\jeff{krimmel}

President Bush and Port Security

Now this one is a real head-scratcher. President Bush and the executive branch of the American government have approved a sale that would allow a United Arab Emirates-owned company to takeover operation at some of America’s biggest ports. This approval has come after a (secret) review of the terms of the sale by the government.

What is the United Arab Emirates (UAE)? A small, oil-rich country in the Middle East. Here is some more information from one of today’s Fox News stories,

The State Department calls the UAE an ally in the War on Terror, but critics note that the Arab nation had ties to the terrorists prior to Sept. 11, 2001, and one terrorist, Marwan al-Shehhi, was born in that country.

Opponents of the deal also argue that the FBI found that the UAE’s banking system filtered much of the money used for the operational planning before the Sept. 11 attacks, and many of the hijackers traveled to the United States through the UAE. On top of that, the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.

Why did I quote Fox News? Not because I enjoy reading it, that’s for damn sure. It’s way too politically biased (in the conservative direction) for my liking. However, I know that they’re going to be as friendly as a national news service can be to the President and his administration. Even though the Fox News story uses the “critics note…” and “opponents argue…” lines, what it’s saying is the truth.

The UAE was used as a travel hub for many of the terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks. The UAE effectively laundered money for these terrorists. The UAE has been involved in the proliferation of nuclear materials to rogue states. And now the UAE owns the company that is going to be running operations at America’s busiest ports.

Does the President not get it? Has this administration completely lost its mind? Even Republican Senators are calling this for what it is:

“It’s unbelievably tone deaf politically at this point in our history,” Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said on “FOX News Sunday.”

Another issue these events bring to the forefront is the secrecy of this administration. Time and time again, the American public has been told that they should trust the President and his top advisors that their civil liberties are being respected, or that the government’s response to natural disasters is well-planned and coordinated, or that politics are not being played with defense contracts. Now we have to trust that a foreign government friendly to terrorists will safeguard our own ports?

Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) said today,

“No matter what steps the administration claims it has secretly taken, it is an unacceptable risk to turn control of our ports over to a foreign government, particularly one with a troubling history. We cannot depend on promises a foreign government has given the administration in secret to secure our ports.”

According to this CNN story, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) weighed in as well,

“It is ridiculous to say you’re taking secret steps to make sure that it’s OK for a nation that had ties to 9/11, (to) take over part of our port operations in many of our largest ports. This has to stop.”

I can’t think of anything to do but just shake my head.