Posted on 02/22/2006 6:19:30 PM PST by iPod Shuffle
Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement
Feb 22 9:03 PM US/Eastern
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By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
1d08c5bfc6d0@news.ap.org The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future U.S. investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. It chose not to impose other, routine restrictions.
As part of the $6.8 billion purchase, state-owned Dubai Ports World agreed to reveal records on demand about "foreign operational direction" of its business at U.S. ports, the documents said. Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.
The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.
"They're not lax but they're not draconian," said James Lewis, a former U.S. official who worked on such agreements. If officials had predicted the firestorm of criticism over the deal, Lewis said, "they might have made them sound harder."
The conditions involving the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. were detailed in U.S. documents marked "confidential." Such records are regularly guarded as trade secrets, and it is highly unusual for them to be made public.
The concessions _ described previously by the Homeland Security Department as unprecedented among maritime companies _ reflect the close relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
The revelations about the negotiated conditions came as the White House acknowledged President Bush was unaware of the pending sale until the deal had already been approved by his administration.
Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House. He pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement, but some lawmakers said they still were determined to capsize it.
Dubai Port's top American executive, chief operating officer Edward H. Bilkey, said the company will do whatever the Bush administration asks to enhance shipping security and ensure the sale goes through. Bilkey said Wednesday he will work in Washington to persuade skeptical lawmakers they should endorse the deal; Senate oversight hearings already are scheduled.
"We're disappointed," Bikley told the AP in an interview. "We're going to do our best to persuade them that they jumped the gun. The UAE is a very solid friend, as President Bush has said."
Under the deal, the government asked Dubai Ports to operate American seaports with existing U.S. managers "to the extent possible." It promised to take "all reasonable steps" to assist the Homeland Security Department, and it pledged to continue participating in security programs to stop smuggling and detect illegal shipments of nuclear materials.
The administration required Dubai Ports to designate an executive to handle requests from the U.S. government, but it did not specify this person's citizenship.
It said Dubai Ports must retain paperwork "in the normal course of business" but did not specify a time period or require corporate records to be housed in the United States. Outside experts familiar with such agreements said such provisions are routine in other cases.
Good, but we didn't need to know this.
Scar & O'Donnell are tounge lashing the President.
Howlin, as we have discussed many times-- you hold a double standard which is lecturing others on the "rules" yet when it's time for you to follow through you ignore them:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1576693/posts?page=127#127
Agreed.
Are you serious?
Terri Schaivo; Harriet Miers.
To name a few.
And they all have one thing in common; one group of people pushing the story with nonsense that turns out to be WRONG.
These docks are expensive to develop, dredge, manage.
Concur
...and some people STILL pushing those stories and disinformation. Day after day, post after post.
A division of "pullmyfinger.com"
They'll have to speak up, the Prez is packing for India.
Yeah, but once warned, I STOPPED.
You KEEP doing it, like you're somebody important here who NEEDS to "warn people off" certain posters.
You're a juvenile, petty, vacuous poster, who seems intent on sewing dissent here at FR.
And people -- not just me -- wonder why.
Good point ! :-)
Just as I thought. This deal with Dubai Ports World has sweetheart deal written all over it. Bush is kept in the dark, out of the official loop, while his immediate subordinates finalize everything. Then in a PR frenzy yesterday, Bush speaks out in a tough defiant tone, giving his blessing to the $7-billion deal. Now more then ever, this entire deal needs to be seriously examined.
"You're a juvenile, petty, vacuous poster"
LMFAO!!!!! looking in the mirror again?
Complex issue. : )
Then why didn't an American company place a bid on the P & O leases? Would you force an American company to take over the leases?
Thanks for proving my point.
So how did they become public if it's so unusual?
It's almost the same group.
Now, play well in the sandbox and let's see some intelligent discussions from now on.
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