House Appropiations Committe voted to block Dubai deal

Fox News Alert | March 8, 2006

[Ooh-Ah]

House Appropiations Committe voted to block Dubai deal

[KJC1]

Good for the House.

You signed up today to post this 4 word response. Interesting.

[rodguy911]

NO that's not it but if it's grape Koolaid don't let me stop you.

[countreegurl]

If the committee had the support to kill the deal, why did they have to attach it to a defense spending bill? Why couldn't they kill the deal separately?

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so the President won't dare veto it.

[STARWISE]

I don't believe there's any way we'll voluntarily leave or be forced out of Dubai. We are in too critical a strategic and symbiotic relationship, and Bush knows it .. but there's no doubt this will leave a deep stain, for which much diplomacy and who knows what else will be required.

Among the other essential intelligence and services the UAE and Dubai provide, Dubai has the only port in that area that can handle aircraft carriers .. dockside ... like the new USS Ronald Reagan, the newest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, currently on her maiden deployment .. God bless her.

Persian Gulf (March 7, 2006) - Gunner's mates line up to take their turn at shooting targets on aircraft elevator three during a small arms firing exercise aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). Reagan with her embarked Carrier Air Wing One Four (CVW-14) is currently on her maiden deployment conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the region and participating in the global war on terrorism.

Persian Gulf (Feb. 27, 2006) – A Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team assigned to the guided-missile cruiser USS Cape St. George (CG 71) transits the Persian Gulf to conduct a boarding in support of Maritime Security Operations (MSO). The Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) teams are certified to conduct compliant and non-compliant ship boarding.

Persian Gulf (March 1, 2006) – Maintenance crews take to the flight deck for routine maintenance after flight operations aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). Reagan and embarked Carrier Air Wing One Four (CVW-14) are currently on her maiden deployment conducting Maritime Security Operations (MSO) in the region and participating in the global war on terrorism.

U.S. Navy personnel guard as people leave U.S military ship Vicksburg at the end of opening of a new state-of-the-art DP World-managed oil terminal facility in Djibouti February 26, 2006.

U.S. Navy personnel guard near U.S. military ship Vicksburg during the opening ceremony of a new state-of-the-art DP World-managed oil terminal facility in Djibouti February 26, 2006."

This is a surprise among the Navy photos. She recently married a very wealthy pharma executive .. maybe he's not a lib.

Atlantic Ocean (Feb. 25, 2006) - Retired Adm. Greg Johnson explains flight operations to actress Glenn Close and actor David Shaw on the flight deck aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65). Enterprise is currently underway conducting carrier qualifications prior to Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX).

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Dubai has become a central Middle East hub for trade and finance, accounting for about 85 percent of the Emirates’ re-export trade. The UAE has been a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1995, and has one of the most open economies in the region. It began negotiations in March 2005 with the United States on a possible free trade agreement.

According to the UAE government, 15 commercial ports (including oil terminals), as of December 2005, serve the country, with a total capacity of more than 70 million tons. Located in the city of Dubai, Mina Rashid, completed in 1972, is the leading port of the Gulf region.

It has modern facilities to handle almost all types of commercial and passenger shipping, including roll-on-roll-off containers. Also located in Dubai, Mina Jabal Ali, completed in 1979, is the largest port in the country and the largest man-made harbor in the world.

It deals primarily in bulk cargo and industrial material for the Mina Jabal Ali Free Zone, an international investment haven. In 2004 the two ports had a combined annual traffic of more than 77 million tons of cargo, nearly 65 million twenty-foot-equivalent-units of containers, and 14,000 vessels. The two ports, collectively, ranked tenth in the world in terms of total container throughput in 2004.

In August 2005, the Dubai Ports Authority began the first stage of a multi-year, US$1.4 billion expansion project at Mina Jabal Ali that will increase storage-handling capacity to 2.5 million twenty-foot-equivalent units by 2007, and 5 million twenty-foot-equivalent units by 2008.

In September 2005, the Dubai Ports Authority merged with Dubai Ports International Terminals to create a single global port operator—Dubai Ports World, owned by the Dubai government. A new regulatory body, the Dubai Ports and Jabal Ali Free Zone Authority, was created to oversee the regulation and administration of Dubai’s port operations.

As of December 2005, the UAE has 35 airports, 22 of which have paved runways, as well as two heliports. Of the 35 airports, six are international.

Dubai International Airport, which now supports 105 airlines, is undergoing a US$4.1 billion expansion. The Abu Dhabi International Airport, which supports 50 airlines, is undergoing a multi-year, US$500 million expansion project; completion is expected by 2006.

Al Ayn International Airport, built in 1994, supports 10 airlines, and plans have been made to spend US$20.5 million to expand its facilities. Sharjah International Airport, the first airport to be built in the UAE, launched the low-cost Air Arabia Airlines in 2003 to serve destinations in the Middle East and Asia. The airport handles 1.3 million passengers per year. There are currently plans to spend US$61 million over the next two years to expand this airport’s facilities.

The United States has enjoyed friendly relations with the U.A.E. since 1971. Private commercial ties, especially in petroleum, have developed into friendly government-to-government ties which include security assistance.

The breadth, depth, and quality of U.S.-U.A.E. relations increased dramatically as a result of the U.S.-led coalition's campaign to end the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.

In 2002, the U.S. and the U.A.E. launched a strategic partnership dialogue covering virtually every aspect of the relationship. The U.A.E. has been a key partner in the war on terror after September 11, 2001. The United States was the third country to establish formal diplomatic relations with the U.A.E. and has had an ambassador resident in the U.A.E. since 1974.

In July 2004, the UAE enacted legislation that criminalized the funding of terrorist organizations. The law also increased the amount of time that public prosecutors can hold suspects in terrorism-related cases without charge from 21 days to six months. Terrorism cases are referred to the Federal Supreme Court, which may extend the detention period indefinitely.

In December 2004, the Dubai Ports Authority (DPA), which operates the main container ports of Mina Jabal Ali and Mina Rashid, became the first Middle Eastern port to participate in the U.S. Homeland Security Container Security Initiative (CSI) program, which is aimed at preventing materials that could be used by terrorist groups from entering the United States in shipping containers. Under the CSI, DPA employees will screen suspicious United States-bound containerized cargo transiting Dubai’s ports.

[rodguy911]

In other words sacrifice Nat. security for political advantage, hmmm... where have I heard that..

Oh yeah, the other party, that's how they play the game.

[Dengar01]

Coast Guard signed off on the deal too, you know?

The Coast Guard is part of HLS, HLS is run by Chertoff.

[sam_paine]

WHY did the Congresscritter Know Nothings in the Congress put their Anti-Capitalism "Port" legislation INSIDE an Appropriation bill?

Simply to force Bush to choose between funding the troops, and sinking the port deal.

No different a tactic than a crook uses when he holds a hostage at a mini-mart.

[FreedomNeocon]

If the committee had the support to kill the deal, why did they have to attach it to a defense spending bill? Why couldn't they kill the deal separately?

so the President won't dare veto it.

Well he said outright, that he would.

[sam_paine]

We are headed for a disaster and all you guys can worry about is who is right or wrong....

Why not just leave it at that? Damn logic. Damn policy. Damn international WOT strategy! All we need is to win elections! (So these gutless congresscritters can get back in there and feather their filthy nests.)

Bush got us out of the ABM treaty and kept us out of Kyoto. America is a better place for those UNPOPULAR moves. What has congress done for us?

[rodguy911]

I'm trying, but everyone seems to have forgotten we are at war and intel is not important, it can be everything! If UAE intel is useful in keeping our troops alive, how can we treat Dubai like this?

[Wasanother]

I call it a cheap, hypocritical, political stunt. We have spent 12 years telling the Rats to leave the Military Money alone then we have Republicans doing the same things. It was just two days ago the congress said that they could override a veto but I don't believe they could have on the ports deal and that's why such a cheap stunt.

[ScreamingFist]

More Than Meets the Eye: F-16 Sale Precursor to Establishing U.S. Bases in UAE
Luke Warren, Arms Trade Insider No. 29, March 9, 2000

As initially revealed last November the Arms Trade News, the UAE purchase of 80 F-16 Falcon fighter jets from the U.S. will help grease the wheels for a new basing agreement between the two countries. A 7 March memo from the Air Force liaison office regarding the national security rationale for this sale states clearly that, "U.S. forces could respond to the region quicker and more effectively if bases, ports, and the infrastructure they require were available in other countries as well as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The sale of F-16s to the UAE will allow the U.S. to work closer with this coalition partner."

So instead of just being seduced by the vast amount of money this deal offers, (the Pentagon assumes that over the Falcon's 20 year life cycle the deal will be worth $15 billion), we now can confirm that there is a larger seduction. According to Air Force, USCENTCOM's theater engagement plan calls for "enhancing and strengthening the strategic relationship between the US and the UAE...This plan seeks several specific long-term bilateral agreements including improved access to the Persian Gulf's only carrier capable deep-water port."

Arms sales for influence and access. This is not the first time this has been done, but not at this level of weapons technology. Selling weapons more advanced than your own for money and new bases is a dangerous game. Despite the Air Force's claim to the contrary, these F-16s may not "act as a stabilizing influence against forces in the region that could threaten this vital flow of petroleum."(i.e. Iran)

Iranian hard line clerics, who control the military, could react by initiating a pre-emptive strike on the UAE, or increasing terrorist attacks, or by accelerating Iran's research into ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. This sale might also undermine the moderate influences of the Iranian Parliament and President Khatami. That is exactly the opposite of what the U.S. should be doing. The U.S. should attempt to bolster Khatami's reforms and power. Selling the world's best F-16s to the UAE will not accomplish this task.

And neither is setting up bases in the UAE. That will give Islamic radicals more evidence of U.S. encroachment in the Arab world, and hence more reason to launch terrorist attacks against the U.S. It also begs the question; given U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, why do we need access to the UAE?. Is this a hedge against the crown prince of Saudi Arabia not being pro- western? Is it designed to give us a launch point against an increasingly hardline, military government in Pakistan? The U.S. has been able to keep the Straights of Hormuz open for years without bases in the UAE. If so, why undercut the moderate forces in Iran, and possibly increase tension in the already precarious region, by building these bases?

Before this sale goes through, Congress should demand the real reasons for this sale, and if they are not adequate, kill the deal.

[AmeriBrit]

"Good! More jobs for Americans!!!!"

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and also another foothold for the sob commie backed unions.

[FreedomNeocon]

Yeah... I'm so glad the "republicans revolt against Bush", as MSNBC is calling it, so that we can spit in the face of an ally who has been just as (IF NOT MORE) valuable to us as the UK for the past decade.

I'm super pumped that we just might be able to change the minds of a few arabs that might be trying to decide between the Iranian mullahs and the west... let them know that its not worth it to even try... being a-rabs and all. You know, save them the time so we can just fight and kill every one of the billions of 'them' out there.

This really helps national security a great bunch... whoreaaay!

[EternalVigilance]

I share much of your dislike for certain members of Congress. But I think you're leveling your fire at the wrong people.

The best folks we've got are the conservatives in the House....the exact group of people who are now blocking this deal.

And their political survival is far more important than just about anything else.

[EternalVigilance]

Quit whining.

[STARWISE]

6 yr. old news .. hmmm .... pre-911 and "you're either with us or you're against us." .... relevant, irrelevant?

[rodguy911]

I don't see any tents or camels there.

[EternalVigilance]

Very interesting post.