Posted on 02/24/2006 4:57:39 AM PST by When_Penguins_Attack
George W. Bush is about to fritter away his party's last advantage. What Republicans have had going for them is that they aren't Democrats. Over the past few days we've seen the men at the top of the Grumpy Old Party drifting toward something that looks suspiciously like an Old Boys' Party. When he hears applause only from Jimmy Carter, who gave away the Panama Canal (now controlled by the Chinese), and Bill Clinton, his newly adopted little brother, George W. should be looking for the panic button. Once they're no longer regarded as the toughest party on national security the Republicans will be burnt toast.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
It goes a long ways to addressing them and you.
I think there is a lot more behind this deal that you, or most people, are seeing. UAE is desperately trying to get on our "good side," and, to top it off, there are some islands in the Gulf that are disputed between Iran and UAE. Hmmmmm. What do you suppose we want with those islands?
These may be legitimate fears, but I suspect this kind of scenario would also apply to just about any other foreign terminal operator doing business in the U.S.
I work at it. The same way you stay so informed.
It's like the whole "air national guard" thing. That never hurt Bush, nor could it, because if the issue is national security, the Dems (and especially their leaders), regardless of what they say on this issue, are viewed as totally suspect.
So in a way the whole thing is like saying, "Don't think pink." All you do is think pink.
ANY other foreign entity? Really? What's today, September 10th?
And airlines who have an even greater presence.
Look at the next logical step in the debate: it will not be about ports, but about illegal immigration, which, while hardly a Bush strenght, is absolute death to the Dems. They cannot win this debate. Don't confuse short-term concern with long-term assessment of the two parties.
Because you don't want to talk about anything but your new masters ollie and frank, I won't write you again till this is all over, and then just once to say nice try.
P A R A N O I A
Think this is, in part, a payoff for UAE to continue to fight for those islands?
I wouldn't call it "battling".
LOL! The good news is, you and the other hysteria mongers aren't going to succeed in your efforts, the truth has come out. So I won't wait...lousy try. But hey, that's all you've got.
Never heard of Joseph King. He is not a major player, so his opinion is worth whatever you wish to give it.
I'll stay with facts and give due merit to the opinions of trusted and notable others.
Speaking of airlines - people must think that American traffic controllers are in every tower in the world, or that every airplane that flies into America has American crew, or --- most people are not thinking about this in any intelligent way.
President Bush on TV right now speaking on GWOT to an american Legion audience.
Good. Thanks for your reply.
We will now have 100% scrutiny instead of the 20% we currently now have. C.Rice proposed that now, all foreign containers must be inspected and sealed in the port of origin before that are allowed into an American port.
They are currently only randomly selected and inspected here in the destination port.
All this hype has been wasted over nothing. If terrorist were able to hit us, they would have easily done that by now because the other "Foreign" ports (most of them) are equally lacking in security and are vulnerable.
Those are the ports we SHOULD be hyperventilating over, not the Dubai Ports.
I didn't set the process up so I'm not second-guessing it. I'm trying to hold my elected officials accountable. That's what an involved citizen should do.
Don't assume that I never gave a whit about this issue before. I've been very concerned over it since we turned over so much of the Long Beach port to a ChiCom company.
Like you, I spent a lot of time in the armed forces--just retired after more than 20 years on active duty in the US Air Force, including much time in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and Turkey). This is a very serious matter to me. I'll say it again--I'm not necessarily opposed to this deal. I'm just trying to ascertain the facts so I can take an enlightened position. Seems reasonable to me.
Second, Bush didn't "hand Hillary" anything. In fact, she is absolutely backing off, and she realizes, as will most of you soon, that this is a win/win for Republicans as all it does is tell the public to "think national security." In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd swear Karl Rove actually planned this to once again put the WOT back on the front pages in a way people understand it and get it off the stupid debates over NSA "spying."
Third, I'm convinced there are lots of agreements involved in this that we don't know about and aren't going to know about, but can at least guess: try the islands north of UAE in the Gulf, which are "claimed" by Iran. Hmmmm. Don't suppose those would be important, do you? Don't suppose that they are probably worth more to us than to UAE, or worth more in UAE hands than Iranian hands? Nahhhhhh. So now UAE agrees to continue to maintain their grip on those, and to base U.S. assets there. But don't look for that one in the papers.
Now I know they have no respect for the UAE but I guess they think that if they wanted to attack America they would ignore commercial jet aircraft and decide to attack New York City with a Fast Attack Container Ship...rushing along at a blistering speed that would prevent us from taking defensive measures.
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