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So the article you posted is your best reason to terminate the DPW deal? Let me get this straight... American made products were openly shipped from New Jersey to that bastion of above board trade and commerce otherwise known as South Africa. This was apparently legal, as the items were openly declared on their export declaration. However, once these items got to South Africa, they were shipped by a major European shipping firm known as DHL, to Pakistan via Dubai. A US special agent tracked down the shipment, and "demanded" he be allowed to inspect the box (maybe someone can explain what international law allows agents from one nation to make demands in another nation to inspect packages being sent from a third nation via a legitimate cargo carrier before they arrive in a fourth nation). Not surprisingly, his request was denied. Presumably, the author of this article would have no problem with a Chinese special agent located in Seattle, making a demand to inspect a cargo container being shipped by FedEx from Germany to Japan, be given permission to do so. Later, we learn that the items in question were originally shipped by an Israeli national who was operating in the United States.

Still later in the article, we learn that much of the goods shipped through Dubai originate from US companies that knowingly and willingly flout the law to make a quick buck. Evil companies like Halliburton, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Dell. All these companies quietly use companies in Dubai to forward their services to other nations. But apparently, only the DPW and the government of Dubai should be punished for this less than secret practice.

So this is it... This is the sharpest arrow in your quiver. An article that is far more damning concerning what we allow to be shipped out of this country than it is about whether or not the DPW can manage a port terminal in New Jersey. In fact, there really isn't any information in this article that pertains to port terminal management in the United States. The assumption must be that since Dubai is a relay point for foreign trade, any port that the DPW manages in the United States would become a similar relay point. That ignores they fact that ports in the United States fall under the sovereign control of the United States regardless of who manages their terminals. It is safe to assume that if a US Special Agent demanded to inspect a crate in a US port he would be allowed the opportunity. The problems addressed in this article have FAR more to do with our own export controls than they do with middlemen in Dubai. If we were REALLY serious about the problems discussed here, we would crack down on our own businesses that start the ball rolling, and stop blaming the folks in Dubai who give the ball a shove as it rolls on by. Based on that logic, we need to cut off all trade and finances with the Swiss, because Swiss banks have been shunting funny money all over this planet for decades.

I really can't believe this is your most damning piece of evidence to scuttle the DPW deal. What else have you got?