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Let’s get this straight. The White House made a secret agreement with a foreign power with ties to terrorism, in exchange for okaying a financial deal and waiving other routine safety restrictions on the Dubai company.
What the hell? This is the White House — this is George Bush — selling out our security with a wink and a nod.
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Please, for the love of Allah, since you claim in every single post about this topic that the United Arab Emirates have “ties to terrorism”, please enlighten us and show us what they are.
I don’t have a problem with us dealing with the UAE business-wise, but this is not the sort of nation that should have access to our ports.
>> Bin Laden was meeting with the UAE royal family
>> The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
>> The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Lybia.
>> According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.
>>After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden s bank accounts.
Again, the UAE may be nicely qualified for many other transactions, but just as you wouldn’t hire an ex-con to be a prison guard, they’re not the right people to be managing a dang thing around our ports. (they met with Bin Laden in Afghanistan)
Actually, if you read the links that you provided, they say that they were in neighboring camps. And, that was from 1999. But, nonetheless, it appears you will fall into the camp that Middle Easterns are terrorists.
You have yet to show how our security will be affected by this. The US Coast Guard’s role will remain unchanged. The US Customs service role will remain unchanged. The local control of the security operations will remain unchanged. Unless you are trying to say that the sale of a British company to a company from the UAE will somehow make them no longer do their jobs.
I cannot believe it, but semanticleo seems to be one of the few rational ones around here when it comes to this issue.
Suddenly we’re worried about Arabs, Oliver? It is to laugh.
Too bad all you hae is innuendo. Works real well when slamming Bush, but it won’t cut the mustard in the grown – up world of geopolitics and international finance.
The UAE wants to take over a company — a British company that was already running the ports. They don’t want to move next door to you, and drive down property values.
I’m not worried about Arabs, I’m worried about a nation that has shown that it is not exactly at the ready vs. Al Qaeda. They could be green for all I care, this deal is no good.
Bushwacked : Where did I bring up racism ? What race are Islamo-fascist terrorists ?
Go back to thinkprogress and get some new talking points. Oliver has already used yours here.
Oliver, you’re wasting your time. All this racism stuff is a bunch of horseshit by Frank and JD and your’e being sucked in by it. These guys are just messing with you because they cannot legitimately argue that any foreign country for that matter should have that much power in controlling our seaports. I guarantee you that, if a democrat was in office instead of Bush, they’d be screaming about how how terrible this is and how our security is threatened by it.
JD and Frank miss the point as usual. As Oliver points out, this was a “secret agreement.” C’mon. Not even Dog-on-Frist thinks this passes the smell test, and hence we can conclude that y’all are merely being disagreeable for the sake of pissing liberals off. But you can’t piss off a true liberal. We love you all, no matter how much you hate America.
This speaks for itself:
Frank to Oliver, this post:
“Suddenly we re worried about Arabs, Oliver? It is to laugh.
The UAE wants to take over a company a British company that was already running the ports. They don t want to move next door to you, and drive down property values.”
Sounds like an accusation of racism to me.
Furthermore, Apparently the Bush Administration had a (another) secret deal with the UAE that they would cooperate on future investigations. But if you read further, it doesnt’ sound like the same agreement as as Chertoff claimed on MTP, Sunday:
We don t take a risk. What we do is we require a very careful review we have the FBI involved, we have the Department of Defense involved of what the challenges are. We have, in fact, dealt with this port before because we deal with it overseas as part of our comprehensive global security network, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10704051/
WASHINGTON – The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future U.S. investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. It chose not to impose other, routine restrictions.
As part of the $6.8 billion purchase, state-owned Dubai Ports World agreed to reveal records on demand about “foreign operational direction” of its business at U.S. ports, the documents said. Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.
“The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders”.
“It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests.”
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060223/ap_on_go_pr_wh/ports_security
It could be a little difficult to monitor them with this arrangement. I still don’t like this deal the more I find out about it. But it seems that the Bush Administration is determined to fight both Congress and the American people to keep it that way.
Bushwacked : You quoted another person as an example of me bringing up racism. I guess in the moonbat world, that makes perfect sense.
These do not sound like cloak and dagger “super-secret” deals …
A couple of quotes from the article that you apparently missed …
“They’re not lax but they’re not draconian,” said James Lewis, a former U.S. official who worked on such agreements. If White House officials negotiating the deal had predicted the firestorm of criticism over it, “they might have made them sound harder.”
“The conditions over the sale of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. were detailed in U.S. documents marked “confidential.” Such records are regularly guarded as trade secrets, and it is highly unusual for them to be made public.”
Wow.
Take off the tinfoil hats. Put down the Kool Aid and breath a few times into a paper bag. There
Now your BIG BAD SECRET DEAL mega-Bushaburton McChimpie conspiracy is actually a standard clause in many contracts like this.
Count Dugger, Woooo kids. Dangerous Ay-rabs managing select port operations! That scares me. Woooooo.
Let me get this straight:
We go to war with a country that DID NOT have 9/11 ties, but we turn over one the most vulernable points of entry on our home soil to a foreign power that DOES have confirmed 9/11 ties?
JK
Even the washington times is calling the UAE a Bin Laden ally.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060223-123441-8908r.htm
Here’s a very level comment (from a blog) on this issue. The major source is Time Magazine.
http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/2006/02/23/the-uae-port-deal-i-support-it/
I don’t think any of the criticism of THE DEAL has to do with the nuts and
bolts of Maritime commerce, or the danger posed by the UAW managing
ports. It’s about the punch-and-judy show that runs this country.
Idiots, morons and incompetents so profligate that the few who have
talent and intelligence, get lost in the mayhem of ineptitude.
Then there are the excuse makers…………….’nuff said.
So, Cleo, you’re sort of relying on your previous opinion of the Bush adminitration to make a judgement about this next move — sort of pre – judging it, eh?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice
Bush and anyone who defends him is plain wrong on this one.
Who’s to say that some mid-level office jockey in Dubai won’t get a peek at some of our port security lapses and pass ‘em on to his jihadi buddies in Ohio or Iran? I don’t think any Arab country or company should be involved, in any shape or form, in running any port. If that’s racist, so be it.
Rush Limbaugh, so much as endorsed this deal on his radio show today. I guess that makes everything fine. According to some people here, the left (anyone who disagrees with Bush) only tries to make political points so any of their concerns are to be ignored. Having said that, I certainly hope that the other side is right if Bush prevails on this deal. This is one time I would prefer to be wrong.
Randy,
Think about it.
“Who s to say that some mid-level office jockey in Dubai won t get a peek at some of our port security lapses and pass em on to his jihadi buddies in Ohio or Iran?”
Or some office jockey in Britain or Baltimore or Sheboygan. Are you aware that we have sold modern, high tech F-16 fighters to the UAE. Those fighters have classified gear aboard. That was a previous Admin.
How about this little item:
“Following several years of reconciliation efforts, Iran and the United Arab Emirates are again embroiled in military tensions. The UAE navy has captured an Iranian fishing boat used by Teheran intelligence operatives to spy on U.S. military installations in the emirates. Arab intelligence sources said Iran has been monitoring U.S. naval and other military assets in Gulf Cooperation Council states amid fears of an American attack on Iranian nuclear installations. ”
Hm, yet becasue of their ethnicity ypou would deny them the opportunity to enacta fairly bid and won contratc that had previously been won and performed by another foreign firm.
BW,
Still a large % of the pro-Bush right disagrees with Bush on this (Hannity for example). It is to Rush’s credit that he is thinking clearly and they are not.
Dugger
Frank;
I’m not sure sure what you’re talking about. I have seen enough of how
this Admin operates to make speculation less of an art and more of a
science. There is ample proof of idiocy and incompetence to assume
this is more of the same. If you want to call it prejudice, sobeit.
I’m now leaning to 70% against this deal after this little tidbit thanks to
digby;
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/022206.html
Amen, Cleo.