Has Bush Gone Soft?
Unloading Cargo Ship
I was surprised to find out that a British shipping company that manages several American ports was being sold to Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business of the United Arab Emirates. It seems like a lapse in security to allow such crucial commercial influx to be controlled by a country that was implicated in the 9/11 tragedy. DPW doesn't conduct the actual security searches, but they can hire all the crane operators, stevedores and port terminal operators that perform critical cargo functions.
My surprise increased when I saw that the Democrats and Republicans were both in agreement -- baffled at the stupidity of this sale. Susan Collins, Republican head of the Homeland Security Senate Committee said on the morning news that the Senate had been blindsided -- had no chance to investigate the sale before it was announced. It's a weird day on the planet when Susan Collins, Hillary Clinton, Bill Frist and Dennis Hastert are all in strong agreement about something; that day was yesterday.
The weirdness only multiplied, upon finding out that our President, the Flying "W", is totally in favor of the port transaction. He said he will veto any emergency legislation that tries to block the sale. No one has ventured whether Congress will have votes to override his veto. The Bush position doesn't totally surprise me. UAE borders Saudi Arabia -- shares much of same religion, culture and oil economy. Bush and his father have a close affinity with Saudi Royals -- a favorite Saudi friend is even nicknamed "Bhandar Bush". The Bin Ladens are friends of the Bushes and were given safe exit from the US on 9/11. Imagine: Between Osama Bin Laden and George W Bush there are only two degrees of separation. Why are the Bushes so lovey-dovey with the Saudis? Who knows? When "Bring it on" Bush is speaking in politically correct blather and acting against 9/11 sensibilities, something is really wrong. It helps that the Bin Ladens have disassociated themselves from their errant brother, but all of us have to wonder, "Has Bush gone soft on terrorism?" As it stands, there may be a 45-day Senate inquiry to examine the risks involved with this sale. Funny that the Bush administration didn't think of this until yesterday. But as previously said, yesterday was a weird day on the planet.
Labels: Politics
posted by blogspotter @ 6:41 AM
2 Comments:
More scary details, we're even being lax on record-keeping.
Excerpt:
---
Some conditions
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.
Fifteen of the 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. One was from the UAE. Money directly linked to the Saudi royal family was used to support one the hijackers while he lived in California. Of course, money for the attacks also flowed through the UAE. But then again, that money probably flowed through many different banks. We still buy Saudi Arabian oil and let Saudi business men invest in the United States. Hamburg, Germany was more of a launching pad for the attacks than the UAE. And unlike Saudi Arabia, the UAE isn't a big exporter of extreme Islamic fundamentalism.
This issue essentially comes down to free trade, globalization, and capitalism, all values that Republicans say will bring freedom and democracy to the world. When other countries refuse to grant American companies access to their resources, we usually call them communists or socialists. We then overthrow their democratically elected governments and install pro-American dictatorships to pave the way for our corporations to enter their country.
Usually, in this global economy, it's our corporations that want to establish footholds in other countries, either to take their resources or sell them our goods. The deal with Dubai World is just a business transaction, a bit of give and take in this world economy. In a period of about 20 years, Dubai has transformed itself from a city of strip malls to a major, modern economy in the Middle East. This is due in part to the work of Dubai World. It is a company that has experience building and managing modern port facilities.
Now, about our ports. They are essentially assets of the United States that are up for sale. A company (it doesn't matter what country that company is from) sees an opportunity to make some money. An Arab company will probably run the port like any American company would. Corporations are governed by the bottom line, profit margins, and shareholders. It wouldn't make sense for a company operating a port to infiltrate it with Al-Qaeda operatives. That would be extremely bad for business.
The real issue for debate here is whether we should let our ports, which are very important points of entry in this country, be run by corporations, let alone foreign corporations. Will businesses that are motivated by profit be able to balance the need for public safety, if it cuts too deeply into the bottom line? Will they be willing to spend the necessary funds to upgrade and maintain facilities?
In the larger scheme of things, letting an Arab company manage the loading and unloading operations at six American ports isn't that big of a deal. There have been larger atrocities commited by corporations in the name of globalization and privatization. When Bechtel, a California based company, took over Bolivia's water system, they hiked up the rates so that the poor citizens of that country couldn't afford water. Then they made it illegal for residents to even collect rain water without a permit. So, essentially, we had a situation where the entire water supply of a country, even the water that fell from the sky, was turned over to an American corporation. What's the big deal about letting a foreign company manage six of our ports?
Big business Republicans should understand what our president is doing. After all, they are the ones that constantly expound on the virutues of a global economy and free trade. If we really believe in globalization, then we should let other countries into our markets. Bush is telling our allies in the Middle East that he wants to do business with them. I can understand why he's so adamant about this deal.
I don't agree with turning over all aspects of public life over to the corporations. But, if our government is going to do that anyway, then it doesn't bother me that an Arab corporation may get the contract.
I think Bush is the worst president ever in the history of the United States and I completely detest his family links to the Saudi royal family. But as far as the deal with Dubai world is concerned, it doesn't really bother me. It truly is a wierd day. I think there are other larger, more important issues to get angry about.
Post a Comment
<< Home