We Must Keep Watch! Trouble brewing in Panama

Right on!

Under the terms of two CARTER/TORRIJOS treaties, the United States relinquished ownership and control of the Canal Zone in December 1999. The properties included the waterway, land, 14 military bases and 5, 000 office and residential buildings. It was done as former President JIMMY CARTER put it, "to eliminate the vestige of colonialism." When the United States then withdrew its military forces from Panama, it didn't take long for Chinese companies to fill the vacuum.

Jimmy Carter did more to harm and possibly destroy this country in 4 years than any enemy we had in the last century.

Jimmy Carter makes Benedict Arnold look like a patriot!

Thanks for looking- I really think the Canal Zone is going to be one of those clinton/Carter "legacy" things that turns & bites us. Not merely the danger of having the shortcut between oceans cut in times of crisis ( and make no mistake, the Chinese are working on control of choke points like the tips of South Africa, the Horn, and South America...) but the dangers of smuggling, espionage, and general mischief from Panama.

While I don't like communists, China has as much right to protect its shipping and trade routes as we did.
They have more to lose from restricted passage through the canal then we do. We can ship via surface routes.
If we were still controlling the canal, we would have our military protecting other nations vessels. I don't need to pay for that.
Let China protect their own choke points of trade routes.

In the article they mention a porous border between Columbia and Panama. My friend who is Panamanian says that the forest along the border is nearly inpenetrable and has for a long time been an effective natural barrier between Columbia and Panama. The forest seems to swallow everything up that goes in. Its spooky the way she described it. Of course, that doesn't keep Columbian drug runners from taking a boat ride to Panama. Looks easy on the map.

Bush Names Veteran Anti-Communist to Latin America Post*** WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 - The White House announced today that President Bush will nominate Roger F. Noriega, the United States representative to the Organization of American States, to be assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, the most senior diplomat for Latin America. Mr. Noriega will replace Otto J. Reich, whose own nomination to be assistant secretary was blocked by Senate Democrats in 2001 and who served in the position under a temporary "recess appointment" that expired in November.

Though Mr. Reich's supporters had thought Mr. Bush would renominate him after the Republicans captured the Senate in November, their hopes were dashed when senior Republicans, including Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined Democrats in opposing him. His opponents argued that Mr. Reich, a staunchly anti-Communist Cuban exile, botched relations with Venezuela and had taken too hard a line on Cuba. Mr. Reich, these critics said, also did not have the support of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, acknowledged the bipartisan opposition to Mr. Reich today in explaining why Mr. Bush had decided to pull him into the National Security Council, a position that does not require Senate approval. "The principal reason was because the president wanted his expertise here," Mr. Fleischer told reporters. "I never ruled out that there could have been other factors as well, and it's always important to gauge the inclinations of the Senate."***

COSCO has warehouses in Atlanta, Baltimore, Charleston, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle, Secaucus, Toronto, Vancouver where China already/is presently/or will in the future - bring weapons, munitions, arms and short-range missiles and/or medium-range missiles (or missile parts) into the US and Canada. Yes this is possible.

COSCO may have advanced its "plan for conquest" by actually hiring Chinese personnel in the US (unlike H&W because Panama immigration laws have cumbersome hiring quotas):

Huang Dalei	General Manager, M.I.S.	ext 8854
Qui Jinguang	General Manager of Planning & Development	ext 8993
Liu La Chun	Deputy General Manager, Customer Service	ext 8987
Zhang Xiaosheng	General Manager, Equipment Control	ext 8872
Capt. Wang Yong	General Manager, Marine Operations	ext 8885


*COSCO Group Milestones in Sino-US Trade*

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