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Out of the Loop

By TChris, Section Other Politics
Posted on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 08:28:48 AM EST
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by TChris

This shouldn't be surprising, given the president's refusal to pick up a newspaper:

President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday. ...

While Bush has adamantly defended the deal, the White House acknowledged that he did not know about it until recently. "He became aware of it over the last several days," McClellan said.

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    Out of the Loop | 28 comments (28 topical)
    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 09:12:53 AM EST
    I guess Bushbag got himself shot by his own administration. Will he apologize for putting his own ass in the line of fire?

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 11:00:59 AM EST
    I am reminded by the Rumsfeld riff about the things we know that we don't know and the things we don't know that we don't know......

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#3)
    by kdog on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 12:27:55 PM EST
    That just says it all about this administration.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#4)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 12:45:26 PM EST
    If DHS does their job, then it shouldn't matter what company manages the ports. If you want a US company to do it because you want to support the US economy, fine. But to assume that The Dubai Port Co. will allow some nut with a nuke in because they are from the Middle East is bigoted. It must be remembered that the VAST, VAST majority of arabs, or muslims do not support terrorism. Unfortunately, Bushco has done just about everything they can to reverse that demographic. Shutting the Dubai Port Co. out will only fuel that anti american sentiment. Again, if DHS does their job, it shouldn't matter.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 01:33:11 PM EST
    Che It certainly does matter. This has do do more with the President and his priorities. He has sold this idea he is willing to sacrifice our freedoms circumvent the constitution all in the name of protecting us. We should not I repeat, Not be outsourcing the operation of our ports to any foriegn country knowing that Terrorists are actively trying to infiltrate Wmds into this country! If he will throw you in jail without a warrant than he should not throw our ports into the arms of foriegn countries.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#6)
    by kdog on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 01:42:44 PM EST
    In the president's defense (did I just say that?), our port operations are already outsourced, and he is correct in his assertion that allowing the British to do it, and not the UAE, is simple bigotry. Where we differ is I don't want port operations outsourced to begin with. Is there nothing we can do for ourselves anymore?

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#7)
    by desertswine on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 02:35:54 PM EST
    At any rate, it's got to be an unmitigated PR disaster.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#8)
    by Che's Lounge on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 02:47:06 PM EST
    If Bushco was unaware, yes, now THAT is stupid. But my point is not about Bush. It's about the commerce system and DHS. They should have known about it and prepared some sort of way to introduce the decision. But they are not capable of that. That Bush was unaware is no surprise to me. If we are going to spend a cajillion bucks on DHS, then THEY better know what's happening. That is where our vulnerability lies. Chertoff and his gang, put in place by Bushco.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#9)
    by Sailor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 03:26:56 PM EST
    Hey guys, do you know the UAE is not a country, it is an amalgam of emirates? Their legal system is:
    federal court system introduced in 1971; applies to all emirates except Dubayy (Dubai) and Ra's al Khaymah, which are not fully integrated into the federal judicial system; all emirates have secular courts to adjudicate criminal, civil, and commercial matters and Islamic courts to review family and religious disputes
    Their gov't is:
    unicameral Federal National Council (FNC) or Majlis al-Ittihad al-Watani (40 seats; members appointed by the rulers of the constituent states to serve two-year terms) elections: President Khalifa in December 2005 announced that indirect elections would be held in early 2006 for half of the seats in the FNC; the other half would be filled by appointment
    Why would we let folks who don't have a democracy in one of the most security sensitive areas of our democracy? Imagine if 9/11 was tankers in harbors rather than airplanes?

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#10)
    by jimcee on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 04:57:17 PM EST
    Sailor, UAE is a federal system and its separate states have different laws determined by the 'states'. The 'unicameral' bit is similar to Nebraska. Before the early 20th century US senators were chosen by the state's legislatures and not popularly elected. G. Britain has its House of Lords and Canada has a similar set up. Che and kdog, I have to agree with you both. Geez what are the odds of that? Desertswine, Yes it is and how could Bush be so out of the loop? Could the State Dep't have anything to do with this as they seem to be really unhappy to have Ms Rice as thier leader? Either way it is bad PR, Bush appears out of the loop, careless, unprepared and clueless. Nothing like handing your opponents some free amunition no matter how bad they may squander it.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#11)
    by scarshapedstar on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 07:03:10 PM EST
    Wow, the "I'm Retarded" defense again. Who ever saw that coming? Oh well, it's good enough for Republicans...

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#12)
    by Sailor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 08:50:28 PM EST
    I can't believe that some actually maintain a that a bunch of warlords appointing their minions amounts to a democracy. And says the US had the same system! No wonder rethugs are so happy with the way our country is headed.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#13)
    by squeaky on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 10:03:59 PM EST
    It is too close to home for the chimp to have 'been aware" of the Dubai deal. Looks much better if he 'didn't notice it' at first and then threw a veto fit later after he heard about it on fox. These guys are his family's long time busness partners.
    The Central Intelligence Agency did not target Al Qaeda chief Osama bin laden once as he had the royal family of the United Arab Emirates with him in Afghanistan, the agency's director, George Tenet, told the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States on Thursday. Had the CIA targeted bin Laden, half the royal family would have been wiped out as well, he said.
    link

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#14)
    by desertswine on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 08:29:09 AM EST
    Georgie Boy...
    This deal wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security for the United States of America.
    Talk about being "out of it."

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#15)
    by Slado on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 09:52:29 AM EST
    I'm confused by the timeline of this. What brought all this to the front page? Didn't this deal happen a few months ago. I buy into the suspiscion taht this is really a labor thing and the unions are using this kerfuffal to push their agend...hence Schumer and big Dems getting involved. The big picture is how can we afford to let ME countries know that we do not appreciate their buisness and we consider all states in that region terrorists? We can't ask to use their airspace, ask for them to pursue terrorist, extradict them etc... All the things we need to do to win the war blah, blah, balh and then when they have a chance to partake in the global economy we say oh, no your money is no good.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#16)
    by Slado on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 10:01:22 AM EST
    I wrote in the other thread on this half joking that liberls would be forced to embrace Haliburton etc...and that would be a sign that the apocalypse was upon us. Well.... Sen Schumer embraces Haliburton Will Dick Cheney make money off this deal?

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 12:25:57 PM EST
    Read Howard Bloom and ask if you really have a government? bush is your real enemy and is running Bin Laden like a game and you will be the enslaved at the end of this evil game. ask why the bush business is handing out billions to the laden companies to build u.s. miliary canters all over the world and here our non government is closing centers and opening forced labor camps.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#18)
    by Jlvngstn on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 12:37:25 PM EST
    Dubai World Ports is controlled by the royal family of the United Arab Emirates. Atrios notes this morning that former CIA director Tenet told the 9/11 commission that the United States did not target Bin Laden at a camp in Afghanistan in February 1999 because he was meeting with the UAE royal family. Here are some more details on the incident from the 9/11 commission. Here's Tenet's March 24, 2004 testimony: MR. TENET:...The third complicating factor here is, you might have wiped out half the royal family in the UAE in the process, which I'm su! re entered into everybody's calculation in all this. More details from the 9/11 Staff Report: On February 8, the military began to ready itself for a possible strike. The next day, national technical intelligence confirmed the location and description of the larger camp and showed the nearby presence of an official aircraft of the United Arab Emirates. But the location of Bin Ladin's quarters could not be pinned down so precisely...According to reporting from the tribals, Bin Ladin regularly went from his adjacent camp to the larger camp where he visited the Emiratis; the tribals expected him to be at the hunting camp for such a visit at least until midmorning on February 11...No strike was launched. By February 12 Bin Ladin had apparently moved on, and the immediate strike plans became moot. According to CIA and Defense official! s, policymakers were concerned about the danger that a strike would kill an Emirati prince or other senior officials who might be with Bin Ladin or close by. Former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke expressed concern about the UAE royal family's relationship with Bin Laden: On March 7, 1999, Clarke called a UAE official to express his concerns about possible associations between Emirati officials and Bin Ladin...The United Arab Emirates was becoming both a valued counterterrorism ally of the United States and a persistent counterterrorism problem... This information only underscores why the administration should have fully investigated the sale, as required by law, before approving it. c/o Atrios

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#19)
    by Jlvngstn on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 12:38:51 PM EST
    Attack a nation with no terrorist ties or ties to 9-11 and give access to the ports to one suspected of being friendly with the mastermind. Makes perfect sense to me.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#20)
    by Sailor on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 01:48:04 PM EST
    At a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday, Sen. Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat, asked Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt if he was aware of the 9-11 commission's assertion that the United Arab Emirates represents "a persistent counterterrorism problem"for the United States. Kimmitt replied that administration figures involved in the decision to approve the deal "looked very carefully" at information from the intelligence community. "Any time a foreign-government controlled company comes in," Kimmitt said, "the intelligence assessment is of both the country and the company." "Just raise your hand if anybody talked to the 9-11 commission," Levin told the administration representatives at the witness table. Nobody raised a hand.
    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#21)
    by Sailor on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 01:51:28 PM EST
    slado. got a link to an actual news site?

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 02:00:42 PM EST
    Now can we impeach him?

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#23)
    by jondee on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 02:21:58 PM EST
    This a hanging curve out over the middle of the plate and if "the left" dosnt hit it into the parking lot, we'll know for sure that all we have is a bunch of republicrats on our hands. This p.r meltdown is the administration hanging itself on its own petard with its base; after all, these A-rabs are BAD n' theyre MOOSLIMS!

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#24)
    by desertswine on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 02:36:06 PM EST
    Uh-oh, the Carlyle connection;
    CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The oil-rich United Arab Emirates is a major investor in The Carlyle Group, the private equity investment firm where President Bush's father once served as senior adviser and is a who's who of former high-level government officials. Just last year, Dubai International Capital, a government-backed buyout firm, invested in an $8 billion Carlyle fund. Another family connection, the president's brother, Neil Bush, has reportedly received funding for his educational software company from the UAE investors. A call to his company was not returned. Then there is the cabinet connection. Treasury Secretary John Snow was chairman of railroad company CSX/. After he left the company for the White House, CSX sold its international port operations to Dubai Ports World for more than a billion dollars. In Connecticut today, Snow told reporters he had no knowledge of that CSX sale. "I learned of this transaction probably the same way members of the Senate did, by reading about it in the newspapers." Another administration connection, President Bush chose a Dubai Ports World executive to head the U.S. Maritime Administration. David Sanborn, the former director of Dubai Ports' European and Latin American operations, he was tapped just last month to lead the agency that oversees U.S. port operations.
    from the Lou Dobbs transcript

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#25)
    by jondee on Thu Feb 23, 2006 at 03:54:59 PM EST
    Take a bunch of sociopaths marinated in supply side (my) greed-is-good philosophy, enabled by like minded sycophants and a compliant media greased with tax breaks and deregulation,and this is one of the results. Wingnuts, when youre looking for someone to blame for this, look in the mirror first.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#26)
    by Slado on Fri Feb 24, 2006 at 09:06:19 AM EST
    The left has lost their mind on this issue. How can we now all the sudden determine that only the US should work or operate our ports? No pun intended but that ship sailed 50years ago. If we passed such laws it would either result in the immediate stop of all commerce or it would take years to turn it all over and would probably cost us tons of money. And for what? Listen to NPR and you'll get the real story. Radio Times had an excellent program talking "reality". If you actually talk to people who work in the industry they can't beleive what all the fuss is about. I'd link it but I can't at work. This whole issue is insane. Now we hear the president will allow a "delay" and the deal will go through anyway and the democrats will be happy that they got their week of grandstanding only to let the inevitable happen. How typical.

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#27)
    by Slado on Fri Feb 24, 2006 at 09:11:47 AM EST
    Here's the show. Somehow I bypassed the internet security. Radio Times Mary Moss tries to get this guy to say anything bad about the deal and he constantly brings the issue back to reality. Lots of info on how this stuff works, etc.... Thursday show hour 1

    Re: Out of the Loop (none / 0) (#28)
    by kdog on Fri Feb 24, 2006 at 09:36:55 AM EST
    You're right Slado..nothing to see here. I think we should have foreign companies operate all our power plants, gas refineries, and hospitals as well. It's good business.

    Out of the Loop | 28 comments (28 topical)