"On July 27, 2005, the Palestinian Information Center carried a public HAMAS statement thanking the UAE for it’s “unstinting support.”
Gen. Franks may well be correct about our current relationship with the UAE. However it’s irrefutable that the UAE has supported terror in the past, that some percentage of it’s population do now, and that they’re in an unstable region. If they’re our stoutest ally in the region today, that still leaves legitimate questions on issues like security checks for staffing changes, security for documentation and manifests, and most important our ability to find local replacements should the UAE change their tune.
Perhaps the proper questions have been asked and answered, but if they have it’s clear to me that neither the President nor the Secretary of Defense have the answers. The handling of this from the veto threat to the next days admission that the President only knew about the deal for a couple days to Rumsfeld’s unwillingness to endorse the transaction due to lack of information is amazingly clumsy. The administration has blown it, and at this point it’s left to Congress to ask the questions and present the answers to the public. Yes, it will become a politicized forum, but they earned that role through the administration’s default.
On an only tangential issue, American’s can invest in the UAE only as minority partners. That’s a legitimate policy in developing countries. However when UAE national resources are being used for foreign investment, we should reciprocate. They should be required to operate with majority interest in US operations owned by US firms. Obviously, that issue won’t be raised in this context, but in general it should.
Also tangential, if it goes through I’d love to see the ability of local port authorities to renegotiate contracts. While the UAE may be the finest nation in the world, it’s worth remembering that five years ago the Port Authority of New York owned a pair of fine office buildings in lower Manhattan, 4 ½ years ago, at great cost of life, they didn’t. The operation was financed by UAE institutions, and UAE citizens participated in the operation. The Port Authority of New York shouldn’t be stuck with them for 30 years unwillingly.