UAE in charge of our major ports now....

mussa · February 17, 2006, 11:02:47 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,184599,00.html#top

this just sounds shady and smells like a dirty corporate move. i don't like the idea at all. i don't care if americans are doing the work. great move bush

Diomedes · February 17, 2006, 11:34:53 AM

Par for the U.S. foreign policy course. And when a container blows up, Bush will bomb some civilians in retribution. Awesome!!

Sgt PSN · February 17, 2006, 11:35:26 AM

QuoteA company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving a country with ties to the Sept. 11 hijackers with influence over a maritime industry considered vulnerable to terrorism.

Brilliant!

PhillyPhanInDC · February 17, 2006, 02:37:32 PM

Quote
Democrats plan bill to block Dubai port deal
Fri Feb 17, 2006 12:43 PM ET

By Jeremy Pelofsky

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.

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.

"I will be working with Senator Menendez to introduce legislation that will prohibit the sale of ports to foreign governments," Clinton said in a statement.

In Dubai, a Dubai Ports spokesman said the company had no comment at this time.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a U.S. inter-agency panel that reviews security implications of foreign takeovers of strategic assets, already reviewed the transaction and did not object.

Despite that review, some Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress urged the Bush administration to conduct a more rigorous review. They expressed fears that the UAE was used as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by financiers with possible links to terrorist organizations.

U.S. officials have said the UAE has been a solid and cooperative partner in the fight against terrorism, and have praised the UAE for steps to protect its booming financial sector against abuse by terrorism financiers.

Money for the September 11 attacks was wired through the UAE's banking system, according to U.S. officials. Two of the September 11 hijackers were UAE citizens.

U.S. seaports handle 2 billion tons of freight each year, but only about 5 percent of containers entering the United States are examined on arrival.

Similar concerns were raised when a China state-controlled oil company tried to acquire the U.S. oil company Unocal. After pressure from U.S. lawmakers, the foreign company eventually dropped its bid.

(Additional reporting by Caroline Drees in Washington and Dayan Candappa in Dubai)

Diomedes · February 17, 2006, 02:38:47 PM

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict that the Democrats will fail.

Phanatic · February 17, 2006, 02:48:14 PM

Depends on how much money the UAE can get to the GOP.

rjs246 · February 17, 2006, 02:52:11 PM

QuoteI'm gonna go out on a limb here and predict that the Democrats will fail.

That certainly has been their M.O. recently. Failure, that is.

SD_Eagle5 · February 17, 2006, 03:02:50 PM

Hmmm...my old ship is pulling in there as we speak. Wonder if there's a connection.

Tomahawk · February 18, 2006, 01:15:12 PM

The chic that made me go see Memoirs of a Geisha is from the United Arab Emirates and she is ridiculously hot so I think this is a good move.

Diomedes · February 18, 2006, 03:07:44 PM

Quote from: Tomahawk on February 18, 2006, 01:15:12 PM
The chic that made me go see Memoirs of a Geisha is from the United Arab Emirates and she is ridiculously hot so I think this is a good move.

I haven't heard a better reason to support the plan.

PhillyPhanInDC · February 18, 2006, 03:08:06 PM

Quote from: Tomahawk on February 18, 2006, 01:15:12 PM
The chic that made me go see Memoirs of a Geisha is from the United Arab Emirates and she is ridiculously hot so I think this is a good move.

Middle Eastern women are the hotness.

MURP · February 21, 2006, 11:36:15 AM

GOP Governors Threaten to Block Port Deal

PhillyPhanInDC · February 21, 2006, 04:00:34 PM

QuoteBush: Dubai port deal should go for forward
Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:50 PM ET

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that a deal for a state-owned Dubai company to manage major U.S. ports should go forward and will not jeopardize U.S. security.

Bush told reporters traveling back to Washington with him from Colorado that he would veto legislation to stop the deal from going through.

"After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush said. He added that if the U.S. Congress passed a law to stop the deal, "I'll deal with it with a veto."

Phanatic · February 21, 2006, 04:02:13 PM

Someone's going to become a lame duck over this fight...

Rome · February 21, 2006, 04:08:18 PM

Quote from: Phanatic on February 21, 2006, 04:02:13 PM
Someone's going to become a lame duck over this fight...

UAE in charge of our major ports now....

SD_Eagle5