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Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 03:44:47 AM EST
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There's something strange, to say the least, about the Bush Administration's plan to sell off control of our ports to a Dubai company.

Why are Bush and Chertoff pushing this? [Update: See the ties to the Administration, particularly John Snow]

Think Progress has more.

Update (by TChris): Whatever virtues the private market might otherwise have, John Nichols asks whether the private control of ports, "essential pieces of the infrastructure of the United States," makes sense in a security-conscious era. (via Matthew Yglesias at Tapped)

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    • Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company | 38 comments (38 topical)
    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#1)
    by aw on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 06:15:00 AM EST
    Who stands to benefit from this? Somebody stands to gain huuuugely from this or it wouldn't be happening. Blinded by greed, those who approved this have overreached this time, as even the densest citizens realize they are being sold out. I'd truly love to know what those who voted for Bush because he was the ONLY one who could keep us safe think now.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 06:24:27 AM EST
    aw, I prodded them with what was nearly the same point in the "President Flip-Flops as Dissent Grows". They had nothing to say there, and you know, I doubt they'll have any answer for you here either. When slapped in the face with the consequences of their actions, rather than be accountable and take responsibility, they just scurry for the shadows and hide like rats do when the lights are turned on them. Cowards.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#3)
    by scarshapedstar on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 06:55:18 AM EST
    Quick, PPJ, give us the official talking point before things get out of hand.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#4)
    by desertswine on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 08:20:45 AM EST
    Do I detect the odoriferous stench of the Carlyle Group here? I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised and it will be interesting to find out.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#5)
    by Slado on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 08:30:54 AM EST
    Wasn't the port previously owned by a British company? If so then are we saying on the pure basis of PROFILING that Middle Eastern countries cannot be trusted as much as Western conuntries? That being said I would prefer an American company operate our ports but if nobody wants to take on the financial risk then who should? The government? This is a politicaly easy decision and I suspect Bush will put the cabbash on this even though economicaly it doesn't make any sense.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#6)
    by Che's Lounge on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 08:42:44 AM EST
    What's the alternative? DHS? NOW I'm concerned. WASF (We Are So F***ed)

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#7)
    by aw on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 09:01:28 AM EST
    Desert: Carlyle was the first one that popped into my head, too.
    If so then are we saying on the pure basis of PROFILING that Middle Eastern countries cannot be trusted as much as Western conuntries?
    Well, Slado, is it merely profiling when there is evidence that UAE has terrorist connections?
    if nobody wants to take on the financial risk
    Where to begin? First, if there is such a financial risk, why do they want it? On the other hand, if somebody is going to make a killing, I guess they don't care about the risks, kind of like the war in Iraq. We'll still be here, paying, long after Bush and his cronies have looted the treasury. Also, are you saying that the risks to us, the little people who pay the bills, are subordinate to the (probably nonexistent) financial risks of the UAE? If there's an attack on Port Newark and and people are killed and commerce comes to a halt across the country, it's no big deal for us. No risks there.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#8)
    by Jlvngstn on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 09:25:26 AM EST
    Jimmy Carter has said that he finds nothing wrong with this situation, so why should Bush? It sounds as if it makes us more vulnerable but truth be told, we are checking 5% of the incoming, we are going to get hit through the port system, no matter who is "policing" it. Some of that trillion we spent in Iraq might have gone a long way in upgrading the ports. Not a question of if, but when.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#9)
    by Slado on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 11:38:50 AM EST
    Here are reasonable arguments for/against the deal... NRO aw - bravo in some how tying Iraq and this deal together.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#10)
    by Slado on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 11:44:11 AM EST
    Heres the company website and their mission statement. I looked but I didn't see any terror stuff in it. DP World

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#11)
    by kdog on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 12:19:03 PM EST
    Yeah...we are screwed Che. That being said, I'd rather get screwed by an American company. At least then their might be a shred of allegiance to this country.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 12:50:39 PM EST
    The question you gotta ask is the same one that underlies every contract this administration hands out: Exactly what where the particulars of the Republican palm-greasing that preceded it?

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#13)
    by Slado on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 01:02:49 PM EST
    "Bush to Veto bill that would stop Port Deal" Apparently I "misunderstimated" the president on this one. Jesur...I'm only joking. Just showing they have ports in other countries including Germany. slado reports...you decide.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#14)
    by Sailor on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 02:03:55 PM EST
    - 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.
    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#15)
    by Jlvngstn on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 02:18:43 PM EST
    what would the right be saying if Clinton had anything to do with this? LOL - There would be screams of "lefty" cowardice etc. There does seem to me to be a severe lack of response from the righties on this site as usual. Rush must have glossed over it this morning.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#16)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 02:42:22 PM EST
    Foreign control of ports is already a fact - what's happening here is that a British company is being bought out - so if the issue is Non-American control, we crossed that rubicon a long while back. This deal is bad politics at the very least - Democrats will have a legitimate complaint against the administration on this one, IMHO. You could have tuned into the Hannity show this afternoon to hear the talking points. I'm not at all convinced that this is a good idea - IMHO, the UAE had too many 9/11 monetary ties to deserve this deal. On the other hand, I know less than nothing about how many companies exist that do this business. One thing is for sure - this demonstrates that right wing blogs are not simply shills for the administration. I think you'll find that LGF is in the same place as Kos on this one. Which illustrates how large a problem this is for the administration.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#17)
    by Jlvngstn on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 02:47:33 PM EST
    It was Great Britain and the US as the principal proponents for the war in Iraq, correct? Our relationship is different with GB and has been different for decades, correct? My guess is, even if the UAE were to take control and heaven forbid a disaster were to happen on US soil, we would find it in our hearts to bomb the country not from where the terrorists were financed or from, but the sorry sap that had the balls to piss off some presidents pop.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#18)
    by aw on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 03:27:21 PM EST
    I saw some bozo spokesperson on CNN saying everythings been carefully checked out, trust us, blah, blah. Then he says in effect, "this deal is all about security." Sounds like a new talking point: Only the Arabs can keep us safe.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#19)
    by jimakaPPJ on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 03:41:03 PM EST
    et al - I called my congress people yesterday. You??????

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#20)
    by scarshapedstar on Tue Feb 21, 2006 at 05:37:09 PM EST
    What'd ya tell them, Jim? That you support the President in a time of war?

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#21)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 02:33:24 AM EST
    I don't see how this kind of deal could be avoided in a society that so openly worships the free market and almost unfettered takeovers and buyouts etc. Id certainly listen to anyone who proposed making exceptions for things like ports, airports, ENERGY, etc.. but it seems like we're way passed that discussion.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#22)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 06:17:59 AM EST
    Gee scar, what did you tell your congress people? Oh, you didn't call? No surprise there.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#23)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 06:32:08 AM EST
    Bicyclemark - No, we're not. In a real world, rather than a theoretical one, you can return to a discussion point at anytime. The largest difference is that the purchaser is a government. Governments change and have no real profit motive. Instead they are politically driven. Their citizens are Moslem, and as such can be influenced by the radical Moslems. Jlvngstn wrote:
    Jimmy Carter has said that he finds nothing wrong with this situation, so why should Bush?
    Actually I wasn't concerned until I knew that. ;-)

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#24)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 06:32:08 AM EST
    Bicyclemark - No, we're not. In a real world, rather than a theoretical one, you can return to a discussion point at anytime. The largest difference is that the purchaser is a government. Governments change and have no real profit motive. Instead they are politically driven. Their citizens are Moslem, and as such can be influenced by the radical Moslems. Jlvngstn wrote:
    Jimmy Carter has said that he finds nothing wrong with this situation, so why should Bush?
    Actually I wasn't concerned until I knew that. ;-)

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#25)
    by kdog on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 06:45:15 AM EST
    Bush don't care...he can't run again. Republican legislators up for re-election in 2006 care, and they are passing a brick right now. Free market exceptions should be made for health care, energy, and port security. These things are too important to be left up to "profit only" considerations. There...I said it.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#26)
    by Slado on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 06:47:04 AM EST
    Some more facts from a good NPR story this morning... The port in Newark that is one of the proposed ports is actually co-owned by the states of NY/NJ. The Dubai company would own the company that physically unloads the ships in (2) of the (8) terminals. Of the other (6) terminals, (2) are owned by the Chinese, (2) by Americans and get this (2) by Danish companies. So said port will not be "owned" by the UAE only 1/4 of it will have part of its operations run by a company that is held by a UAE company. So basically all the hullabaloo is that a UAE company shouldn't be allowed to work in the US but the Chinese and Danes (who offend Muslims) can.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#27)
    by Slado on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 07:07:31 AM EST
    Here's a good article from BSun about how ports actually operate. B Sun The more that I read about this the more I think this is political grandstanding and while it smells bad it's nothing we should be concerned about. This outrage is long on feelings and short on facts.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#28)
    by aw on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 08:51:31 AM EST
    I don't know about you, Slado, but I live in NJ and I'm pretty squeamish about being surrounded left and right by ports controlled by an arab government-owned company. I think most of my fellow Jerseyans feel the same way. Reassurances by this screwup government just aren't going to work. Never.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#29)
    by squeaky on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 09:27:38 AM EST
    It always amazes me ow the Bush apologists keep going like the eveready bunny, even after Bush changes direction. Guess they do not keep up with the news much like their master. I wonder how many of these creeps are getting paid to keep the lies churning.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 10:59:56 AM EST
    et al - Well, now that we have agreement on those bad Moslems, I guess it is time for a bi-partisan group to pass a law that says all ME males betweeen 17 and 40 be screened before they can get on an airplane. You know, I would have thought I would never see Schumer, Hillary, Kennedy, Boxer join me on this. LOL and hahahaha I would be against ythis no matter what, but you gotta admit the Demos are making hypocritical look very good.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#31)
    by Slado on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 11:07:17 AM EST
    NJ resident. Does it bother you that the Chinese run part of the port now? If not are you basically saying you don't care who works at the port as long as they're not Arab? In reality no Arabs that weren't already working at the port will work there now. The only thing that changes is who writes the check. I've yet to hear an opponent of this list what exactly they think will happen. Why would terrorists spend 8billion dollars to aquire a means that they don't need to inflict harm on us? Somebody explain their position other then standard non thinking...squeaky style...Bush hatred.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#32)
    by aw on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 11:49:19 AM EST
    Does it bother you that the Chinese run part of the port now?
    If that's true, yes it does. The Japanese and Chinese practically own us as it is. If we keep up the borrowing and spending, we are going end up crawling on our knees for debt forgiveness from the Chinese. What do you think their terms are going to be like?
    If not are you basically saying you don't care who works at the port as long as they're not Arab? In reality no Arabs that weren't already working at the port will work there now. The only thing that changes is who writes the check.
    I said yes to the first question, so I wasn't basically saying anything of the sort. Don't try to compare dock workers with the owners, especially when they are the royal family of UAE.
    I've yet to hear an opponent of this list what exactly they think will happen. Why would terrorists spend 8billion dollars to aquire a means that they don't need to inflict harm on us?
    We don't have to; all we have to do is look at what's already happened. As far as I'm concerned the UAE has failed their background check.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#33)
    by kdog on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 12:51:06 PM EST
    I'm glad this has all come to light. I had no idea port operations, including security, was in the hands of a British company now. That bothers me. The DHS may be bumbling mess, but at least they are somewhat accountable to the American people. What accountability and/or responsibility do the British, Chinese, and UAE companies have to the American people? Freedom before safety...Safety before profit.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#34)
    by jondee on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 01:48:56 PM EST
    "Long on feelings, short on facts.?" Kinda like one of those terror, terrorism, terrorist, terroristic, freedom, freedoms, liberty and freedom speeches or one of those marvelous homosexual assault on the sanctity of marriage speeches. If this isnt proof positive - even if just for its p.r implications - that you wingnuts have spent the last few years belly crawling for mercenary morons I dont know what is.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#35)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 02:36:03 PM EST
    Someone made a comment about no one who voted for Bush would comment, where are they, etc. Here I am. I want to say my attitude has changed about both sides of the spectrum, left and right. I was really surprised (OK, Livid) when I heard this decision. However, not nearly as surprised when the only one that spoke up was an ultra liberal from NY. Shumer I think. Most Evangelical Christians are in fact VERY disappointed (whether they admit it or not) and feel we were sold a bill of goods and got maybe 1/2 what we had hoped for. I am really starting to think this whole thing is a big Facade to create hegelian dialectic just like the conspiracy theorists say. Some Christian talk show hosts I listen to have even gone so far to question whether or not Bush is really a Christian. Of course this would not be the stereo type Republic that basically lives to be Rush clone. The only reason I bring this up is because it was the whole premise by which most of us voted for him. The other reason was, "Well, I wouldn't vote for the other guy if my life depended on it, so I will vote for him, I guess." One thing no one has mentioned is that Muslims don't have to be Arabs. There are plenty of white European Muslims that would not trigger profiling and have a much better chance of infiltrating. The big question I have is; what kind of security clearance and background checks are done on the actual employees that have access. Anyway, I learned one thing, we are all just pawns in a much bigger worldwide plan. Bottom line is either is only appears to be a huge security blunder, or, it really is. American sovereignty and liberty have been being circumvented for some time now (Since FDR) and its nice to know there are some Liberals out there who aren't as brainwashed by the Liberal talking heads as some Republicans are by Rush. Ok, I now lay my head on the guillotine. Sincerely, Repent The End is Here

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#36)
    by Slado on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 03:05:57 PM EST
    I voted for Bush too...Suprise...and like Bush I am not in congress so I am not beholden to the overly dramatic political witchhunt that is this issue. Does anyone dare say the name of the American company that could do this job? Say it with me liberals....Haliburton. When I see Cliton saying she wants to put Haliburton in charge that's when I'll know the end is near.

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#37)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Wed Feb 22, 2006 at 04:02:06 PM EST
    Slado, In all fairness, the "Birdshot Debacle" was a witch hunt. 8-) I feel this something that should and is being brought up. However, I am a bit surprised that so many Granola Ayatollah's are put out by this decision when this is what many (myself included) conservatives thought you have been militantly fighting for all along. E.G., Globalization, demise of American sovereignty, becoming part of a socialist "global community", oh yeah, and being sympathetic to terrorists. Or is that only the really really left lefties? There have been much bigger threats going on than this. For example, anyone with any common sense can see (or should see) the U.S./Mexico border is a much bigger threat than this. Where have all of you been on that subject? Slado, What do I think could happen? I think even if there are NO terrorists working for this company now, it would be much easier for a terrorist to be put in place considering who owns this company. However, it would be nice for someone to do someone research to find facts, yes, I used the F word, to support the theory of ties by this company and the royal family, and present them here. Any researchers want to volunteer?

    Re: Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company (none / 0) (#38)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 26, 2006 at 10:22:54 AM EST
    I guess this thread is dead....heh...heh, I said a rhyme.

    Selling Control of Our Ports to Dubai Company | 38 comments (38 topical)