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Bush defends ports deal, threatens veto
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-02-21T213703Z_01_N219976_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-PORTS.xml ^

Posted on 02/21/2006 3:26:05 PM PST by bikepacker67

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush rejected congressional pressure to step in and suspend an Arab company's takeover of operations at major U.S. seaports on Tuesday and vowed to veto any legislation to block the deal.

"After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush told reporters aboard Air Force One. If Congress passed a law to stop the deal, "I'll deal with it with a veto."

The port operations erupted as a major political headache for Bush, whose fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill joined Democrats in questioning the deal.

Senate Republican leader Bill Frist added his voice to Capitol Hill outcry against the decision allowing state-controlled Dubai Ports World of the United Arab Emirates to manage ports in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

"If the administration cannot delay the process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review," Frist, a Tennessean and potential 2008 presidential contender, said in a statement.

Frist's decision to join the fray was significant because as majority leader he sets the Senate's agenda. Other lawmakers from both parties said they already had legislation ready to go to block the decision by a Treasury-led interagency panel known as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Along with state and local officials from the affected areas, the lawmakers were indignant about the deal's impact on the ports, considered vulnerable since the September 11 attacks. Dubai Ports World is on the verge of taking over Britain's P&O, which now manages the ports.

"It's hard to believe that this Administration would be so out of touch with the American people's national security concerns, that it would use its first ever veto to save this troubling Dubai ports deal," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer

Bush said he was trying to conduct a fair foreign policy.

"I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a great British company," Bush said.

"I'm trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world 'we'll treat you fairly.'"

"And after careful scrutiny, we believe this deal is a legitimate deal that will not jeopardize the security of the country and at the same time sends that signal that we are willing to treat people fairly."

Schumer and Republican Rep. Peter King of New York vowed to try and block the deal legislatively as soon as Congress is back in town on Monday. King is chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

A similar hail of criticism from American lawmakers last year drove off a bid by China's state-controlled CNOOC Ltd. for American oil company Unocal.

Officials from several Bush administration departments defended the Dubai Ports World decision.

Treasury spokesman Tony Fratto said all the administration members of the committee on foreign investment, including the Department of Homeland Security, agreed the transaction could proceed.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said a risk assessment by the U.S. intelligence community and decided there was no objection on national security grounds.

At the Justice Department, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stressed the deal had only to do with the management of port operations -- not security.

At the Pentagon, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace defended the United Arab Emirates as a close ally of the United States.

P&O shareholders last week approved Dubai Ports World's $6.8 billion takeover, which would create the world's third-largest ports group. A British court is expected to give its final approval at a hearing scheduled for February 27.

A UAE government official said the security concerns were unfounded given his country's close ties with Washington and Dubai Ports' record as global operator. U.S. warships often call at the UAE's Jebel Ali port, run by Dubai Ports.

U.S. seaports handle 2 billion ton(ne)s of freight a year. Only about 5 percent of containers are examined on arrival.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 109th; bush43; veto
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So Georgies FIRST VETO is going to be THIS???

WTH is WRONG with him?

1 posted on 02/21/2006 3:26:06 PM PST by bikepacker67
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To: bikepacker67

I can thing of 100 other times Bush should have used the veto pen (mostly budgetary) and did not.he spends like a drunken sailor and his favorite port of call seems to have questionable links.


2 posted on 02/21/2006 3:28:21 PM PST by Rakkasan1 (Muslims pray to Allah, Allah prays to Chuck Norris.)
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To: bikepacker67

ping


3 posted on 02/21/2006 3:28:28 PM PST by kajingawd (Humans share 50.6% of their DNA with bananas.... I can't wait for the next Evolution.)
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To: bikepacker67

Something's odd about this whole thing. Plus Jimmy Carter siding with Bush. Strange. I think more is going on than what we're being told.


4 posted on 02/21/2006 3:29:09 PM PST by itsinthebag (E)
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To: bikepacker67
"WTH is WRONG with him?"

I second that remark!!

5 posted on 02/21/2006 3:29:14 PM PST by Cornpone (Who Dares Wins -- Defame Islam Today -- Tell the Truth About Mohammed)
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To: bikepacker67

Y'all have got to read this eye-opening article. Dubai close to operating ALL the major ports of the world.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1583017/posts?page=1


6 posted on 02/21/2006 3:29:25 PM PST by mtbopfuyn (Legality does not dictate morality... Lavin)
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To: bikepacker67

Yeah. What's up?

I must be missing something.


7 posted on 02/21/2006 3:29:41 PM PST by dhs12345
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To: bikepacker67

Perhaps Bush is trying to get his critics on record in favor of profiling?

In other words, this could be a Rove rope-a-dope.

Doesn't mean I believe it, but it is a possibility.


8 posted on 02/21/2006 3:29:48 PM PST by Netheron
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To: bikepacker67
Good FR Posts about same topic.
9 posted on 02/21/2006 3:30:02 PM PST by Zuben Elgenubi
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To: bikepacker67

Flashback - December 13, 2004: Dubai, U.A.E., Joins U.S. Container Security Initiative (State Dept.)
US Department of State ^ | December 13. 2004


Posted on 02/21/2006 4:43:48 PM CST by new yorker 77


Becomes first Mideast port to participate in U.S. program

The United Arab Emirates has joined the U.S. Container Security Initiative (CSI) to help secure maritime cargo shipments against the threat of terrorism.

In a December 12 news release, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) said the agreement will enable all cargo destined for the United States through the port of Dubai to be prescreened.

CBP will station a small team of officers at Dubai ports to identify sea containers destined for the United States; Dubai customs officials will be responsible for screening containers identified as potential terrorist risks, the U.S. agency said.

Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation is the sixth-largest port operator in the world and the first in the Middle East to join the CSI, according to the news release.

To date, governments representing 21 countries around the world have signed up to the CSI program, launched by the United States following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Following is the text of the news release:

(begin text)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Department of Homeland Security

First Middle Eastern Port Formally Commits to Target, Pre-Screen and Secure Cargo Destined for the U.S.

12/12/2004

Dubai, UAE -- Today Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation joined the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Container Security Initiative [CSI] making it the first Middle Eastern port to participate. CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, signed a declaration of principles to acknowledge the agreement that will enable all cargo destined for the U.S. through the port of Dubai to be targeted and pre-screened.

"The threat of terrorism is real and, it's a global threat. Dubai Customs recognizes the absolute importance of protecting cargo against the terrorist threat. I applaud their bold action of assuming a leadership role in the Middle East," said Commissioner Bonner.

CBP will deploy a small team of officers to the port of Dubai, the 6th largest port operator in the world whose mission will be to target sea containers destined for the United States. Dubai Customs officials, working with CBP officers, will be responsible for screening any containers identified as a potential terrorist threat.

The primary purpose of CSI is to help protect the global trading system and the trade routes between CSI ports and the United States. By collaborating with foreign customs administrations, CBP is working towards a safer, more secure world trading system.

Under CSI, CBP has entered into bi-lateral partnerships with other governments to identify high-risk cargo containers and to pre-screen them before they are loaded on vessels destined for the United States. Today, governments representing 21 countries have signed up to implement CSI.

"I congratulate the Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation on this historic event. They are now partnering with the United States and are a leader in protecting the global trading system," said Ambassador to the UAE [United Arab Emirates] Michele Sison.

CSI did not exist before 9/ll. It was proposed by Commissioner Bonner and launched in January 2002. CSI has been accepted globally as a bold and revolutionary initiative to secure maritime cargo shipments against the terrorist threat. This initiative will continue to expand to strategic locations around the world.

The World Customs Organization (WCO), the European Union (EU), and the G8 [Group of Eight major industrialized economies] support CSI expansion and have adopted resolutions implementing CSI security measures introduced at ports throughout the world.

The 32 operational ports in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America include: Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver, Canada; Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Le Havre, France; Bremerhaven and Hamburg, Germany; Antwerp and Zeebrugge, Belgium; Singapore; Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kobe, Japan; Hong Kong; Goteborg, Sweden; Felixstowe, Liverpool, Southampton, Thamesport, and Tilbury, United Kingdom; Genoa, La Spezia, Naples, and Gioia Tauro, Italy; Busan, Korea; Durban, South Africa; Port Klang and Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia; Piraeus, Greece; Algeciras, Spain; and Laem Chabang, Thailand.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the protection of our nation's borders. CBP unified Customs, Immigration, and Agriculture Inspectors and the Border Patrol into one border agency for the United States.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)












58 posted on 02/21/2006 5:28:19 PM CST by onyx (IF ONLY 10% of Muslims are radical, that's still 120 MILLION who want to kill us.)
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10 posted on 02/21/2006 3:30:50 PM PST by onyx (IF ONLY 10% of Muslims are radical, that's still 120 MILLION who want to kill us.)
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To: bikepacker67

What's the rest of the story? The UAE is our biggest ally in the region and we have a CIA base there. Maybe killing this deal puts all that in jeopardy. There is certainly more to it than the bloviating politicians who are against this in a knee jerk reaction are letting on.


11 posted on 02/21/2006 3:33:06 PM PST by ozzie
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To: mtbopfuyn
I'll tell ya one thing, if this turns out to be GW doing favors for friends my view of him will forever change.

GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ARSE, Mr. President.

12 posted on 02/21/2006 3:33:30 PM PST by bikepacker67 (Mohammed's Mother wears Army Boots)
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To: bikepacker67
...step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a great British company

Why stop there? Why hold Iran, a Middle Eastern country, to a different standard than a great Jewish country? Could it be that there is a fundamental difference?

13 posted on 02/21/2006 3:33:41 PM PST by Sender (As water has no constant form, there are in war no constant conditions. Be without form. -Sun Tzu)
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To: bikepacker67

Damned if I know, what I would like to hear is why it seems to be so damned neccessary, in the first place!
Are there absolutely NO alternatives, and, if so, WHY!


14 posted on 02/21/2006 3:34:56 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (MAY I DIE ON MY FEET IN MY SWAMP, BUAIDH NO BAS)
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To: bikepacker67
OMG!

I just heard that it's now EIGHT ports, two of which are used by the Military.

15 posted on 02/21/2006 3:34:56 PM PST by bikepacker67 (Mohammed's Mother wears Army Boots)
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To: bikepacker67

Where did you hear that?


16 posted on 02/21/2006 3:36:44 PM PST by Dog (What happened to the spirit of "Let's Roll"?)
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To: Dog

Just on Lou Dobbs.


17 posted on 02/21/2006 3:37:11 PM PST by bikepacker67 (Mohammed's Mother wears Army Boots)
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To: onyx
There aren't many people I like less than Hiliary or Bill Clinton, but Jimmy Carter definitely is one of them.

All George Bush has to do is turn on the evening news and he'll see thousands of reasons why most Americans don't want an Arab-run company managing the ports.

Like most people, Bush is a total jerk when he is trying to be politically correct. He has said, "Religion of Peace" so many times he actually believes the spin.

This is a lose-lose situation for him.
18 posted on 02/21/2006 3:37:54 PM PST by BW2221
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To: bikepacker67

That was my reaction exactly!

He's going to use his first veto to block a deal that has true bipartisan opposition and which strikes your average American a friggin' stupid.

Sometimes I wonder about that man.


19 posted on 02/21/2006 3:37:58 PM PST by Ronin (When the fox gnaws.... SMILE!!!)
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To: ozzie


Thank you for that fact!

Some of us are trying to accumulate FACTS!


20 posted on 02/21/2006 3:38:19 PM PST by onyx (IF ONLY 10% of Muslims are radical, that's still 120 MILLION who want to kill us.)
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