Posted on 02/26/2006 6:50:55 AM PST by Dark Skies
As I inadvertently failed to mention in an earlier column on the subject, the ports in question already were managed by a British company, which is selling the operational rights to Dubai Ports World with American approval. As I've now written in countless e-mails, "Some foreign companies are more foreign than others."
Great Britain, though home to the infamous shoe bomber, is nonetheless a blood brother in the war against terror. The UAE is now being lauded as helpful in that global fight, but its history relative to terrorism is problematic. The emirates joined Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in recognizing the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan. The UAE also was a transfer point for shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
Given that history, it's hard to pretend that there's no reason whatsoever for concerns about Dubai Ports, a government-owned company, managing U.S. ports.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
That is not the question. That UAE's military is very cooperative with the US is not the question. The question is whether their political leadership and gentry are sympathetic and supportive of Jihadists. There is a large body of evidence to suggest that is so.
One can respect General Franks' viewpoint and his standing and still disagree with him on this issue. Such is the nature of warfare where the enemy doesn't use only rifles, mortars and RPGs, but also trucks, airliners and children with explosive belts.
Just because you're Islamophobic doesn't mean they really aren't trying to kill you.
Precisely. Lately sinkspur has been yelling "racist" at me as if he wrote for the Guardian. Just shows the depths that these stooges will sink to with no consciousness of shame.
Instead, as is too often the case, Bush effectively said, "Trust us. We're in charge; we're on top of this; we'll take care of it."
In these dangerous times, Americans deserve more than a pat on the head. So do Republican incumbents whose midterm elections may be at greater risk than our ports.
Nicely summed up! Given W's track record on border issues, which is shameful, he certainly has no residual political capital for this one!
go back to grammar school if you can't understand her point.
instead of "trusting" someone blindly, why don't you try thinking through it yourself?
I'm sure that 30 years ago there were a lot of 'General Franks' swearing up and down how stable Imperial Iran was, how great an ally it was, and how much the Iranian people loved us.
Same blunder then as now. Ignoring the fact that whatever the corrupt elites say to us in impeccable English, they say the exact opposite among themselves in Arabic or Farsi. Ignoring the fact that the hatred the man in the street bears for us is the last word in the end.
Tell me, do any of the Dubai stooges on this thread believe that Egypt would still be an 'ally' of the US if it had a truly democratic election ?
Islamophobic? Absolutley!
Both they and their Koran say that they want to kill us/me/you and dominate the world until the only religion is Islam. Yeah, I'd say that's good cause for some reasonable worry, concern, fear, etc. Fear not nearly as much, but in other parts of the world what used to be simple concern and worry has become fear for one's life and 24/7 uneasiness in that way.
The people that stick their heads in the sand over what Islam really is, not according to what we say, but according to their own actions, decades worth of history proving out an utter incompatibility to live amongst other civilized peoples in peace, and again, their own source document, and according to what the Koran itself says.
But just like most Americans, they won't bother to read it until it's far too late.
It seems to me that if Kathleen Parker wants to put a dog in this fight, she should be more concerned about CAIR opening an office in the same Orlando neighborhood that the neo-nazis marched in yesterday.
IMO, CAIR is a bigger threat, at the moment, than the Dubai port deal.
Yes! Where have you been? Both candidates running for the top posts, have told the their Muslim immigrants to shape up or get out. Also that they were not assimilating as well as other populations, implying that there are going to a lot less let in.
read up on how it was true about Imperial Iran, but it was Jummy Carter's State Dept--Cyrus Vance--that decided to oppose the Shah and that is what led to his overthrow and the Kohemeni regime and the world of modern Islamofascism in control of a state.
Very nicely summed up! If there's any region of the world that has constantly duped us, it's them. Even Russia's lack of adhering to any of our treaties probably runs 2nd.
And don't forget how those Iranian 'moderates' played Reagan for a chump.
Hmm, whom to trust, a Gen. who has actual working experience with a country(UAE) that helped the US during the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns, or keyboard commandos who think they know better than a highly respected General.
I'll go with Gen. Tommy Franks.
I'll take Gen. Tommy Franks's opinion.
Classic example of the problem(s) here. You/people just simply listen to one person on the topic and "that's good enough for them."
I suppose you're fully satisfied with W's handling of the border issue based on what he's spoon fed you? But wait, he's a politician whom you just discredited up top. But if W is wrong on the border issue, he couldn't possibly be wrong on this one, could he? Nahhhh....
It'd be refreshing to see some people thinking for themselves instead of simply quoting/citing someone else for their viewpoints! You wanna cite for facts, fine. But opinions, ..... weak, very, very weak.
No one is stopping you from believing chuckie schumer.
"keyboard commandos" ---it must be scary to be you, always wondering who to "trust" next/ i am now convinced you are a computer with only one instruction set: argumentum ad vericandum
Muslims have told us straight up, they'd look us in the face, smile at us, and then cut our heads off. What more do we need!
Although there is more. The Koran lays it all out. There's no room for tolerance, freedom of anything under Islam except to be free to be muslim. Even then, if you're a woman you're a second class citizen.
Reading the Koran ought to be the very first thing all Americans do. I believe it would be utterly eye opening. Instead, they just stick their heads in the sand and refuse to believe that there's people out there that would behave much differently from themselves.
Islam's history, legacy, and ongoing track record since it's founding in the mid-first millenium has been nothing but oppression and world-wide woes! Expecting that to change is like expecting a gorilla to grow antlers.
Something about the Iranian revolution has always fascinated me. The fiercest fighting during the revolution was the street battles in Teheran between the Imperial Guard and the Air Force cadets. Now the Air Force, as the most Westernized, the most high tech service, must have had lots of fluent English speakers who had American instructors. Yet they were the spearhead of the revolution. Men who had barely ever fired a gun going mano a mano with crack guardsmen.
Kinda shows that no matter how Westernized you think they are, or how long you've known them, you really don't know what is seething inside of them and you can't be comfortable or confident in your relationship with them.
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