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The Tragic Treatment of the UAE Ports Deal
StrategyPage ^ | February 24, 2006 | Harold C. Hutchison

Posted on 02/25/2006 3:00:55 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4

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To: kabar
Islam is at war with itself. It needs a reformation similar to what Christianity underwent hundreds of years ago.

I hate to burst your bubble, but that's not possible.

When there have been abuses of the Christian faith, it was because people were corrupting the faith to achieve selfish goals.

If you read the Koran, you'll discover the murderous terrorist agenda is consistent with, and supported by Islam.

When was last time you heard of "moderate" Muslims demonstrate or at least speak out against terrorist tactics? Have you ever wondered why they don't?

Let's also remember that this is a country that sees the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, and they believe Israel has no right to exist.

The UAE has all of the trappings of a 21st century nation, but obviously it is not the same as the US or Western Europe.

You got that right.

421 posted on 02/26/2006 10:49:59 AM PST by Barnacle (Harriet ’08... She’s just fab!)
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To: Barnacle
I hate to burst your bubble, but that's not possible. When there have been abuses of the Christian faith, it was because people were corrupting the faith to achieve selfish goals.

Not necessarily. It had to do more with different interpretations of the Bible and who had the authority to do so than selfish goals. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are not monoliths. There are distinct divisions between fundamentalism/orthodoxy and the more secular.

If you read the Koran, you'll discover the murderous terrorist agenda is consistent with, and supported by Islam.

I read the Koran a long time ago as part of a comparative religions course. The Koran, like the Old Testament, has some strong language and violent prescriptions concerning what to do with non-believers or sinners. Islam is not a monolith either. There are differences between Sh'ia and Sunnis and fundamentalists and the more secular.

When was last time you heard of "moderate" Muslims demonstrate or at least speak out against terrorist tactics? Have you ever wondered why they don't?

There have been plenty examples of Muslim groups and governments decrying the violence and terrorist tactics. After all, they have been most of the victims of such violence.

Let's also remember that this is a country that sees the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, and they believe Israel has no right to exist.

Past tense. The UAE stopped recognition of the Taliban immediately after 9/11. The UAE does not recognize Israel, but it is not the only Muslim country that does not. Are you implying that we should cease all diplomatic relations and other dealings with governments that do not recognize Israel? Why is that relevant to us?

422 posted on 02/26/2006 11:10:59 AM PST by kabar
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To: Barnacle
Let's also remember that this is a country that sees the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan

All three countries cut ties with the Taliban after it sheltered al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

You're trying to pass off old info as current.

423 posted on 02/26/2006 11:12:31 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4 (Our enemies act on ecstatic revelations from their god. We act on the advice of lawyers.)
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To: Cannoneer No. 4
Spam? I gave you both the links and quotations from the links. That's not spam. That's information.

And from your comment, I take it you didn't read any of it. Willful ignorance works only one way, hero.
424 posted on 02/26/2006 11:25:43 AM PST by atlaw
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To: Barnacle

Of course you don't give a damn about General Franks opinion, it's only based on his real knowledge, not your political agenda.


425 posted on 02/26/2006 11:33:12 AM PST by CWOJackson
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To: CWOJackson
Can you or can you not refute Lou Dobbs comments he made on his show 2/22/2006?
If you can then do so, if you can’t then admit you are wrong about this ports deal and quit whining about it.

Lou Dobbs:
"The UAE stonewalled U.S. efforts to track al Qaeda bank accounts after 9/11. In addition, the Emirates does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state. And the UAE was a transfer point for shipments of nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya."

Here’s a link to the transcript where he said the above:

LOU DOBBS TONIGHT White House Refuses to Back Down on UAE Ports Deal; Jon Corzine Speaks Out on Port Deal; Violence In Iraq Sparks Fear Of Possible Civil War; U.S. Trying To Close Trade Gap With China Aired February 22, 2006 - 18:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.a>

426 posted on 02/26/2006 11:49:22 AM PST by SwordofTruth (God is good all the time.)
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To: Cannoneer No. 4

"So many have no clue how they are making it harder for good guys to accomplish the mission. They are so frightened, and so full of hatred, that they don't care about the thousands of Americans and British and others who are embedded with Arab organizations in Muslim countries and dependent upon those people for their continued survival and the successful prosecution of the war."

We're at a really, really dangerous point here. When Al Quieda lunatics succeed in equating in the general American mind that Radical Islamist and Arab are indistinguishably one and the same thing, they suceed in creating the suspicion and the hatred we see in this saga. I fear we are doing Osama's recruitment for him. Which is especially dangerous at a time when we have just liberated 60 million Arabs who suddenly for the first time in their lives have the freedom to decide where their political sympathies lie.....


427 posted on 02/26/2006 11:49:47 AM PST by Brit_Guy
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To: Cannoneer No. 4

I've been reading all the comments and I think you are fighting the good fight. I was in Qatar at As Saliyah for 7 months from Sept 2003-April 2004 (between trips to Iraq) and one of the things I took away from my experience is that if we are going to accomplish our goal of transforming the middle east (thereby greatly reducing the threat of terrorism) we have to encourage people in the region to accept at least some of our values. From my time in Qatar I got the impression that tolerance and Islam were not totally incompatible and that moderate leaders like the Emir could lead their people away from extremism if we provided some encouragement. Qataris were more interested in trade than jihad and wanted an alliance with us to protect them from the Saudis, Iranians and other radicals in the region. In any conflict with Iran the UAE will be of critical importance. I think the President is playing a deeper strategic game than many here are giving him credit for.


428 posted on 02/26/2006 11:49:50 AM PST by 91B (God made man, Sam Colt made men equal.)
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To: SwordofTruth

A link to a Lou Dobbs screed on CNN...quoting sources that are only repeated the same denbunked BS. No thanks, I don't rely on CNN for facts.


429 posted on 02/26/2006 11:51:51 AM PST by CWOJackson
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To: Cornpone

Thank you. I tell my clients to do business with Arabs only on a 100% cash upfront basis. Otherwise, its all practice.

Contracts mean shiite to thes people.


430 posted on 02/26/2006 11:52:12 AM PST by chris1
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To: CWOJackson

So you can refute it but choose to keep whining about it. Why am I not surprised? Obviously you have an agenda here, and it has nothing to do with the security of the USA.


431 posted on 02/26/2006 11:53:53 AM PST by SwordofTruth (God is good all the time.)
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To: Cannoneer No. 4
The scurrilous comments directed at the United Arab Emirates by Michelle Malkin have the potential to assist al-Qaeda recruiting in that country, and thus do more damage than the port deal would have done.

The hypocrisy of Malkin, who whines about being called a "gook" in her email, and her anti-Arab remarks is astounding.

She and Coulter are the bomb-throwers of the extremist right.

432 posted on 02/26/2006 11:59:16 AM PST by sinkspur
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To: kabar
I read the Koran a long time ago as part of a comparative religions course. The Koran, like the Old Testament, has some strong language and violent prescriptions concerning what to do with non-believers...

Yeah, convert or kill.

There have been plenty examples of Muslim groups and governments decrying the violence and terrorist tactics.

If there are, they're keeping it a great secret. Give me some examples.

How about the Muslim demonstration in Washington D.C. that drew about 200 demonstrators? WOW! That's really making a bolt nationwide statement!

Are you implying that we should cease all diplomatic relations and other dealings with governments that do not recognize Israel?

No. I'm not implying anything of the sort. But, any government that has the position of wanting Israel eliminated has too much in common with the terrorists. And, we should regard them differently as we regard Norway or Spain and Slovakia.

433 posted on 02/26/2006 12:46:35 PM PST by Barnacle (Harriet ’08... She’s just fab!)
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To: syriacus
PSA, Cosco Pacific, AP Moller in Dalian port project
PSA Corp, Cosco Pacific and Danish shipping giant AP Moller will jointly develop a 6-berth port project in China's Dalian city.

The project has an estimated cost of US$600 million, or S$1 billion.

Singapore port operator PSA will take a 25 percent stake in the project, while its Chinese counterpart Cosco Pacific and AP Moller will hold 20 percent each. State-owned Dalian Port Group will have the remaining 35 percent.

The project will more than double the annual container handling capacity of Dalian port to almost 5 million standard container units. -


434 posted on 02/26/2006 2:13:21 PM PST by syriacus (Hillary: Millions to China's state-run shippers; not one RED cent to the UAE shippers)
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To: atlaw

thanks for the excellent post.
the more i learn about dubai, the less i like having them operate in the US: let's see: they support hamas, they don't like Jews, they supported the taliban, they supported al qaeda during the period when it attacked the Cole and killed American navy personnel, they shipped or tried to ship weapons to Iran, Saddam, and Lybia, and one of their sheiks helped fund the 9-11 attacks! (i hope i got all that right.)
yeah, let's turn ALL the terminals in ALL of the ports over to these guys!


435 posted on 02/26/2006 2:57:19 PM PST by drhogan
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To: Cannoneer No. 4

an effective counter-argument!


436 posted on 02/26/2006 2:57:50 PM PST by drhogan
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To: CWOJackson

citing General Franks, who is a hero, over and over, will not win this debate.
many great heroes have been misled by evil characters. if the emir of dubai is such a good guy, why did he support al qaeda prior to 9-11, when it was blowing up American service men? i doubt if his true personality has changed in such a short time.
why does the emir refuse to recognize israel, but allow hamas to operate thru dubai?
it is fine to have evil characters like this as allies during a war, but that doesn't mean we should let them manage any terminals in US ports.
you can keep mentioning Franks over and over, but it won't change this stuff. (afterall, the fact that the waffen ss was eulogized in a speech made by ronald reagan doesn't make the ss good guys.)


437 posted on 02/26/2006 3:07:57 PM PST by drhogan
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To: CWOJackson

the more the American people learn about the emir of dubai, the less they will like this deal. how many Jewish voters are going to vote for repubs who support this policy, when the emir wants to eliminate israel?
if dubai is in the business of trans-shipping weapons to places like lybia, north korea, and iran, why would we want them operating terminals in the US?
both national security concerns and politics argue against this deal.
going on about spamming and General Franks is no answer to legitimate security concerns.


438 posted on 02/26/2006 3:15:31 PM PST by drhogan
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To: sinkspur

i have been reading criticisms of malkin on these threads. could you please post the anti-arab stuff that you are talking about.
the column that i just read by malkin seemed very reasonable to me, as did coulter's recent column.
please post the comments that you consider "scurrilous" so that we can judge them fairly.
in my book, anybody that supports a group like hamas is a sleazebag. is that "scurrilous"?


439 posted on 02/26/2006 3:20:57 PM PST by drhogan
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To: syriacus
PSA Int'l also gov't owned, and has US port operations
440 posted on 02/26/2006 5:08:30 PM PST by Cannoneer No. 4 (Our enemies act on ecstatic revelations from their god. We act on the advice of lawyers.)
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