Dubai company agrees to postpone US port takeover (AFP)

[Anchor Man]

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rs...oo.com/s/afp/20060224/ts_afp/usattacksuaeportAFP - A United Arab Emirates company has agreed to postpone its plans to take over management of six US ports after the proposed deal ignited harsh criticism from both Democrats and Republicans on national security grounds.


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[a6m5]

Good move by them. 👍 This will give the critics a chance to take a deep breath. I hope they will work it out soon.

 

[FoolKiller]

There is a lot of money on the line and I bet they are willing to let this take however long is necessary with plenty of concessions to convince the American people that this isn't what it has been made out to be.

Unfortunately, I think that there are enough people out there that won't be able to get past the word Arab.

 

[a6m5]

One critic of this deal, who I thought was a Republican Senator was saying that some members of UAE Government, who helped Bin Laden on 9/11 is still in the government. If this is true, we should stop the deal right now, as the UAE Government is in charge of the very company that is trying to win the lease to the ports. Also, if we are aware that these men helped Bin Laden, why hasn't anybody arrested them?

 

[FoolKiller]

One critic of this deal, who I thought was a Republican Senator...

The attacks are coming from both sides.

...was saying that some members of UAE Government, who helped Bin Laden on 9/11 is still in the government. If this is true, we should stop the deal right now, as the UAE Government is in charge of the very company that is trying to win the lease to the ports. Also, if we are aware that these men helped Bin Laden, why hasn't anybody arrested them?

Pick your reason: Politics, can't prove it, can't get to him, the Senator made it up.
Just because the UAE is an ally doesn't mean they are giving us fre reign to do what we want and take government officials.


I don't know the situation of which you are talking but if the guy in the government isn't even in an agency to have acces to Dubai Ports World then why would it matter? If a guy who was head of the IRS was racist should the entire US government avoid foreign relations with countries that have predominantly black populations?

Of course, I know very little of the UAE government situation, so I could be talking nonsense.

That's my thing. I know very little about this situation except for the bickering I hear and how much of that can you trust? There isn't much non-partisan information out there which is why I feel that the average American is in opposition as a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of an arab government gaining an administrative role to these ports. Which who really knows what that entails and means? That could just be a business aspect and have nothing to do with security and whatnot. Or it could mean 100% control. Most people don't know these thinsg but have made a decision already.

For the record, they won't be in control of security. I know that but just wanted to get that in so no one would jump on me to correct my ignorance.

 

[emad]

I don't quite follow. Am I missing something?... we allow the japanese and koreans to manufacture almost every TV sold in north america, we let just 1 company whose programs have been proven to be buggy and easily exploited countless times to handle the operating systems for the vast majority of computers and dedicated servers in the world. We don't mind allowing DeBeers to handle most of the world's diamond supply, but we freak out when an arab company expresses interest in operating a few shipping ports?

This company will be like every other company - looking out for their own profits while operating within the local laws, right? Just because the company comes from that one corner of the world, doesn't make them an enemy, right?

 

[FoolKiller]

This company will be like every other company - looking out for their own profits while operating within the local laws, right? Just because the company comes from that one corner of the world, doesn't make them an enemy, right?

This is what I think. The issue is the company is run by the UAE government and apparently there are some al Qaeda supporters in the UAE government.

As far as I am concerned it would not be in the interest of business or the existence of the current UAE government to do this just to create holes in security.

What gets me is that up until now the UAE was an ally and had agreed to everything we requested for the War on Terror. This happens and all of a sudden everyone is all up in arms.

I agree that it seems odd to be upset about this but at the same time I don't know anything about the UAE other than what I just said in this post.

 

[a6m5]

The attacks are coming from both sides.

I was just describing who I thought was the accuser. I realize that many Republicans and Democrats are against this deal.

Pick your reason: Politics, can't prove it, can't get to him, the Senator made it up.

That's what I was wondering. If UAE Government is so shaky, why hasn't this Al Qaeda supporter hasn't been arrested? I'm thinking that Senator on the TV was exaggerating it(i.e. full of it).

Just because the UAE is an ally doesn't mean they are giving us fre reign to do what we want and take government officials.

If someone in their government is supporting Al Qaeda, but they are not letting the U.S. touch him, then they are not an ally we can trust.

This company will be like every other company - looking out for their own profits while operating within the local laws, right? Just because the company comes from that one corner of the world, doesn't make them an enemy, right?

I'm pretty sure that "Dubai Ports World" as a corporation will not be seeking to attack the United States. However, I might be bit worried about possibilities of their employees or members of the UAE Government(DPW is state-ran) with some influence might cave into helping Al Qaeda terrorists. I'm not one of those people who is freaking out, because the company is "Arab". But when you consider UAE had multiple ties with the 9/11 terrorists, and with some making a claim that Al Qaeda supporter(s) still present in their government, I think we have to review the whole thing throughly.

 

[FoolKiller]

I'm pretty sure that "Dubai Ports World" as a corporation will not be seeking to attack the United States. However, I might be bit worried about possibilities of their employees or members of the UAE Government(DPW is state-ran) with some influence might cave into helping Al Qaeda terrorists. I'm not one of those people who is freaking out, because the company is "Arab". But when you consider UAE had multiple ties with the 9/11 terrorists, and with some making a claim that Al Qaeda supporter(s) still present in their government, I think we have to review the whole thing throughly.

See this is my thing, will the port control that they have be enough to allow them the opportunity to allow something to happen if al Qaeda infiltrated the government or there was a sympathizer employee? It isn't like every ship coming in is going to be from the UAE, they will be from all over the world. Will they even have non-administrative employees that are UAE citizens in the ports? Last I checked al the dock workers and whatnot weren't British so I have no reason to assume there will suddenly be a bunch of middle eastern men working there after this deal. Heck, except for the white collar jobs I expect it will be all the same employees. I haven't heard anything about layoffs being expected with this deal.

So, like you, I worry that maybe this will create a path for a terrorist group to work their way through, but I can't find out where it would actually be unless the employees are replaced with new ones who might just turn their head at the right moment.

 

[a6m5]

I agree, FK. Plus, the company still will not have any control over the customs or port security.

 

[Swift]

How about the fact that the same company buys F16's!!!! These are tactical fighters. Major players in any Air Force. Now, how is it cool to sell them major war machines but they can't run the adminstration of a port? Please....