That's the problem, security would never have changed hands. That is what this whole sh*t storm was over, nothing. The same US Coast Guard, the same US Customs, would be providing the security. We were not selling ports, we were not giving up security but Schumer, Clinton, and the mainstream media managed to hoodwink the American public over this.
Schumer and Clinton had motives other than security on their minds. Schumer and Clinton are in bed with longshormen unions and Schumer's wife is connected to the New York port authority. There is a company in Miami that started all this because they didn't want P&O selling out. They sued, by the way, in a London court...and were promptly laughed out on their collective a**es. But Republicans and a hysterical public were suckered into believing lies....and I'm ashamed of what has happened.
The UAE are secure enough to service our naval vessels in their port, they are secure enough to serve beside our troops in Afghanistan, and they are secure enough to provide us with intelligence on terrorists....but damn, they are not secure enough to operate, I say again, operate a few terminals in some US ports.
sure, the coast guard does what you say - but with only 5-7% of the cargo inspected, there is an implicit security component that is a de-facto consequence of them running the facility. the security concerns were always "backdoor", its not like we expect the Emir to walk into a DPW board meeting and say "when are we shipping the dirty bomb into NY harbor". it was always a fear that the company could be infiltrated on the UAE side, perhaps setting up a conduit with jihadis in the US, setup as a subcontractor at one of the port facilities.
Schumers wife is the NYC DOT commissioner.
this deal was a mess from the moment it was revealed, at every level. you cannot have the president out there - talking about security every single day, asking for support for things like the Patriot Act, sensitizing americans to security concerns domestically, searching grandma at airport check-in - you cannot do all these things, and then turn over some port operations to a state owned Arab company and say "its no big deal, trust us". no way you can make that sale.
The utter supitidy that I have witnessed on Free Republic on this issue has changed me a great deal. I am now realizing that we have an issue in this country. We even have an issue with consevatives who are incredibly devoid of any common sense.
Yes, I agree: shoot me and I'll shoot you fifty times. But the world stage is nothing more than a poker game. And to play poker you have to believe that your opponent is honest. Sure, you bluff and upstage but you always have a sense that what you are dealing with isn't cheating.
Trust buy verify. Wasn't that the Reagan doctrine? Well, IMHO, we have a bunch of Freepers who don't want to do that. They will destroy the Bush doctrine and they will destroy our children if another attack is made.
I, for one, do not want to be a part of this ridiculous paranoid parading. I am sickened by it. The stupidity is overwhelming.
This dust-up over the UAE was a good thing. If we had all instead taken the anti-anxiety pill that your druggist seems to have sold you on, we'd be sleep-walking further down the path.
The ARABS in the UAE, have some things they HAVE NOT acknowldged in this dispute -- their own past cupability. Their own support of terror, of Al Quedda, of terror states, their on official hatred Israel. Yes, since date xx/xx/xxxx, (whatever date that is, who knows) they have been our jolly good allies!
But that new buddy-buddy-ism doesn't explain why they haven't spoke humbly and contritely of their past misdeeds, and acknowledged the validity of those -- such as the sleeping drug-free -- who are rightfully leery of having ARAB scabarded swords laid so close to our bare breasts.