mr. President, handing control of ports to Middle-Eastern companies/countries which can be easily infiltrated by those who wish to do us great harm ALSO sends a bad message. To US, your employer.
According to a caller to a talk radio show who has worked in international shipping, all the big shippers are incredibly "multinational" in their personnel.
Umm, I suspect that Brit companies are easily infiltrated, too. Plenty of wogs living over there - some blew up some trains and buses, remember?
I didn't like the port deal, but this DOES send a bad message - "even if you're with us in the WoT, we don't trust you if you're Arab." (Wise, perhaps, but not very diplomatic...).
I have stayed out of this debate for the most part, but this kind of idiocy drives me crazy.
For the record: This deal did not hand "control" of any ports to anyone. It transferred the operations of some TERMINALS at some ports to a company from the UAE. Security was and is the responsibility of the Coast Guard and DHS.
People really should read the details of what was proposed before spouting foolishness. I wasn't overly concerned about the deal - foreign airlines, including middle eastern ones, have facilities at all major airports. I don't see how the risk is any greater with this deal than with the airports. Should we deny any Muslim country the right to have an airport terminal in the US?
There is no "control" over U.S. ports, for the quadzillion time.