Posted on 02/18/2006 6:55:19 PM PST by ncountylee
WASHINGTON -- A company at the Port of Miami has sued to block the takeover of shipping operations there by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates. It is the first American courtroom effort to capsize a $6.8 billion sale already embroiled in a national debate over security risks at six major U.S. ports affected by the deal.
The Miami company, a subsidiary of Eller & Company Inc., presently is a business partner with London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which Dubai Ports World purchased last week. In a lawsuit in Florida circuit court, the Miami subsidiary said that under the sale it will become an "involuntary partner" with Dubai's government and it may seek more than $10 million in damages.
The Miami subsidiary, Continental Stevedoring & Terminals Inc., said the sale to Dubai was prohibited under its partnership agreement with the British firm and "may endanger the national security of the United States." It asked a judge to block the takeover and said it does not believe the company, Florida or the U.S. government can ensure Dubai Ports World's compliance with American security rules.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.nwsource.com ...
Let's hope the lawyers will clean up Bush's mess.
The port contract was already foreign-run, so the headline is false on its face. And this suit is against the British company and is purely a matter of contract law.
Amem and Amen
I hope this move stops this takeover. In all these years I have never felt as I feel about this Dubai deal... we are practically handing ourselves over to serious damage, damage that could cripple our country unlike anything before. I pray to God this is stopped.
"...a $6.8 billion sale.."
The selling of America.
As much as I don't like to see this stuff played out in a courtroom, I'm real glad that somebody's suing this time.
what? Why would the suit be against the British firm, didn't the story claim that Dubai purchased it? Or did I misunderstand it?
This issue hinges on the question of whether we are at war with terrorists or Islam.
I've been thinking about this, and it would seem the we ought to be able to play this game, too. UAE can run some ports for 6.8 billion if we can manage their oil facilities and ports and the Strait of Hormuz for the same price. If they scream "sovereignty", we say: "See?".
Whether the sale violated that contract I don't know, but this is clearly a contract case and nothing more.
I comfort myself by pretending the UAE is a front for the CIA and various secret societies who protect the world from itself.
Then, my alarm clock rings, and I get up out of bed.
Contract broken? Give the contract to an American firm then.
Try to open a Church.
That's not how it works.
And interestingly, you don't see an American firm even trying to get the job.
The UAE is very pro-American. Only two of the 19 9-11 hijackers were from there.
Even if there wasn't a single islamderthal working in these ports, I can't imagine how much money is going back home and into the hands of terrorists.
You would think that we would learn to stop financing the wars against us.
The Arabs are not our friends.
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