I have no doubt most, if not all of your points are correct. However, I think you -- and the President, for that matter -- are overlooking one important, powerful element. That is the visceral recoil many, probably most Americans have these days toward most things Muslim and Arab.
We have all lived through wave upon wave of horrors committed by Islamic fanatics. Those images of the WTC crashing down, of Russian schoolchildren being slaughtered, of London subways being bombed, of beheadings, and all the rest of it simply cannot be swept away.
There is no way -- none -- that I can accept this port deal, no matter what entirely rational arguments can be made on its behalf. My distrust of the Muslims is now too deep. My gut screams out NOOO! Even as my heart and mind want to support this President whom I so deeply respect.
Don't you see? There is something much more basic at work here. Something primal that cannot be soothed by a business discussion.
No matter how many layers of management stand between the actual port workers and the UAE government, the fact is that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owned the World Trade Center. Those buildings overlooked New York Harbor, and the ashes of those people killed in the buildings spread widely over the port.
Visceral, emotional reactions do matter in a situation like this. Our gut instincts are often better predictors of danger than our rational minds. The idea that an Arab government would have any operational control over port operations anywhere in the U.S., but especially in the Port of New York and New Jersey, just offends and disgusts me profoundly.
Read my current tagline. I may not have the quote precisely right (it might have been sheep and not dog), but Mohammed Atta's terrorist manual did have that instruction. The point? Let us -- the dogs -- sleep undisturbed until the terrorists are ready to slaughter us. Remember that as this port deal is debated.
Good point, but why doesn't the management of the Port Authority of NY/NJ simply terminate the contract with P&O Ports as soon as the acquisition is finalized?
What an excellent post, Wolfstar. I agree with every word you wrote. Much as I want to support this deal, and do trust the president, my distrust of the people who have professed to kill us is too great.
It is incumbent on the president to make the points that some freepers are trying to make with their research and suppositions.
s/b professed the desire to kill us.
Excellently written. This sums it up very well.