Posted on 02/22/2006 11:50:17 AM PST by cgk
Tell them to stick their oil and gas then. Problem is if you do that, in a year or so it might be you and I going at it (in a grander sense), not us and them.
Do you have any idea how containers are inspected BEFORE they are put on ships? Do you? Clearly you do not.
LOL... click on Keyword "portgate". I don't know which one is the best, just that there are a LOT of them.
Which country in the middle east holds free elections? Until that happens...no soup for them
Management affects risk factor.
Will risk go up or down under UAE?
Hmmm..
Tough one.
Q: Mr. Secretary, I'd like to ask you about government -- the U.S. government's decision to have a company from the UAE run six U.S. seaports. Is that a decision that the Defense Department weighed in on? And what, if any, national security issues do you think that raises?
SEC. RUMSFELD: First, let me say I'm not expert on this subject, and it -- my understanding that I've been told secondhand by others is the following: that there's a process that exists in the government; that six departments and agencies are involved, and five or six offices in the Executive Office of the President and the White House are involved; and there's a time limit of something like 30 days during which this process is to be executed; that the process worked; it was chaired by the Department of Treasury -- the deputy, Bob Kimmitt, is -- was the chairman -- and they -- in the normal order of things, what they do, as I understand it, is they select a lead agency or department based on the substance of it -- and in this case, it was Homeland Security, obviously, because the Coast Guard has the responsibility for the security of ports -- and that the process went forward; and in the course of it, the Department of Homeland Security and the interagency process negotiated a letter with the company that had purchased, I believe, a British company, setting forth exactly how security would be handled. I've not seen it, so I can't describe it, but that's my understanding.
And the -- I guess the only other thing I'd say is that we all deal with the UAE on a regular basis.
It's a country that's been involved in the global war on terror with us, it's a country that we have facilities that we use, and it's a country that was very responsive to assist in Katrina, one of the early countries that did that, and a country that we have very close military-to-military relations as well as political and economic relations.
Do you want to comment?
GEN. PACE: Sir, the military-to-military relationship with the United Arab Emirates is superb. They've got great seaports that are capable of handling, and do, our aircraft carriers. They've got airfields that they allow us to use, and their airspace, their logistics support. They've got a world-class air-to-air training facility that they let us use and cooperate with them in the training of our pilots. In everything that we have asked and work with them on, they have proven to be very, very solid partners. And as the Secretary said, they were the very first country -- a hundred million dollars is what they offered to Katrina victims.
And containers are "tamper free" throughout their transit period? Right.
It is a stunning an very sad thing to see. Just unbelievable.
Why take that chance in a time of war? You may be 100% correct but this is not a decision you make in the middle of a war. You know, a lot of people are starting to say aloud what some have whispered for months. Just how serious are we about "Homeland Security", when we encourage deals like this and don't even get me started on the border. It's almost like we are determined to undermine our own security. Israel would never make itself as soft a target as this administration seems hell bent on making us.
If we don't want these kinds of deals, then we are going to have to overhaul a lot of the way we do things, and that won't happen overnight. In the meantime, what realistic alternative is there, other than to let the sale go through?
Sure it would be nice if we could just isolate ourselves from the entire Arab world, but it isn't realistic. We have to play the hand we've been dealt.
Until they raise their standard of living you don't want free elections in most of these places. it's like giving post ww1 germany free elections. Oh wait they did and it was a bad deal. the fringe maniacs got control. right now this region is too "humiliated" to think straight.
Please tell me that you are kidding. Its parody right?
In addition, the US Custom Service and the US Coast Guard will still be responsible for inspections and security, respectively.
Unfortunately, they are hopelessly mired in an attitude that all they need to do is say "TRUST ME" and the peasants should just shut up and sit down.
And you do?
Of those nearly eight million containers, only about six percent get close inspection. That’s a low number, say terrorism experts, who warn that this is where the United States is most vulnerable — and it may be the easiest fix.
That's just part of the Homeland security plan. The other is operational, but understaffed — putting agents in places like Rotterdam, Germany to inspect more containers. Only 100 agents are now in two dozen overseas ports.
We are in the process of delivering 80 F-16s to the UAE. Should we stop selling them military equipment and using their airfields and ports in support of our armed forces? Should we stop all UAE investment in the US? Should we return the $100 million they sent to aid Katrina victims? Should we relocate the military equipment and supplies we prepositioned in the UAE after the Gulf War?
I don't agree with that at all; I'm sorry. When even the conservative press is caught by surprise and can't initially support it because they don't have the facts, that's a blunder. There should have been talking points and the administration should have assigned a point person to make sure that people knew the facts, including the 9/11 families who must have initially been horrified to hear this.
Mansoor has been wrong so many times that this article makes me more certain the deal should not happen.
This entire issue is one of the biggest Red Herrings to come down the pike in quite a while. Both sides are doing themselves no credit with the extreme views that are being bandied about all over the place.
At the same time, I swear I can detect the aroma of a possible fart blossom in there someplace...
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