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.
It is addressed to the Know Nothings around here who have been accusing the Prez of treason. Are you one of them?
Thank You!
Good point.
You are right. There's no hurry then, eh ?
i was commenting on the sheer number of stories coming out on this whole issue....every time you hit refresh there is something new
If you only knew how funny your post is!! lol
The reality that people have been spun and spun good by the MSM on this story is coming out in record time, i'n't it?
bttt
I voted for the man twice, went to war for his father, stood in the streets in verbal combat in support of the Iraq war...
I am justifiably uncomfortable with this situation, and I expect the president to care about me and my fellow citizens for once more than some foreigners (unlike his bungling on the southern border). This is not too much to ask. He has forgotten who put him in power, and worn out his support.
Don't like it, tough. You will lose this one...and so will Bush.
Are you that stupid?
The truth is coming out.
And the tide is turning against you.
I live in Illinois. You mean it's not supposed to work like that?/sarcasm.
You're right: so called 'concessions' or 'franchises' run by private vendors are not usually subject to the same scrutiny as contracts where the government pays out cash instead of receiving it. There's little transparency regarding whether a given concession was obtained lawfully or whether the bid was low-balled in exchange for payola, political contributions, hiring relatives or even sexual favors (there's a case here in Chicago based on a restaurant concessionaire who was-- literally-- screwing the contract supervisor).
Rove let this one get away from him. Had many of the provisions been made public, maybe this storm would never have existed. Folks in the Administration made some terrible blunders with the PR and talking points on this deal.
All I know is it hasn't quite passed "The Smell Test" yet.
I dunno. I am beginning to wonder if this is the Free Republic or DU.
This is the same federal government that is positively helpless in keeping illiterate Mexicans from crawling over a barbed wire fence to get into the US and is now assuring us that they can handle security at ports they have turned over to Arabs. Good grief...Homeland Security couldn't even keep track of ice trucks for Katrina Relief. They must think the US public has amnesia.
We have been asked by Bush to be uncomfortable with the wide open southern border and "trust him". After all we wouldn't want to offend the citizens of mexico...
Now we are being asked to be uncomfortable with this port deal, so we dont offend one of the only three countries that recognized the taliban...And doesn't recognize Isreal...
Bush can stuff it. Someone else can be uncomfortable this time. If Dubai doesn't like it...Tough.
You'll get use to it.
As soon as your figure out that not everybody here is intersted in conservatives holding power, things will make a lot more sense to you.
They're worse than liberals really, with their kneejerk nonsense.
There are some radio hosts and bloggers who should be eating crow on this and many of them are just too stubborn.
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