Ayoon Wa Azan (Bush's First Wise Position)
Jihad el Khazen Al-Hayat - 27/02/06//
Rarely has an issue produced a more hateful combination of ignorance, racism and lies than the deal by Dubai Ports to purchase a UK company operating ports in the US.
We've seen the story recently from the headlines: the Dubai company paid $6.8 billion to Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which runs port operations in New York and Newark, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans. However, the details have nothing to do with the headline, unless this is explained by ignorance, racism and lying for commercial reasons. The opponents of the deal couldn't say they rejected the company because it's Arab-owned; they all used security and the threat of terror instead, even though the only certainly true item in the entire affair is that the security of US ports is in the hands of the US government, and not any company involved in managing shipping and unloading cargo onto the piers.
Port security is the responsibility of the Coast Guard, with the assistance of local police and the Department of Homeland Security. Checking cargo is under the supervision of the Customs and Border Protection Authority.
I assume that some of the opponents are ignorant, for ignorance is always present more than other elements in human nature. However, I also assume that some Senate members know more than others, and despite this, Senator Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California, declared that all foreign companies should be banned from working at US ports, even though 13 out of 14 cargo firms at Los Angeles Port are foreign, from countries like China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.
Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said that "just as we would not outsource military operations or law enforcement duties, we should be very careful before we outsource such sensitive homeland security duties."
Once again, the issue not just any company, even if American; Schumer's comments deserve a second look. He has never objected seeing Israeli companies tasked with sensitive security tasks. For example, he did not object to placing Congress' telephone system in the hands of an Israeli company. In fact, no one objected to the fact that lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who's now facing various legal charges, convinced Congressman Bob Nye, the chairman of the House Administration Committee, to grant $3 million contract to a new Israeli company called Foxcom Wireless to set up antennas on the Capitol, to improve mobile phone coverage. This would make eavesdropping on congressmen's conversations easy for a third party, like Mossad.
Abramof is an Orthodox Jew and extremist Zionist who bought $140,000 worth of weapons for Israeli settlers. The court has set $2.2. million in bail for Abramov; it's said that the threat of him fleeing to Israel, like other swindlers in the past, was the reason for the high amount.
Meanwhile, Dubai Ports enjoys an international reputation in its field, managing ports from London to Okinawa. It has been a leader in joining initiatives to secure American containers, in which US customs agents are sent to supervise the security of cargo handling operations abroad. The head of the firm's Dubai operations is an American, Edward Bilkey. The Bush administration recently proposed David Sanborn, a former international director for Dubai Ports, for the post of Maritime Administrator. Perhaps we should add that the Dubai firm agreed to adhere to existing security levels in US ports, retain employees, and share information on operations and employee backgrounds with the US government. The Committee on Foreign Investment supported its ownership of the British company.
In other words, the reputation of Dubai Ports exceeds the level required and its commitments are complete ones. These two items are important especially in the issue of American ports; the US receives 2 billion tons of goods each year, and only 5 percent of them are inspected. The rest passes with no monitoring, based on the reputation of the shipping party.
Racists and Israelis, either out of ignorance or by design, could only say that Dubai supported al-Qaida, that two of the 11 September terrorists were from Dubai, that Dubai's banks fund terror, and that the UAE was one of 3 countries that recognized the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
Two terrorists out of 1 million people does not constitute a figure that you can build percentages on. Dubai's banks are the most active in the region; a few days ago the fine newspaper The Guardian described Dubai as the capital of the world. As for the Taliban, it should be completely understood, for the sake of historical accuracy, that the Taliban were the creation of Pakistani and British intelligence. These two parties presented the Taliban to Saudi Arabia, which recognized their regime, along with Pakistan and the UAE. The UAE would not have dealt with the Taliban without this US connection, since the UAE is a leading ally of the US in the Gulf, from long past and even regarding Iran's nuclear program. I wrote columns about the Taliban and their appearance, mentioning names and dates, based on a session I had with Prince Turki al-Faisal in Jeddah, when he was the head of Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence. No other party at the time denied the information.
I should add that one of the reasons for opposition is the position of port unions on the new firm, which has no unions. There is also commercial competition, since the firm Eller in Miami has filed suit to force a partnership with the Arab firm; it cited security concerns that have no existence, which a shipping firm should be aware of. The lying appears to be taking place for reasons having to do with competition.
Dubai Ports has announced it will complete its deal with the British firm next week, but will delay managing the US ports until this artificial crisis cools. President George Bush said that he would veto any legislation that would block the deal, in the first wise position he's taken in 5 years.
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