Thursday, February 16, 2006

To buy or not Dubai


Yep, we’re in big danger from them Terrists and we have to tap your phone, read your e-mail and your snail mail and make sure you don’t read anything strange at the library.

Of course we’re not going to do anything to actually offend the lords of oil and we’re not actually going to do anything to reduce the risk of a major attack – that costs money that could best be spent by individuals and corporations whom God has blessed by making them wealthy.

So you wouldn’t expect the Bush administration to worry over potential security risks of a $6.8 billion sale that gives a company in the United Arab Emirates control over significant operations at six major American ports. Everyone knows Terrists only use airplanes anyway.

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the world's fourth-largest ports company, runs commercial operations at shipping terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. The purchase by Dubai Ports World has been approved by the White House and Homeland Security, but none the less has set off alarms on both sides of the Congressional aisle. According to Associated Press, four senators and three House members asked the administration Thursday to reconsider its approval. The lawmakers contended the UAE is not consistent in its support of U.S. terrorism-fighting efforts. U.S. lawmakers said the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan. They also said the UAE was one of only three countries to recognize the now-toppled Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government.

"The potential threat to our country is not imagined, it is real," said Rep. Mark Foley, (R-Florida), taking time off from his efforts to close nudist colonies. For once I agree with him, but the question is not about the reality of the threat; the question is whether it’s far too late to take back control of our own fate. Can we even afford it?

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