BIGOT!!!!
Posted on 02/22/2006 1:18:57 AM PST by bd476
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2006
A nefarious multinational corporation secretly controlled by a hostile Arab government has engineered a covert takeover of six major U.S. ports. America is at risk of losing control of its borders and compromising national security in an entirely preventable way.
Horselips.
Never have I seen a bogus story explode so fast and so far. I thought I was a connoisseur of demagoguery and cheap shots, but the Dubai Ports World saga proves me a piker. With a stunning kinship of cravenness, politicians of all flavors risk trampling each other as they rush to the cameras and microphones to condemn the handover of massive U.S. strategic assets to an Islamic, Arab terrorist-loving enemy.
The only problem -- and I admit it's only a teeny-weeny problem -- is that 90 percent of that story is false.
The United Arab Emirates is not an Axis of Evil kind of place, it will not own U.S. ports, it will not control security at U.S. ports and there is nothing new about foreigners owning U.S. ports. Odds are higher that you'll be wounded interfering with a congressman providing soundbites than by something smuggled into a port terminal leased by Dubai Ports World.
But please: let's not let the facts get in the way of a good story. And what's wrong with a little Arab-bashing anyway?
I am no expert on ports, transportation or shipping. But it takes very little reading and research to cut through the gas on this one.
Myth #1: That an Arab company is trying to buy six American ports.
No, the company is buying up a British company that leases terminals in American ports; the ports are U.S.-owned. To lease a terminal at a U.S. port means running some business operations there -- contracting with shipping lines, loading and unloading cargo and hiring local labor. Dubai Ports World is not buying the ports.
Several companies will lease terminals at a single port. In New Orleans, for example, the company Dubai Ports World is trying to buy (P&O Ports) is just one of eight companies that lease and operate terminals.
P&O Ports does business in 18 other countries. None of them are in righteous lathers about the sale of the business to a company owned by the United Arab Emirates. Dubai Ports World already operates port facilities all over the world, including such security-slacker states as China, Australia, Korea and Germany.
Myth #2: The U.S. is turning over security at crucial ports to an Arab company.
No, security at U.S. ports is controlled by U.S. federal agencies led by the Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs and Border Control Agency, which are part of the Homeland Security department. Local jurisdictions also provide police and security personnel.
Complaints about security at ports should be directed to the federal government.
Myth #3: American ports should be American.
Well, it's too late, baby. According to James Jay Carafano of the Heritage Foundation (a place really known for its Arab-loving, soft-on-terror approach), "Foreign companies already own most of the maritime infrastructure that sustains American trade…"
At the port of Los Angeles, 80 per cent of the terminals are operated by foreign companies. Chinese companies operate more than half the terminals. So why is this suddenly a threat? After all, political outcry managed to scupper the deal a few months ago in which a Chinese company was going to take over the Unocal oil company.
Go to any port in the country and you'll be lucky to see a single giant vessel with U.S.A. on its stern. Foreign-owned airplanes fly into American airports every hour. Many U.S. companies have foreign entities among their largest shareholders.
My colleague Charlie Wolfson reports that State Department sources say Dubai Ports World already handles port calls for U.S. Navy ships from the 5th fleet for their regular port calls in the United Arab Emirates -- a pretty high measure of trustworthiness.
Myth #4: the United Arab Emirates has "very serious" al Qaeda connections.
That's what Republican Rep. Peter King says. It's also what the administration said of pre-war Iraq, but that doesn't mean it's true. I suppose you could say each and every Arab and Islamic country has al Qaeda issues, but even on that yardstick the UAE is a pretty good player and by most accounts, getting better.
Politicians have been quick to point out that two of the 9/11 hijackers were from UAE. And we're turning over our ports to them? Well, by that logic, we shouldn't let Lufthansa land in our airports or have military bases in Germany, because that country housed a bunch of the 9/11 hijackers as they were plotting.
Yes, Dubai has plenty of blood in its hands, especially as a source or courier for terror funds. But it is not a rogue state. It has been among the closer and more cooperative Arab allies for the past two years (another conspiracy theory: the U.S. is paying them off).
Some combination of these facts led the Dubai Ports deal to be approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Certainly the security of American ports is an important issue. Certainly who controls the finances of companies that lease terminals at ports is far down the to-do list of how to improve security at ports.
That has everything to do with adequate funding and proper management at the relevant agencies. Management is the responsibility of the executive branch, while funding and oversight is the job of Congress. There is scant evidence that Congress or the administration have excelled in their duties.
That's why it's so tempting for politicians of both parties to indulge in xenophobic Arab-bashing on this matter of minimal national security importance. One Republican said that regardless of the facts, the administration was politically "tone deaf" on this one. Appearance is more important than reality.
Often bipartisanship is a sign of pragmatic consensus or noble common cause. In this case it is merely a scene of a politician occupational hazard: cover-your-arse-itis.
Dick Meyer, a veteran political and investigative producer for CBS News, is the Editorial Director of CBSNews.com, based in Washington.
Please, don't confuse me with the facts!
BIGOT!!!!
My problem is not the UAE. I simply believe all US ports and airports should only be run by American companies. Plus it is a state owned company, and those should be blocked from the US, to fight socialism. No state owned company should be allowed any operations in the US at all. All ports, not just these should revert to American control. We are so worried about the UAE, an ally controlling ports, when we are not protesting Chinese control, which is far more dangerous
I apent 7 months in Qatar from August 2003 to April 2004 and never felt threatened once. Got combat pay and the tax deferment for seven months of regular garrison duty (been to Iraq twice as well, so I don't feel guilty).
I was refering to his comment that he would veto an act of Congress that would prevent this. That's an very proactive response.
"At what point in time do you believe President Bush lost his intelligence or his ability to reason?"
I don't. You're presuming that once a person reaches a certain level of intelligence he becomes incapable of making mistakes unless his intelligence regresses. He is simply making a mistake, as we are all capable of no matter how smart we are.
Ping
The employees are, and will be, US persons.
The FBI agents who raised red flags about Middle Easterners in Florida flight schools were called paranoid, too.
Passing through. Big air travel hub.
How do you know this? They are not going to send people from UAE?
Can you confirm this?
A guy who sounded very knowledgeable also called in and said that, once a ship reaches the boundary of International/US waters, the captain gives up control of the ship to the Coast Guard and the ship is inspected, then taken in for unloading, then, once it gets back to International Waters, it is turned back over to the captain. That kind of puts things in a different light, doesn't it? (although I'm still a bit concerned about the possibility that an infiltrator could probe our security protocols, etc.)
I believe the administration intervened to persuade China('s state-owned gas co.) to withdraw their bid for Unocal last year...
I simply believe all US ports and airports should only be run by American companies
Ports haven't been run by US companies in years. And I believe it was the clinton administration who started this by selling to Britain in the first place.
bd476 posted:"IN DEFENSE OF DUBAI, CBS News Dick Myers, posted on Free Republic 2/22/06 by bd476 excerpt "The United Arab Emirates is not an Axis of Evil kind of place, it will not own U.S. ports,***"" it will not control security at U.S. ports***"" and there is nothing new about foreigners owning U.S. ports. Odds are higher that you'll be wounded interfering with a congressman providing soundbites than by something smuggled into a port terminal leased by Dubai Ports World."
***""it will not control security at U.S. ports""***
"But please: let's not let the facts get in the way of a good story. And what's wrong with a little Arab-bashing anyway? "
Cannoneer NO.4 wrote".........Who told you you had to believe that? There is no requirement at *most* ports that the security officers or anybody else be American citizens..........."
At this time a HOPE and a PRAYER! and a Smith and Wesson under my pillow. What happened to that Boy Scout quote: "BE PREPARED" Already having problems with all the murders, blood shed going on because of this nonsensical Terrorist war. Had hoped we were more civilized, now guess I must give up on that expectation in my life time. Bush' hair has turned white since he has been in office. Should we offer to rebuild the Shrine to make the Shites and the Sunnis happy so they will not massacre one another?? Seems like noone is interested in peace and they will just have to fight it out. It hurts to see so many young people losing their lives in this mess on all the countries.
Hope is not a plan.
Karl Rove told me in an aside. Really.
The whole port thing just smells bad to me. I don't care what the President says, it still smells bad.
Couple of questions:
I don't believe anyone with half a brain would say that our ports are secure NOW. And we're going to do WHAT?????
GIVE ME A BREAK!
The biggest question in my mind is why are we considering even allowing this deal in the first place? I've visited ports and there are absolutely tens of thousands of containers all over the place. This is crazy. No one has adequate control now and we're going to make these ports even less secure by allowing a Muslim country to oversee them.
We have wide open borders and no one in power cares. Now we're placing the business and administration of the our key ports in the hands of a state run company that has ties to the most violent people on the face of the earth, a people dedicated to our destruction or subjugation.
I'm watching the gradual destruction of the greatest nation in history, a destruction that will eventually come at its own hand because of political correctness and stupidity.
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