UAE Company Agrees to Delay U.S. Port Deal

This is ridiculous. When will the Congress wake up and perform the duties they are supposed to as outlined in the CONSTITUTION? Why are we letting this administration cripple the other two branches of government? What happened to checks and balances?

"people don't need to worry about security"

well, that makes me feel a lot better. and all this time i thought this talk of "terror level orange" was supposed to make me more afraid...thanks, georgie!

Jace, you're supposed to worry about terror, not security...

I was watching the CNN part this morning about this, and Bush was saying that security will be undertaken by the US Border patrol and Coast Gard, no change from before. Besides, foreign countries already own many of the big ports in the US.

Checks-The checks going into the hands of those close to the administration.

Balances-The balances of their accounts swelling.

From-The Nation: The Truth About Dubya and Dubai by Katrina vanden Heuvel

The fact is, the administration is defending this deal because their guiding principle is one of maximizing corporate profits, as Harold Meyerson notes in the Washington Post yesterday.

Not surprisingly, the Bush administration has significant business ties to DP World. According to the New York Daily News, David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations, was named by Bush to direct the U.S. Maritime Administration just last month.

And Treasury Secretary John Snow, who headed the federal review of the deal, was Chairman of CSX which sold its international port operations to DP Word for $1.15 billion just one year before Mr. Snow joined the Bush cabinet.

So what are the real security issues we need to be talking about? As the Center For American Progress reports, how about the fact that in 2002 the Coast Guard estimated that it would cost $5.4 billion over 10 years to make the necessary improvements to the nation's ports, and last year only $175 million was appropriated to the program?

How about the fact that only 6 percent of the 9 million containers arriving in U.S. ports are physically inspected by customs agents?

Check your copy of the constitution and let me know where it says the President can prohibit the sale of goods and services to foreign companies.

In approving the purchase, the administration chose not to require Dubai Ports to keep copies of its business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to orders by American courts.

How very suspicious

The president said he was struck by the fact that people were not concerned about port security when a British company was running the port operation, but they felt differently about an Arab company at the helm.
Hmmm, I wonder if thats because the majority of Americans were not aware of the fact that a majority of ports are owned by foreign companies?

@jeremy harper

Check your copy of the constitution and let me know where it says the President can prohibit the sale of goods and services to foreign companies.

Isn't there something about an interstate commerce clause.... now what do you suppose that is in there for?

@Mike K
I believe the the ex-chief of the Coast Guard was talking about that too; and wrote a book on it for that matter. He wasn't particularly concerned with the fact that it was a company from the AE that was taking over the ports but instead the fact that all our ports, no matter who runs them, are basically unguarded when it comes down to brass tacks.

Isn't there something about an interstate commerce clause.... now what do you suppose that is in there for?

That's for Congress to regulate interstate commerce. Not the president.