Why are ANY of our ports being run by foreigners? I'd like to hear ONE reason that makes sense. I thought all our ports were owned by the municipalities they serve. I think our federal government has lost all common sense and George Bush is 100% wrong on this one (as well as his stubbornness in refusing to seal our southern border.) I'm just about done supporting him. He seems to work harder for foreign interests than those of the American people. He's going to cost a lot of Republicans from getting elected if they don't distance themselves from him.
Myth #3: American ports should be American.
Well, it's too late, baby. According to James Jay Carafano of the Heritage Foundation (a place really known for its Arab-loving, soft-on-terror approach), "Foreign companies already own most of the maritime infrastructure that sustains American trade…"
At the port of Los Angeles, 80 per cent of the terminals are operated by foreign companies. Chinese companies operate more than half the terminals. So why is this suddenly a threat? After all, political outcry managed to scupper the deal a few months ago in which a Chinese company was going to take over the Unocal oil company.
Go to any port in the country and you'll be lucky to see a single giant vessel with U.S.A. on its stern. Foreign-owned airplanes fly into American airports every hour. Many U.S. companies have foreign entities among their largest shareholders.
My colleague Charlie Wolfson reports that State Department sources say Dubai Ports World already handles port calls for U.S. Navy ships from the 5th fleet for their regular port calls in the United Arab Emirates -- a pretty high measure of trustworthiness