Bush: Port Deal Collapse Sends Bad Message

Associated Press ^ | March 10, 2006 | LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

[ScreamingFist]

Lots of our allies support Hamas, many of them harbor terrorists, yet we continue to do foreign investments with them and vice versa.

I see. So money talks and hamas is just another faction of welfare state terrorists that the US MUST do business with...interesting prospective.

[AntiGuv]

What are you babbling about? My argument is that the UAE's sponsorship of terrorists sends a bad message too. Do you disagree with that?

[ScreamingFist]

The difference is...this time Chucky and Hillary took advantage and demogogued. And loads of Freepers bought into their rhetoric.

Or from a different prospective, newbies like yourself bought the deal hook, line and sinker from the nimrods at the White House.....and have had your butts handed to you on a plate again....just like Miers?

[servantboy777]

The only reason I can figure Bush is so adamant about this port deal is to open up a deal that would allow the U.S. Navy control of the Straits of Hormuz via UAE and that big ol peninsula that juts out into the Straits.

This would be valuable in any effort to spank the crap outta Iran. Whatcha think guys?

Otherwise, Bush has lost his everlovin mind to allow such a hair brained idea as this port deal. 2nd term Bush, wow, just makes ya speechless doesn't it.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Nice of you to twist my words to fit your argument. Typical of posters who lack any well-reasoned dissent.

[Milligan]

Rush is right.

According to Sun Tzu on the Art of War its better make friends with your enemies.

[river rat]

I forgot to add the other point of falsehood in your #3 "explanation" of why UAE was a "Moderate Muslim" nation..

There WERE other predominately Muslim nations or nations with Muslim population over 40%, that DID send troops to fight on the same side as the U.S. and Coalition forces:

a. Azerbaijan, 150
b. Albania, 120
c. Bosnia & Herzegovina, 36
d. Kazakhstan, 27
Not a large showing, but in fact a showing..
UAE was NOT among them..

Semper Fi

[Canedawg]

There certainly is well-reasoned dissent, but those who were in favor of the deal ignored it and demonized it with their own defamatory labels.

[Siena Dreaming]

Wrong.

[ScreamingFist]

Lots of our allies support Hamas, many of them harbor terrorists, yet we continue to do foreign investments with them and vice versa.

Truly, I'm trying to see how I twisted this. Hamas kills infidels and Jews, UAE supports them....Enlighten me..

[Siena Dreaming]

So no allies can be found among all the Mid-Eastern crowd, eh?

The "nuke them all" attitude may feel good but it won't win the war and it will get more of our people killed.

[ScreamingFist]

Wrong.

I'm sorry....what was the vote in congress....and what happened next?

[Brit_Guy]

"The degree to which the rest of them hate us varies, but they do hate us."

Nonsense. There are many, many in the midle east who hate America. They may well number in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions. But this Arab=Enemy of America logis is disturbing. Islamic Radical=Enemy of America.
Islamic Radicals may well be a subset of Arabs, maybe even a large one. But they aren't the whole. I spend a fair bit of time in the UAE (Dubai). It is a nation of breathtaking ambition. It could be to the midle east as Taiwan is to China. But some cheapshot populist electoral focussed morons dropped the ball strategically for a couple of cheap votes.

[CA Conservative]

Do we really want a foreign government to have ownership of any part of our ports?

This is a straw-man argument. Neither DPW nor the UAE would own any part of the ports. They would own a LEASE of port terminals.

By the way, the situation you suggest already exists. The Chinese have a foreign trade zone in Southern California. I could be wrong, but I believe that those docks are considered foreign soil. That is not the situation that was under consideration here.

[indcons]

"Nuke them all"? Wow!! Where did I say that?

I stand by what I wrote in my post: the UAE paid a price or their previous sins. As an extreme case, may I point out that US would NOT be in Afghanistan now but for the UAE's sponsoring, arming, and recognizing the Taliban. See...there are arguments for and against the deal (as the ancient Sophist Isocrates pointed out many years ago). We must learn to recognize the other side too if we want to be taken seriously.

Again - this is not the end of the world. So, stop acting like it is!!

[AntiGuv]

The only reason I can figure Bush is so adamant about this port deal is to open up a deal that would allow the U.S. Navy control of the Straits of Hormuz via UAE and that big ol peninsula that juts out into the Straits.

Other people have suggested as much, but the problem with the idea is that Oman controls the Straits opposite Iran, and they're already allied with us.

[ScreamingFist]

There are many, many in the midle east who hate America.

And there are many, many in Briton that hate Briton...clean your own house before lecturing others trying to keep their house clean...

[Siena Dreaming]

On the contrary, the anti-port crowd (many of whom are the "nuke them all" types) were acting like the deal was the end of the world.

[CA Conservative]

The deal was inherently contradictory of free enterprise, and hence was manifestly never about free trade.

This was a state-to-state deal. And a further crowding out of the private sector in our country.

Huh? DPW may be partially owned by the UAE government, but the deal was between DPW and P&O, a publicly traded firm. How does that make this a "state to state" deal? And how does our government stepping in to interfere in a business transaction between two foreign corporations benefit the private sector in ANY country?

[AntiGuv]

I spend a fair bit of time in the UAE (Dubai). It is a nation of breathtaking ambition.

It would improve their image and further their ambition if they'd stop subsidizing terrorists, unless that's part of their ambition. Oh, and holding elections would probably help too.

It could be to the midle east as Taiwan is to China.

Well, yes. Except that Taiwan does not subsidize suicide bombers.