[Phsstpok]

Megaports is one of the buzzwords that stuck with me. As I recall the UAE was the first (or the first Middle Eastern) country to join up for the Megaports initiative.

More here

• The UAE Is An Established Partner In Protecting America's Ports. Dubai was the first Middle Eastern entity to join the Container Security Initiative (CSI) - a multinational program to protect global trade from terrorism. Under CSI, a team of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers is permanently stationed inside Dubai's ports, where they work closely with Dubai Customs to screen containers destined for the United States. Cooperation with Dubai officials has been outstanding and a model for other operations. Dubai was also the first Middle Eastern entity to join the Department of Energy's Megaports Initiative, a program aimed at stopping illicit shipments of nuclear and other radioactive material.

That would be www.whitehouse.gov, by the way.

If we refuse to let them operate the terminals (9 terminals out of 300 in those east coast ports, BTW) then we still have to deal with them in all of the ports of origin.  And they'll be pissed off.  And they'll have no "enlightened self interest" on the line to make them want to make the cargoes safe.

[Cboldt]

That would be www.whitehouse.gov, by the way.

Yep. More from the same source at ...

WH Fact Sheet: The CFIUS Process And The DP World Transaction - 02/22/06
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1584353/posts

If we refuse to let them operate the terminals then we still have to deal with them in all of the ports of origin. And they'll be pissed off. And they'll have no "enlightened self interest" on the line to make them want to make the cargoes safe.

Sure they will have self interest. Just like COSCO, they'll work all the harder to keep their nose clean. This is strictly business, IMO. They'll be disappointed, sure, but not in a way that is wilfully self-destructive. USA is by far the largest desination for the cargo they are paid to handle.

From a couple weeks ago: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1581542/posts?page=988#988