Posted on 02/25/2006 3:00:55 AM PST by Cannoneer No. 4
February 24, 2006: The recent controversy over the acquisition of the British firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, by Dubai Ports World, a state-run company in the United Arab Emirates, has been largely a matter of heat opposed to light. This is largely because of a number of myths that have quickly circulated throughout the blogosphere. These myths have led to a lot of controversy that has cast one of the strongest American allies in the Persian Gulf in a poor light that is undeserved.
First, a look at the United Arab Emirates is in order. This is a country that has been a long-standing ally of the United States since 1971. The UAE was part of the coalition to liberate Kuwait in 1991, and also has supported the United States in the war on terror (including, among other things, providing access to a deep-water berth that can accommodate aircraft carriers, use of a training facility for air-to-air training facility, airfields, and logistics support). It is a country that has proven largely inhospitable to al-Qaeda (instead, the focus is on business), sent forces to Afghanistan to protect the construction of a hospital that they donated and built, and also has sent humanitarian assistance to Iraq while also providing a location for training Iraqi police. In 2002, the UAE also captured a major al-Qaeda figure, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was involved in the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, and handed him over to the United States despite threats from the terrorist organization. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the UAE donated $100 million for the relief efforts. Both Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and General Peter Pace have described the relationship the United States has with United Arab Emirates as "very close" and "superb". It would be interesting to know what sort of information Michelle Malkin has that would override the judgment of Rumsfeld and Pace. Her characterization of the United Arab Emirates as "demonstrably unreliable" is not just factually challenged, it is slap in the face to the strongest ally the United States has in the Persian Gulf.
One of the other things that has been ignored in the anti-UAE diatribes from Malkin is the fact that the United Arab Emirates is a Middle Eastern country where religious tolerance is the rule. The UAE's constitution guarantees freedom of religion (albeit it declares Islam as the official religion), and largely permits religious freedom. In 2003, the UAE shut down the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-up, which was publishing material that promoted anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.
Second, nothing will really change at the ports, particularly with regards to security. Security will remain the province of the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security. In another fact ignored by the scare campaign, the UAE has the only port in the Middle East that is part of the Container Security Initiative. Dubai Ports World has also agreed to mandatory participation in other programs to improve security and to prevent the illegal shipment of nuclear materials, and will also provide documents on internal operations on demand and has agreed to cooperate in future investigations. The deal was also scrutinized by the intelligence community, which found no problems. The only thing that changes hands is who owns the company that will handle the day-to-day operations (often performed by American longshoremen – usually unionized). Dubai Ports World also bought out the port operations of CSX in 2004 – with no real issues.
Third, several claims have been made regarding connections to 9/11, specifically the fact that two of the hijackers were from the UAE. First, none of the critics have any proof that either the government of the UAE or Dubai Ports World was involved in the attack. By the standard of these critics, the United Kingdom would be held responsible for Richard Reid, or Germany would be responsible for the Hamburg cell that planned the attack. Second, the United Arab Emirates have stepped up efforts to make money laundering less easy after Dubai was used as a financial conduit for the attacks (again, there is no proof that the UAE or DPW were active participants in the laundering). It should also be noted that at least two Americans have worked with al-Qaeda (Johnny Walker Lindh and Jose Padilla) as well.
The last thing to consider is that in the day and age of the Internet, this debate is not staying inside the United States. Past irresponsible comments (like those by Senator Richard Durbin concerning Guantanamo Bay) have spread across the world very quickly. The scurrilous comments directed at the United Arab Emirates by Michelle Malkin have the potential to assist al-Qaeda recruiting in that country, and thus do more damage than the port deal would have done.
LOL!!
I don't have the masochistic streak that would have me listen long enough to see the other two emerge. Any man who screams about homosexuals so much and yet swoons over his precious his little poodle and loves showtunes creeps me out.
The person I pinged likes it there too.
That's as fair an assessment as I've ever read--he can make good points, but they're like bits of chocolate in a cement pudding--it's not worth all the work that's necessary to get to the good parts.
Wow, this Kool Aid tastes great!!
Michael Savage cut his own throat when he removed himself from XM Radio, I no longer listen to him.
Her husband, President Bill Clinton, used US tax dollars to help build a nuclear reactor near Shanghai that powers the building of Chinese warships in the Jiangnan shipyards.
Her husband gave preferential treatment to China's government-owned company, COSCO, even though 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles were smuggled into the US aboard a COSCO ship in 1996.
Hillary is PO'd because her friends, the Red Chinese, have been outbid by the Arabs who bought P&O
Only one month ago the British were alarmed when it looked like a Singapore-China alliance was going to buy P&O. If that had happened, China would have had control over 90% of the British ports.
Clinton was thwarted in his attempt to give a US Naval Base to a Chinese government company (COSCO) but Clinton succeeded in rewarding his rich pals in other ways [remember the Chinese campaign contribution scandals of the 90's?]
BTW,
I'll share another insight with you. I have eaten dinner with many foreign Ham Radio operators over the years. I used to attend a yearly convention in Dayton, Ohio (Dayton Hamvention is the world's largest).
I have dined at the same table with a couple of UAE hams, and three Saudis. The Saudis were snobbish and piglike on occassion. They just oozed "royal snobbery". The UAE hams were warm, open, and loved to laugh! Just as with the West, all parts of the world have their "french"!
LLS
Exactly. "Everyone knows" that Florida has one of those evil Bushes for governor - and he lets people carry guns!!!!
Oooh, you could sell that line to chris matthews!!! ;-)
LLS
LOL! I especially liked the way you used a lower-case "f." You've "genericized" the french.
There is power in a factory, power in the land
Power in the hand of the worker
But it all amounts to nothing if together we don't stand
There is power in a Union
Now the lessons of the past were all learned with workers blood
The mistakes of the bosses we must pay for
From the cities and the farmlands to trenches full of mud
War has always been the bosses way,sir
The Union forever,defending our rights
Down with the blackleg,all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters from many far-off lands
There is power in a Union
Now I long for the morning that they realise
Brutality and unjust laws cannot defeat us
But who'll defend the workers who cannot organise
When the bosses send their lackeys out to cheat us?
Money speaks for money, the Devil for his own
Who comes to speak for the skin and the bone?
What a comfort for the widow,a light to the child
There is power in a Union
The Union forever, defending our rights
Down with the blackleg, all workers unite
With our brothers and our sisters together we will stand
There is power in a Union
My 15 YO is on a school trip to Washington DC. The kids were told essentially the same thing (about DC) at the pre-trip meeting for students & parents last week....with the slightly embellished reminder that DC is 'the murder capitol of the world.'
Thanks for the link. But the one change I didnt see forthcoming from UAE was the recognition of Israel; a fatal chink in their Trojan armor.
While attending a convention in pre-Katrina New Orleans, my sister-in-law traveled with a security guard whenever she left the hotel. She's an ordinary hard-working woman, not a celebrity.
Pretty pathetic of yopu folks to point out danger in america to promote kissing the butt of someone else.
There are a LOT of counties in the US where you can't buy a beer (legally) any day of the week.
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