Team of Americans from UAE for US to push ports deal

Gulf News ^ | 03/09/2006 | Stanley Carvalho

[PrinceOfCups]

...Yes they are, but I bet they came with lots of payola! ...

This works as a joke....and as a strategy.

[Reagan Man]

Wrong. The Bush administrations Treasury agency called CFIUS, has been rubber stamping these deals for years. Right now it stands at, 1530 approvals out of 1531 chances. Sweetheart deal at best. Quid pro quo at worst.

[Reagan Man]

Oops. Sorry, just the facts, dude.

[Lib-Lickers 2]

exactly

and if China can run our terminals and the Panama Canal(it has nuclear warheads pointed at American cities as we speak and has threated the United States many times with nuclear war if we defend Taiwan from them in a war )then turning the UAE down is total hypocracy

once again members of Congress are hypocrites

[Logical me]

Oh, really. This deal began somewhere around 11/2005. I believe that PSA in Singapore was in the bid along with DPW. All this was in articles in the NYT. Whats the problem? Nothing seemed wrong then. It only surfaced with the RATS and I can't believe how many of their talking points have saturated this blog.

People change. Nations change. And to assume throwing this down the tubes because of perhaps their past, maybe you should check our past. It's time America grew up and realize that the only way we will ever see peace is when nations have financial interest in each other. Politicians are the stupidest form of mankind on the earth.

[Reagan Man]

I try my best not to read the NY Times. If it was reported on Fox News or posted on Free Republic, I must've missed it. Fact is, CFIUS formal evaluation and analysis process is done in total secrecy. When I heard about it, I was outraged. Seems most Americans are just as outraged. Unless a Bush veto can stand up to an override, the deal is DOA.

[bybybill]

America has ALWAYS had foreign investment, as a matter of fact, the British, Dutch, Japanese and Canadians have huge investments in this country as do some of the Arab oil producers. Thats a good deal for us cause our safety is alaso safety for their investments. What to kick them out? Then get ready for the Mother of all depressions

[Lib-Lickers 2]

wow all that ,, well then the Congress ought to immediately and permanently forbid any cargo from any port run by the UAE from entering US coastal waters

better safe than sorry when dealing with those people

so I'm agreeing with you and going one step farther for safety's sake,, and we know it's the safety concern that is behind this

[Logical me]

All business transactions of this bid type are done in secrecy. It is the law. Only after a bid is accepted can anyone be informed. Otherwise, why should we have a bidding process. I have worked in Government for 27 years and most of that time is with the bidding process.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>All business transactions of this bid type are done in secrecy.

Just because CFIUS followed procedure, doesn't mean the final approval wasn't a rubber stamped sweetheart deal, or with quid pro quo implications attached. Just becasue it was done in secrecy doesn't mean it was above board. I'm not a supporter of the federal bureaucracy. This deal smells of bureaucrats gone wild.

[markman46]

and just who are you going to get to run the terminals then? name one american company that does run any of the port terminals?

[ARCADIA]

Americans need more facts and more public discussion.

No, the facts are on the table. The answer is that we do not want foreign interest running the ports or any part thereof. Perhaps, it is time for the administration to shut up and listen for a change.

[ARCADIA]

Our President cannot be apprised of the hundreds of thousands of commercial transactions by the properly authorized departments that are made daily.

We should keep him unappraised...it may be the only way to get him to use his veto.

[Reagan Man]

Two US companies who manage terminal port operations in the US are ranked 8th and 9th largest. One such company is called SSA Marine, a family owned operation out of Seattle. They're the largest terminal operator in the United States. Overall, I believe 80% of US port terminals are foreign managed. 20% American managed.

[ARCADIA]

What to kick them out? Then get ready for the Mother of all depressions

Just sit yourself down and let some real entrepreneurs show you the way. The risk of depression comes from outsourcing our productive infrastrustute and relying on debt financed importation.

[bybybill]

oh really! If you watch the market, a less then anticipated profit from one of the big boys like GM will cause a major drop in the Dow. Kick out global investment, and kiss your retirement byby, instead, learn to sell apples

[TigersEye]

I'd like to see Dubya veto this legislation. In doing so he'd show America just how out of touch with the nation he really is.

I hope he does too because the American people are out of touch with reality.

[syriacus]

No, the facts are on the table

Not really

Is King and Schumer's 45 day investigation over with?

The DPW takeover of P&O is being given the "Bum's rush," by the same folks who are letting the Chinese government company (COSCO, which was involved in smuggling arms into the US), run a terminal on the West Coast.

From the Congressional record

On March 18, 1996, Federal agents surreptitiously seized a Poly shipment of 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles in Oakland, California. These weapons had left China on February 18 aboard a vessel belonging to another state-owned company, the Chinese Ocean Shipping Company (`COSCO'). On May, Federal agents hastily shut down the operation when they learned that the Chinese had been tipped to its existence. [snip]

Smuggling the weapons into the United States has not harmed the fortunes of COSCO.

A) In April 1996, with the support of the Clinton Administration, COSCO signed a lease with the City of Long Beach, California to rent a now defunct navy base in Long Beach, California. *

B)...the Clinton Administration has allowed COSCO's ships access to our most sensitive ports with one day's notice rather than the usual four

C) [The Clinton administration] has given COSCO a $138,000,000 loan guarantee to build ships in Alabama.

The [Clinton] Administration has made all of these concessions since the coffee with Mr. Wang. That COSCO participated in the shipment of illegal arms does not appear to have dampened the Administration's enthusiasm in any of these matters.

*The lease on the Long Beach Navy Base, which Clinton arranged for COSCO, got cancelled by Congress. But COSCO runs a terminal at the Port of Long Beach.
See, Foreign involvement is nothing new [COSCO-- Chinese gov't co --runs terminals]

[Keeper of the Turf]

then the Congress ought to immediately and permanently forbid any cargo from any port run by the UAE from entering US coastal waters

Excactly. If the UAE is such a security risk, then how can we possible allow cargo from any of their ports to even come close to a US city.

[kabar]

Well, lately 25,000 Americans have moved there along with 250,000 British. In addition the UAE has hired 250,000 teachers from around the world.

The population of the UAE is 2,563,212 according to the CIA Factbook. Note: includes an estimated 1,606,079 non-nationals; the 17 December 1995 census presents a total population figure of 2,377,453, and there are estimates of 3.44 million for 2002 (July 2005 est.)

I am strongly for the port deal, but where did you get the 250,000 foreign teachers from? That sounds rather high for such a small population. There are only approx 650,000 between the ages 0-14 years (male 331,269; female 317,977).