Friday, February 17, 2006

If Terrorist Funders Run Our Ports, Terrorists Win


Everyone in Congress should object to this:

WaPo: Some in Congress Object to Arab Port Operator
Company Based in United Arab Emirates Set to Manage 6 East Coast Facilities After Takeover


Fortunately, two US Senators -- Democrats, natch -- are filing legislation to stop this insanity:

Reuters: Democrats plan bill to block Dubai port deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. Democratic senators said on Friday they would introduce legislation aimed at blocking Dubai Ports World from buying a company that operates several U.S. shipping ports because of security concerns.

Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Hillary Clinton of New York said they would offer a measure to ban companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from acquiring U.S. port operations.

"We wouldn't turn the border patrol or the customs service over to a foreign government, and we can't afford to turn our ports over to one either," Menendez said in a statement. The Senate Banking Committee also plans to hold a hearing on the issue later this month.

P&O, the company Dubai Ports World plans to buy for $6.8 billion, is already foreign-owned, by the British, but the concern is that the purchaser is backed by the United Arab Emirates government.

The UAE company would gain control over the management of major U.S. ports in New York and New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami and that has sparked national security concerns among lawmakers.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wonderful.

Guilt by association.

Of course if you bother to familiarise yourself with the actual facts, you will find a private transaction between a UK firm and the UAE firm, foreign to foreign.

For what? Assets built with foreign capital, managed with foreign capital. But one merely has to add the scary word Arab to the mix, and all reason goes out the window.

Never mind DPW management is heavily Anglo. And DPW has Dubai, not UAE federal, backing.

Sad example of blind, irrational xenophobia.