Posted on 02/27/2006 8:43:43 PM PST by indcons
Nearly all objective observers of the uproar over "selling American ports to the Arabs" agree on three key elements of the situation. First, the purchase of port management operations by Dubai Ports World from a British-owned company will have no operational impact on the national security of the United States. Port owners and managers are not responsible for port security. There are risks at our ports, but they stem from the fact that the American agencies responsible for our security -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard -- examine only about 5 percent of incoming cargo, along with a modest portion of shipments at the point of export.
Mid-level officials at 12 agencies of the U.S. government, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon, reviewed the Dubai investment in considerable depth, apparently with full cooperation from the company. They unanimously concluded that there was no reason to refer it to their own superiors, let alone the president. The substance of the government's vetting process, conducted through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), worked precisely as intended by the legislation under which it operates.
Second, that process contains a major flaw: its failure to inform Congress of pending transactions in a way that would enable lawmakers to express meaningful objections in an orderly manner. The CFIUS process is opaque and secretive, requiring after-the-fact notification of the Hill for only the very few deals that have already been acted on through the president's personal intervention. Congress can therefore express its concerns only by leaping into individual cases with great fanfare, as in the current case and, even more so, when it in effect vetoed the bid for Unocal by the China National Offshore Oil Corp. last year even before...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The public's perception will also change as the hysteria dies down and the truth comes out from more and more sources.
I was getting ready to ping this article to you...just pinged you to the other thread (considering your Coast Guard experience).
Good find and thanks for posting this.
Ping
Yes, this Dubai Ports fiasco is really quite minor compared to CFIUS's other national security blunders.
Reform CFIUS to Stop Foreign Raiders from Dismantling the Defense Industrial Base
There really should be a full blown investigation of CFIUS conducted by an independent counsel.
Yes, let's reduce government to rule by hearing and committee.
As long as you're a good democrat, you'll support ABB.
The security on that terminal will be the exact same security on every other foreign operated terminal.
I always get a kick out of the 'buy American' crowd. Nothing is 'American made' anymore, except for perhaps the mom and pop kind of shops who make knitted goods. It's really a shame, but, that's the way the unions dictated the direction of this country. They priced us to foreign markets, yet, expect higher wages. Oh well. I guess you reap what you sow.
No, let's just drag those who have sold-out our national security before a jury and try them for Treason.
That's very similar to how these facilities operate; local operations will most likely be the same sub-contractor that manages the operations right now. The difference being the pay check comes from a different source.
And Ford still makes American cars. Isn't it ironic?
"They are still American made, just like Toyotas."
I live near a port; not one of those mentioned but a port where large containers are imported and put on trains and trucks and transported through the city. Consider for a moment that one of those containers might be carrying a bomb or mustard gas. That only 5% of the containers are inspected would mean that we're 95% vulnerable.
Ours is a small port and a disaster would only affect a few hundred thousand people. Can you imagine what could happen at a port in New York?
You're sounding a little hysterical there Willie.
What fun would it be if he didn't? It's the end of the world, doncha know it? We have no individual power to change the direction of the world forces. We have even less individual power to change our country. It's really kind of sad. But, if your name is Kennedy, you too can be elected to 8 terms as senator. Sheesh, Roosevelt has nothing compared to Kennedy wrt to abuse of power.
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