PORTGATE: Force Bush to Veto

PORTGATE: Force Bush to Veto

In approving the $6.8 billion purchase, the administration
chose not to require state-owned Dubai Ports World to keep copies of its business
records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to orders by American courts.
It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate
requests by the government.

Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely
attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.

Bush
Says Ports Deal Not a Security Threat

Why is DP World being allowed to
maintain their documents off American soil? The Bush administration allowed a
special arrangement with this company. A company that has ties to two of the 9/11 hijackers. See what's wrong with this picture.

The president didn't even know about the deal until the press blew the roof off the White House, which shows
you just how out of the loop, how out of touch he is. Our president is delegating the running of our ports to a state-owned corporation. In fact,
after learning about it after the fact, Bush didn't even blink before saying
he's confident everything is a-okay, then immediately threw down the gauntlet
to Congress in the threat of a veto. Force him to do it, I say.

The Republican Congress has walked in lock step with President
Bush since he came into office. They've not done their job on any issue, no
matter how serious. “Cherry picking” intelligence? No big deal, no
serious investigation. Outing a covert CIA operative to cover up the truth?
No big deal, string out the investigation. Wiretapping American citizens illegally?
Hey, it's all in the name of terrorism, never mind that the program has been
a failure, with man hours lost and attention diverted. “Stay the course”
in Iraq, which is now officially on the launching pad of a civil war? No plan
to get us out? Hey, the president knows best. Trust him.

Republicans are now running for the exit doors, as Bush makes
the biggest blunder of his second term, misunderestimating the American
people's nationalism. Sure, we're a patriotic nation, but with that is a national
pride that has been set aflame by the idea of allowing Dubai to control 6
of our major ports, including some that handle U.S. military equipment.

You don't have to be a genius to see what's
wrong with this idea.

However, that hasn't stopped people from doubting the sense of the furor, as Kevin
Drum has done. Opposite viewpoints are always welcome. The Council
on Foreign Relations has a Q&A on the issue.

Some are citing the “anti-Arab” fervor that is being
blamed for the source of people's emotions. I reject that outright, while also
acknowledging some people are xenophobic. That's not where I'm coming from at
all.

Do we really have to state the obvious? The the DP World deal
was done in secret, using cold war statutes that don't pertain to a post-9/11
world. If Bush and the administration weren't operating with a “trust me,”
pre-9/11 mind set they'd get it. Now we also learn that Dubai
was allowed to keep documents out of the U.S. to protect them from any legal actions
that might come their way. Why? Why any special deals? Because we have a military base
in the UAE? That's no reason to hand our ports over to a government-owned corporation.

General Tommy Franks was on “Hannity and Colmes”
last night talking about the Dubai deal, waxing philosophical. The former general
is a great American, but I'm still not comforted. Frankly, he still has to answer
for allowing
bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora. We all have made mistakes, but that
was a whopper for a military general, in my humble opinion. I just don't trust
his judgment on the port issue, regardless of my respect for the man.

This is a business deal for President Bush and the administration,
pure and simple. For many of us, however, it is a national security concern.
I'm not “anti-Arab.” But I am against any government-owned corporation having anything
to do with our ports.

Oh, but one thing, Republicans in Congress don't get credit because they finally woke up on this issue. Their oversight negligence is one of the reasons our president thought he could get away with it.

President Bush has gone politically correct on us in the name
of making money. He's sold our ports to the highest bidder. Stop the deal.