Handing U.S. Ports Over to Dubai
20 February 2006 11:54 am by Taylor Marsh
Handing U.S. Ports Over to Dubai
The Bush administration needs to show Congress why
national security won't be hurt by a deal that gives a company based in the
United Arab Emirates management of six major U.S. ports, former Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday.Ridge, appearing on CNN's “American Morning,”
said, “I think the anxiety and the concern [over the deal] that has been
expressed by congressmen and senators and elsewhere is legitimate.”
Ridge:
White House should explain port deal
It's the worst outsourcing of national security yet.
Bill Kristol calls this decision a gift to Democrats. It's also
a disaster for this country. The Administration needs to fully explain, defend
and show independent proof that handing our ports over to Dubai is the right
way to go. Barring that, this must be stopped.
George W. Bush and the Republicans who control Congress want to
hand over six ports: New York; New Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland; Miami, Florida;
New Orleans, Louisiana; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company they want
to hand them over to is based in Dubai.
The leasing of these ports was first handled out of the Treasury
department, which says it all. Money trumps national security for the Bush administration,
which has been proven by this craven choice to allow a foreign corporation and
government to control six huge ports.
One of the worst flaws in our homeland security defenses is our
ports. Crates, cargo and any other manner of material come in and out every
day and we haven't begun to have a clue on what's being imported. Taking into
consideration that we now live on imports, the recent decision to hand our port
security over to Dubai is particularly frightening.
To emphasize the Bush administration's cluelessness, let me present
exhibit A, Michael Chertoff.
“And there is a legal process Congress
created for a committee to sit and review this. It's Treasury, Commerce, DHS,
FBI is involved, and DOD is involved. We look at these transactions,”
Chertoff added.“If necessary, we build in conditions or requirements
that, for extra security, would have to be met in order to make sure that
there isn't a compromise to national security.”
Once again, the Bush administration is saying “trust me,” because
we've built in special conditions and requirements for “extra security.”
What are they? We don't know. As of right now, they're secret. Swell.
DP World, the company at the center of the controversy,
has been expanding since 1999 from its base in Dubai into operating ports
in many other parts of the world, including Asia, Europe and South America.''We have a relationship with this company because
they have been a participant in some of our cargo and port security measures,”
Baker said. ''Remember, our interest in port security extends well beyond
the United States. If we discover weapons of mass destruction inside a US
port, we've already lost.”
Congress
questions Emirates pact
Our ports and borders
remain a dangerously unguarded vulnerability in our national and homeland security.
All we get from Bush
is talk, talk, talk, while Democratic Governor
Janet Napolitano demands action from DoD. The Republicans who control Congress
aren't doing a thing, but making this situation worse is the plan to actually
hand six of our ports over to a foreign corporation. We're now outsourcing our
national and homeland security.
When will the lunacy end?
