Posted on 02/22/2006 4:19:34 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
THE White House sought to distance itself today from the US administration's approval of an Arab company's takeover of operations at major US ports, a day after President George W. Bush vowed to veto any legislation to block the deal.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the president was not aware of the pending deal until it was approved and had become public but then checked with cabinet secretaries to make sure they stood by their approval of the plan by state-controlled Dubai Ports World to manage six ports.
Mr Bush held a rare news conference on Air Force One yesterday to say the deal should go forward despite lawmakers concerns it posed security risks and said he would veto legislation aimed at stopping it.
"He made sure to check with them (the cabinet) even after this got more attention from the press, to make sure they were comfortable with the decision that was made. Every one of the Cabinet secretaries expressed that they were comfortable with this transaction being approved," Mr McClellan said.
Mr McClellan said the president "became aware of it over the last several days".
Asked if Mr Bush did not know about the ports deal until it was a "done deal", he said, "That's correct".
The question of whether state-controlled Dubai Ports World of the United Arab Emirates should be allowed to control the ports has sparked a political storm for Mr Bush at a time when he is struggling to boost sagging public approval ratings.
The White House continued a spirited defence of the deal, which has drawn sharp criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike on Capitol Hill and vows to block the deal.
Mr McClellan said to not go forward with the deal would send a "terrible message" because it would hold a Middle Eastern company to a different standard than a British company and because the United Arab Emirates has been a strong partner in the war on terrorism.
Rejecting the deal, he said, could have consequences.
"You have to take into account the broader foreign policy implications," he said. "We should be working to broaden our partnership in the broader war on terrorism."
Concerns about the vulnerability of US ports have grown since the September 11 attacks.
We should watch carefully all govt., both Democrat and Republican.
thank you for the voice of reason.
You could claim it as yours and I wouldn't even be able to contradict you! :-)
Are you also for amnesty for 20 million illegals?
Deep sigh.
I hope this isn't a "read my lips" moment.
He is rapidly closing the flip-flop gap with John Kerry.
What didn't he know and when didn't he know it?
Cheers!
"I've put on my flame retardant suit so flame away, call me a bushbot or whatever"
How about Bush-Davidian?
Doesn't really work. Like the Davidians, the BushBots have their own little quasi-religious personality cult going, but that doesn't mean we should start petitioning the Justice Department to burn down their houses.
-Dan
The issues are whether we should grant the demonstrably unreliable UAE access to sensitive information and management plans about our key U.S ports, which are plenty insecure enough without adding new risks..."
More here
"The staffers should've told the White House two weeks ago that this was potentially newsworthy instead of allowing it to go off like a bomb.
If I were the president, I would want to know why my employees overlooked the obvious."
True. The conspiracy theorists have said Dubai is a launching pad for strikes on Iran, the bush-haters said,..well...the usual garbage...., and the "no quarter given" conservatives believed it was primarily a money deal/family ties deal.
Maybe it wasn't brought to the president correctly. Rove said today that they could have done better job of letting the congressional leaders look at it. However, I felt his comment about how we are to gauge our GWOT allies. He basically said, "if the litmus tests means not to be friends with those countries who recognized the Taliban pre-9/11, then we shouldn't be friends with Pakistan." If I was Hannity, I would have put it back to him, "Well Karl, I think if you had a Pakistan-owned company bidding on the ports, that wouldn't have gone over so well either." But the bottom line is, would we as americans feel at ease with ANY arab country RUNNING THE OPERATIONS of our ports (and I emphasize this because they would be running the operations. somehow this is getting downplayed a bit by everyone who wants to see it happen.)
And for all those that felt that there was some master stratergy on this decision-making,...well here is your answer according to the Whitehouse: It flew under the radar, although the bid was publicly posted no local or federally elected officials were notified (which to me seemed strange), Bush was never notified of this and was unaware but chose to back it up, and then he accuses those against it as xenophobic, which to me is disingenuous.
Bush should allow the particular associated figures have a look at it for recommendations. And those particular associated figures SHOULD SHUT THIS THING DOWN!!!
And your point is????
I didn't get the impression W was backing away from this from today's news. The newspaper headline may be a bit misleading. In any case, I'd fire the people responsible for this unnecessary flap.
Thank you for your opinion here is my response and I acknowledge what you said as fact and agree but as a Loyal American Patriot I advocate America for Americans first and formost. We are perfectly capable of handeling this internally and need no foreign intervention into our private business. This Republic has always had a can do attitude when it comes to all things American. I did not wear this country's uniform to abdicate our moral authority to a foreign nation no matter who is President. I am sure the vast majority of Americans never knew this was the case until this issue surfaced recently. I can assure you it was not put before the electors of this country. It was slipped in by the dark of the moon in a smokefilled room somewhere. There is this fact that will come about as well one day you will hear about a secret deal with mexico and a Palestinian Terrorist State will materialize in the same manner. AFTER THE FACT is not right and I will oppose and bash this President because he is wrong for bringing this about. His brand of politicts still stinks even though he wraps himself in the flag and spouts his rhetoric!
Isn't this the very same federal government that, despite earlier warnings, completely failed to stop those 16 terrorists on 9/11?
For some reason I can't gin up much of a secure feeling knowing that our government has bought off on it. Given their track record, why should I?
The answer is still No.
looks like conservative blond is a voice of reason in the wilderness here.
"Moron"
Coming from you, sir, I will consider that a compliment and extend to you a hearty thank you.
Please see below two quotes from your personal profile page. It seems that you might be arguing with yourself!
"Giving government money and power is like giving car keys and whiskey to a teenage boy." P.J. O'Rourke
"Most Americans aren't the sort of citizens the Founding Fathers expected; they are contented serfs. Far from being active critics of government, they assume that its might makes it right." Joseph Sobrans
I don't believe it does at all. I will say I am perplexed by people on our side who buy into that premise at all.
Our government moved hundreds of thousands of people after NO and LA failed to take reasoned measures before Katrina.
It was NOT the federal government who screwed the pooch here. No way!
Bush did not need to know of this before the decision. There may be a short-circuit in the process, but it's a process that has functioned reasonably prior to this. I don't the blind-sided aspect of it is Bush's fault.
This evidently flew in under the radar, with folks thinking it would be no big deal at all. WRONG!
Where I'd fault Bush is his reaction.
And, I'd go on to say his people f**ed up by not briefing the president. If this is an example of Rove's genius, I'd let him go.
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