You really need to go back and read the "lengthy paper" you poo-poo'd. It addresses exactly who is responsible for security.
Here, where you don't have to strain your eyes, I've c/p'd the portion addressing port security:
"The federal government takes the lead in protecting America's ports. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, primarily through the activities of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Coast Guard, runs many programs to secure U.S. ports. The U.S. Coast Guard is responsible for maritime security and reviewing and approving security plans for vessels, port facilities and port areas which are required by the MTSA. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for cargo security, and screens and inspects cargo entering the U.S. through every U.S. port.
Other cargo security programs include:
-- Container Security Initiative (inspection of U.S. import cargo
by CBP prior to leaving the outbound foreign port)
-- Use of radiation detection equipment to screen for weapons of
mass destruction
-- Use of other non-intrusive inspection devices
-- Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), which
encourages maritime stakeholders to verify their security
measures.
The Port Security Grant program and the pending implementation of the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) are also important parts of America's port security portfolio to provide layered security.
While the federal government takes the lead on waterside and cargo security, overall security is a shared responsibility with port authorities, facility and vessel operators, and state and local law enforcement agencies providing additional security. The Maritime Transportation Security Act also establishes local security committees to evaluate and make improvements in each port."
I would suggest before you start calling the UAE a dictatorship you might want to consider going to their website and reading about their system of governance.
"I would suggest before you start calling the UAE a dictatorship you might want to consider going to their website and reading about their system of governance."
You're not suggesting, I hope, that the UAE is a democracy.
And the UAE's home page is probably not the best source for an objective view. For a slightly better perspective (patriarchal and tribal rule, human trafficking, Shari'a law and courts, criminal sanctions for proselytizing muslims, etc.):
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41734.htm
And you might give some passing consideration to this article as well, which isn't exactly ancient history, and isn't exactly unique in its perspective:
_____________________________________________________
An Unlikely Criminal Crossroads
12/5/05
"From Egypt to Afghanistan, when terrorists and gangsters need a place to meet, to relax, maybe to invest, they head to Dubai, a bustling city-state on the Persian Gulf. The Middle East's unquestioned financial capital, Dubai is the showcase of the United Arab Emirates, an oil-rich federation of sheikdoms. Forty years ago, Dubai was a backwater; today, it hosts dozens of banks and one of the world's busiest ports; its free-trade zones are crammed with thousands of companies. Construction is everywhere--skyscrapers, malls, hotels, and, soon, the world's tallest building."
"But Dubai also serves as the region's criminal crossroads, a hub for smuggling, money laundering, and underground banking. There are Russian and Indian mobsters, Iranian arms traffickers, and Arab jihadists. Funds for the 9/11 hijackers and African embassy bombers were transferred through the city. It was the heart of Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan's black market in nuclear technology and other proliferation cases."
"Half of all applications to buy U.S. military equipment from Dubai are from bogus front companies, officials say. "Iran," adds one U.S. official, "is building a bomb through Dubai." Last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents thwarted the shipment of 3,000 U.S. military night-vision goggles by an Iranian pair based in Dubai. Moving goods undetected is not hard. Dhows--rickety wooden boats that have plowed the Arabian Sea for centuries--move along the city center, uninspected, down the aptly named Smuggler's Creek."
"U.A.E. rulers have taken terrorism seriously since 9/11, but Washington has a half-dozen extradition requests that they refuse to honor. The list includes people accused of rape, murder, and arms trafficking, and the last fugitive of the BCCI banking scandal. The country has put money laundering controls on the books but has made few cases. Interior Minister Sheik Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan told U.S. News the U.A.E. has made great strides in cracking down, but he insists that the real problems lie elsewhere. "We are a neutral country, like Switzerland," he says. "Give us the evidence, and we will do something about it. Don't blame others." Not everyone agrees. "All roads lead to Dubai," says former treasury agent John Cassara, author of Hide and Seek, a forthcoming book on terrorism finance. Cassara tried explaining U.S. concerns about Dubai to a local businessman but got only a puzzled look: "Mr. John, money laundering? But that's what we do."
-David E. Kaplan
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051205/5terror.b1.htm
Shared responsibility? With THIS country??:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060223-123441-8908r.htm
BTW, like Hamas, they do not recognize Israel's right to exist....
The low ratings for our president reflects the general frustration over this deal. I really do not understand this, and those trying to defend this deal use a lot of sophistry and longwindedness to try to explain away this deal. Debbie Schussel gets it right:
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2006/02/somethings_rott.html
By the way, do you have a link to that UAE website you referenced? It would be interesting to contrast it with the State Department's view.