was through he shook everyone's hand . . . except Peter King's.
Posted on 03/09/2006 9:02:17 AM PST by prairiebreeze
Dubai is threatening retaliation against American strategic and commercial interests if Washington blocks its $6.8 billion takeover of operations at several U.S. ports.
As the House Appropriations Committee yesterday marked up legislation to kill Dubai Ports World’s acquisition of Britain’s Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O), the emirate let it be known that it is preparing to hit back hard if necessary.
A source close to the deal said members of Dubai’s royal family are furious at the hostility both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have shown toward the deal.
“They’re saying, ‘All we’ve done for you guys, all our purchases, we’ll stop it, we’ll just yank it,’” the source said.
Retaliation from the emirate could come against lucrative deals with aircraft maker Boeing and by curtailing the docking of hundreds of American ships, including U.S. Navy ships, each year at its port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the source added.
It is not clear how much of Dubai’s behind-the-scenes anger would be followed up by action, but Boeing has been made aware of the threat and is already reportedly lobbying to save the ports deal.
The Emirates Group airline will decide later this year whether it will buy Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner or its competitor, Airbus A350. The airline last fall placed an order worth $9.7 billion for 42 Boeing 777 aircraft, making Dubai Boeing’s largest 777 customer.
Dubai in mid-February also established the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, a $15 billion investment to create a company that will lease planes, develop airports and make aircraft parts to tap into growing demand for air travel in the Middle East and Asia.
The family-ruled sheikhdom may buy as many as 50 wide-body aircraft from Boeing and Airbus during the next four years, according to Aerospace Enterprise officials.
The UAE military also bought Boeing’s Apache helicopters. Meanwhile, Boeing has been in talks with the emirates to try to sell its AWACS planes.
An industry official with knowledge of Boeing’s contracts with Dubai said that the company has been involved in the emirate and that it would take a lot “to knock” those relationships.
“Nothing about the [ports] controversy diminishes our commitment to the region,” said John Dern, Boeing’s corporate spokesman. He added that at this point the company has no indication that there is or will be an impact on the company.
Any repercussion to Boeing could put House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in a delicate position. Boeing’s decision to move its headquarters to Chicago has been seen as calculated to facilitate a close relationship with Hastert. He is against the ports deal, and his office did not return calls by press time.
Several businesses have expressed concern that the controversy over the $6.8 billion ports deal could damage trade with the UAE. Dubai is one of the seven emirates. The United States and the UAE are meeting next week for a fourth round of talks to sign a free-trade agreement. The American Business Group of Abu Dhabi, which has no affiliation with the U.S. government, said that Arabs may hesitate to invest into the United States, according to a report by Reuters.
A Republican trade lobbyist said that because the ports deal is a national-security issue blocking it would not be in violation of World Trade Agreement rules.
“In terms of them retaliating legally against the U.S. … I don’t think there are many options there,” the lobbyist said.
But when it comes to the emirates’ cooperation in the war on terrorism and in intelligence gathering, there is concern that some help may be pulled.
“If we reject the company in terms of doing the [ports] work, they are going to lose a lot of face. In the Arab culture, losing face is a big deal,” a former government official said. “We risk losing that help. It is not an empty threat.”
Dubai is a critical logistics hub for the U.S. Navy and a popular relaxation destination for troops fighting in the Middle East. On many occasions since the ports story erupted, the Pentagon has stressed the importance of the U.S-UAE relationship.
Last year, the U.S. Navy docked 590 supply vessels in Dubai, plus 56 warships, Gordon England, deputy secretary of defense, said in a Senate hearing last month. About 77,000 military personnel went on leave in the UAE last year, he added.
During the hearing, he warned about the implications of a negative decision on the ports deal: “So obviously it would have some effect on us, and I’d not care to quantify that, because I don’t have the facts to quantify it. It would certainly have an effect on us.”
Although owned by the Dubai government, the company at the heart of this controversy, Dubai Ports World, is trying to distance itself from any kinds of threats, said a lobbyist closely tracking the deal.
Another lobbyist monitoring the controversy said K Street still believes there will be a compromise that allows the Dubai deal to go through while meeting congressional security concerns, even though a bill aimed at that result, put forward by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.), was widely repudiated amongst lawmakers Tuesday.
Senate leaders have indicated that they would wait to take action until the new 45-day Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review is completed.
Meanwhile, in London, DP World cleared the last hurdle for its take over of P&O. The Court of Appeal in London refused Miami-based Eller & Co., which opposed the deal, permission to appeal against clearances for the legal and financial measures necessary to implement the takeover.
P&O said it expects to file the requisite court orders, making the takeover terms binding on DP World, according to the Financial Times.
Elana Schor contributed to this report.
"I'm just sitting back seeing what gets flushed out by all this..."
Probably a few Republican congressmen who joined ranks with Sen. Hillary to beat up our President and kicked around an important friend in the War On Terror.
LOL, not in Texas conservatives, real conservatives are KICKING A$$. You want a Rat lite party? Go vote Rat, we tried things your way and the results SUCK. Go back to being a RAT, that's what you really are anyway.
Good grief, being called "not a conservative" by you is like being called honest by Bill Clinton.
I think this is largely a good deal. It obviously is a good business deal for DP World, or they wouldn't do it.
It may keep congress from passing a stupid law and undermining our free markets. It keeps the issue in the business realm where it always belonged.
It leaves the democrats without an issue, but they will push for something anyway which may lead to typical overstepping.
Harry Reid wants to still have a vote. Maybe the U.S. senate will be stupid enough to do that, but they wouldn't.
Harry Reid says he doesn't know WHO will own the ports under this agreement. But he had no idea who would own the ports if they forced the sale.
No.
"Rats oppose just about every thing Bush does for no reason. They live to oppose Bush. Conservatives oppose Bush when his policies are not conservative."
Here here!
But by opposing Bush on this we are labeled "extreme right wing" or lumped in with Schumer/Reid.... Guess we always have to agree with Bush no matter what huh.
*small voice so no one throws stuff at me*
You know Democrats can be right every now and then...
...and *gulp* Republicans wrong..
*/small voice*
I swear this is Pat Buchanan's revenge. He helped create a bunch of nationalists who seek to paint all ME countries with one big brush...damn the consequences. EVERY person on FR who opposes this Dubai deal is also in favor on constructing a bigass wall along the mexican border. It's no surprise. And they wonder why they're able to paint Republican's with the hillbilly brush....
Rush is wrong...I was watching, he shook King's hand..
Oh good!
Time for Bush to start smacking some people around.
That was a good start!
It does not PAY to lie, Peter.
Harry Reid rushing out to demand an up or down vote says it all, doesn't it?
That must have been a "mini-King" Robot I saw the President shake hands with...
A: An ally.
Allows terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda to flourish on its soil?...
what are you tbabbling about? The Americans gave the 9-11 terrorists 19 visas.
The Americans gave the 9-11 terrorists 19+ driver's licenses?
The Americans gave the 9-11 terrorists all their flight training.
The Americans gave the 9-11 terrorists unrestricted use of our banking system. The Americans gave the 9-11 terrorists a transit point at JFK airport. The Americans gave the 9-11 terrorists boarding passes on 3 different planes.
It's preferable to the alternative, i.e. spending ourselves into oblivion, mortgaging our future to foreign governments, depreciating the U.S. dollar through reckless fiscal policy, enacting prohibitively expensive extensions of entitlement programs that are already teetering on the verge of insolvency, and allowing millions of illegal immigrants into our country, which will only exacerbate all of the aforementioned problems.
LOL....We have some real comedians out there
I never said it did. Otherwise I would be saying that I want to destroy him......because I disagree with him on several issues.
I'm talking about the people who actually DO want to destroy him. And there are plenty of them on this forum who would gladly join forces with Harry Reid to accomplish the task.
When it appears that a president makes a big misstep there will always be those who try to capitalize on it.
That should settle it for any idiot who still thinks that this is a good deal.
1600 Pennsylvania ave, do you hear this?
Listening to the news on Fox, (haven't done that in quiet sometime)I love hearing the UAE are going to transfer to an American intity. I could hear it on a loop.
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