contracts for expatriates, and I know of several employees who didn't receive their end contract bonuses or whose personal effects were not repatriated back to their home country. I mean, what can you do when the company is owned by the government of UAE and Shariah law applies. Lets not forget that UAE bans Israelis from visiting or working in their country, and maps of the world have Israel blackened out. Even a non-Israeli who has visited Israel and has an Israel visa in their passport, is denied entry into the UAE. Did you kow the national shipping line of Israel - ZIM Line is not allowed to call at any sea port in the UAE. Check out all the noise DP World made on their website about one of its senior executives, Dave Sanborn, being nominated by US President George W. Bush to serve as Maritime Administrator, a key transportation appointment reporting directly to Norman Mineta the Secretary of Transportation and Cabinet Member. In fact, Dave Sanborn had worked for DP World for less than one year!
You really are a know nothing. The takeover of P&O was legitimate and above board. The P&O shareholders took the DPWorld offer rather than the one from the Singapore firm.
Those are the facts despite your tin foil rantings.
"Congress should see to it that the United Arab Emirates is not entrusted with the operation of any American ports, and that the Treasury Department is stripped of the lead role in evaluating such dubious foreign investments in the United States."
~ Frank Gafney ~
President of the Center for Security Policy and lead-author of War Footing: Ten Steps America Must Take to Prevail in the War for the Free World. Mr. Gaffney formerly acted as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during the Reagan Administration, following four years of service as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy.
I think I'll take my chances with the opinion of Mr. Gafney rather than that of Mssrs. Pukin Dog and Dane.
Well, sorry, but national security and survival trump ordinary business. We've been too lax in many areas, but this goes way beyond what can be allowed.
Your post is an example of the logical fallacy "Appeal to Authority."
Uh earth to gsgop. P&O was already a foreign firm operating in the US ports. If you are mad maybe you should direct your animus at the P&O shareholders, they were the ones who took the DPWorld offer.
Bush had nothing to do with the P&O takeover.
But it's SO much easier to regurgitate some canned rhetoric and shout "Death to Goldstein!" during the Two Minutes' Hate...
Well REPUBLICAN Curt Weldon says cargo operations are a "vital national defense asset". So I'll reword the question, why do you support a the takeover of vital national defense assets by a foreign government?
No problem, BTW when are you going to take up a collection to make an altar to worship at Frank Gaffney.
Anyone?
Fine then kick out all the other foreign container firms(and there are many) if you want to be consistent. Of course you will bring the economy to a halt.
Yeah, Frank Gaffney is merely an uninformed neophyte in U.S. security matters...
Maybe you're right -- I should differ to armchair Freepers specializing in one-handed keyboard strokes.
Fmr. Asst. Sec of Defense Gaffney. knows nothing about national security.
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