Fallout from UAE port deal starts

…. and I’m not just talking about the President’s low(er) polling numbers. Some of the latest headlines:

I’m having a hard time moving on from this. Can ya tell?

Update: Here’s another: Scuttled ports deal may ship out dollars
Notion that U.S. markets `more trouble than they’re worth’ could hurt foreign investment, economic experts say

Update II: Wow – think *I’m* mad? Read Cassandra’s post at Villainous Company … powerful stuff.

BTW, been watching the ACC tourney most of the evening so blogging has been light. I also have to admit that I’m still adjusting to the curveball that hit me in the face this week after all the hysteria, unnecessary drama and demagoguging being engaged in by my own party. Ugh. I’ve got to get out of this funk and try to let it go.

Update III: Thank you, Washington Post (for everything except the bit about wiretapping and abusing detainees!). And hats off to David Ignatius as well. Same same for the LA Times.

41 Responses to "Fallout from UAE port deal starts"

Raj says:

March 10, 2006 at 3:21 pm

I think you like most of the ports-deal supporters are being a little too skeptical about the possible fallout from this. I doubt if the Arab investors will hold this against US for other future/ongoing investment to a critical degree. Everybody loves the green bucks. However, it does reinforce one thing – American public isn’t very comfortable with anything related to the Arab world when it comes to their own security and defense (and that is technically islamophobic no matter how much you can reasonably justify it) AND the senators love to pander to that instead of being mavericks unlike Bush who tried that a couple of times and failed (harriet and this DPW deal). I think its smart domestic politics on their part but in the long run – I dunno…
Raj says:

March 10, 2006 at 3:31 pm

oh btw… hi i’m raj from india – grad student in the US right now and bigtime liberal/pinko on social issues while kinda moderate on defense and security issues – no idea what i am on fiscal issues. i hope u all will appreciate my uneducated alternate viewpoint and we can engage in healthy debates. i just thought i’ll introduce myself if anybody cares. ST is the one of the few conservative blogs i regularly visit. plz excuse my weak typing.
sanity says:

March 10, 2006 at 3:57 pm

Raj all are welcome, heck we even put up with steve, and you seem more put together than he is

Will tell you something right away, is that if you have an opinion feel free to voice it, but if your stating things as facts, we like to see links as supporting evidence or you will get run over fast.

Baklava I said get out of your car!
I said IF he didn’t support facts with links to proof, IF…
Baklava says:

March 10, 2006 at 4:05 pm

Hey, we were all (most of us including myself) liberals before we grew up and learned. I was very liberal before 1991. I know I’ve said it too many times. But my year of conversion was on many issues and I just couldn’t stop reading. I went to the library 3 times a week for a year.

The end result?

A centrist/conservative. Why do I say that? Because that’s about what conservatives are are centrists. Yet they get lambasted as being extrmists by the left. Moslty by people who are new to politics and journalists who don’t even know what conservatives stand for or what the facts on an issue are.

And there are facts…

I noticed GBA hasn’t been here lately spewing the nonsense that he called someone in LA and they said that there is no foriegn ownership of the ports in LA. He gave her phone number an everything. I guess Dick Meyers and the Washinton Post and all the other news organizations posting about who owns port operations in the U.S. are just flat lying to GBA…

oooh. what was that? I think I just ran over GBA……….
steve says:

March 10, 2006 at 4:16 pm

We buy their oil and give them dollars. They can buy golf courses, shopping centers, amusement parks or other non-strategic assets with the dollars. They may not buy ports, airports, military bases or nuclaer power plants. And that stance should be maintained by America, until they allow us to buy Mecca. Peace
PCD says:

March 10, 2006 at 4:28 pm

steve, explain to us why Clinton sold the Long Beach operations to COSCO, the Communist Chinese company? Oh, I forgot, all you communists are friends.
Cump says:

March 10, 2006 at 5:01 pm

If Dubai is going to be so fickle as to ‘reconsider’ their business relationships with us, because we excersized our rights as a free people to reject their business, they were not a reliable business partner, anyway, and certainly were not responsible enough to be privy to our transportation secrets. What if they had been in charge, and then changed their mind, then? We would have been in real trouble.
Karl says:

March 10, 2006 at 5:16 pm

the whole country practically had a racist fit over this deal, can you honestly blame them for getting pissy?
CavalierX says:

March 10, 2006 at 5:17 pm

Killing to port deal has sent a variety of messages, none of them good. It has weakened the President in the eyes of the world. It says that America is, indeed, a “fair-weather” friend. It says that America will never trust Arabs and Muslims, even friendly ones who help us. Foreign investors are now considering whether to pull out of American investments before they get thrown out. Potential investors are considering whether China might make a better partner. Middle Eastern countries that have helped or might have helped us are wondering whether being treated like they’re enemies would be worth the risk of angering those real enemies. Fearmongering Democrats and weak-kneed Republicans in Congress have handed bin Laden a huge propaganda victory, while dealing the US a double blow, both in the economy and in the War on Terror. Great job!
Raj says:

March 10, 2006 at 5:27 pm

I can’t believe I agreed with bigmouth O’Reilly last night when he said US lacks the smartness in the war on terror if not the skills and strength. Trying to be unbiased, it should be safe to claim that the lack of smartness lies either in sending the wrong message to the Arab world OR it lies in not explaining the details of the deal to the congress (if not the public, cuz the public is usually emotionally hyper, in any country) so that the approval/disapproval of the deal would have been a little more constructive for the country.
Raj says:

March 10, 2006 at 5:46 pm

Gee even an Israeli shipper had endorsed the deal.

LINK
Raj says:

March 10, 2006 at 6:10 pm

This may sound over-the-top but I feel bad for Dubai’s pro-western prospects after reading this:

LINK
stackja says:

March 10, 2006 at 6:49 pm

I note that Ma Bell maybe back at the top now. The fuss then about AT&T shows how life changes. Now the ports fuss. We shall see.
steve says:

March 10, 2006 at 8:05 pm

The next fuss will be over the greatest Socialist organization in America, the Defense Department. $600 billion dollars a year is far too much money to give to this entitlement program. 1/2 of that amount should be more then enough. Peace
forest hunter says:

March 10, 2006 at 8:28 pm

this is a test steve- what’s half of six billion dollars in Martian currency? Okay unfair question, US dollars then.

I’m sure you’ll go far steve and the sooner the better.
Mwalimu Daudi says:

March 10, 2006 at 8:48 pm

Ex-President Carter blows kisses towards Hamas. Mother Sheehan and Steven Speilberg make Jew-baiting fashionable again. An ally against Islamofascism and terrorism is decorated by knives in the back from an outraged (read: fearful) Congress. See a pattern?

Maybe I’m being too hard – after all, the MSM and Democrats were against racial profiling before they were for it. And John Kerry promised an “international test” in making foreign policy decisions (UAE and USA excepted).
steve says:

March 10, 2006 at 9:07 pm

The attack is against Zionism, not Judism. And the port deal is more about NAFTA and capitalism then about the UAE and Arabs or Moslems. Peace
Eno says:

March 10, 2006 at 9:09 pm

The Clinton admin sat idly by while COSCO took over Long Beach with nary a word from Schumer or other Dems. COSCO is actually owned by the Red Army, not the Communist Party, so the risk is unbelievable. All of our ports are operated by foreign companies, Inchape runs a dozen ports and is owned by an exec from…….Dubai. Is Hillary going to run him off too. (After her husband pockets another $450k from the same gov’t she is condemning. Oh, Steve I forgot, she didn’t realize that was on HER financial statement. Clintons clouded by pixie dust again) Is Schumer going to throw COSCO out of the country? The Dems are afraid of DPW for one reason only….they don’t want them dirty little Arabs running our ports. There are valid reason to keep a watchful eye on the shipping industry, but the left is engaging in pure and simple racism here. Lets call it what it is.
P.S. Hey Raj, I’m glad you’re coming around, but don’t admit you’re “liberal/pinko” on social issues and “moderate” on others. It really doesn’t make you sound smart or cool. I was smoking at Dead shows when you were a twinkle in your momma’s eye. Your libertine ideology is the result of youth and exuberance, not well thought out and debated philosophical ideology. Some remain stuck in old memes, some (like Sistah Toljah) move on to a more reasoned worldview through decent analytical thought. The fact your making intelligent comments on this site is a good start. Just lose the “I’m really a liberal on social stuff guys” attitude.
Amy Proctor says:

March 10, 2006 at 9:14 pm

US Senators Fail US Ally, UAE

However, the UAE cut all ties of support with the Taliban after Sept. 11, 2001. The message was clear: the UAE condemned the terrorist attack on the US and would work to support the war on terror.
forest hunter says:

March 10, 2006 at 9:17 pm

He doesn’t have ulcers but he’s a carrier!
Mwalimu Daudi says:

March 10, 2006 at 9:31 pm

Steve, why do the Islamofascists rail against “Zionists” and then slaughter Jews and those who would defend them? Somehow all this talk about Zionism looks like, well, a smokescreen.

But them I’m just a Bible-thumpin’ right-wing imperialist Halliburton-worshiping chickenhawk non-vegan homophobic meat-eatin’ carbon dioxide producing Jew lovin’ white racist (my wife must then be a black racist – we got all angles covered, man!) card-carrying member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. Or so the MSM tells me.
camojack says:

March 11, 2006 at 1:33 am

Update II: Wow – think *I’m* mad? Read Cassandra’s post at Villainous Company â€¦ powerful stuff.

I just tossed a little flirt your way over there, ST…
newton says:

March 11, 2006 at 10:32 am

I share your sentiment, sistah!

Here.
steve says:

March 11, 2006 at 10:54 am

The elections in Iraq happened almost 3 months ago? How many more months or years will it take for the Iraqis to form a government so our troops can come home?? Support the troops by bringing them home now. Peace
CavalierX says:

March 11, 2006 at 11:18 am

Ahh, steve… it took seven years after the surrender for the Japanese to form a self-sustaining government, and we’re still there. What stupidity causes a person to say “bring the troops home now” like an impatient three-year-old? That’s not support for the troops; it’s support for the enemy who wants us to leave too soon, so they can terrorise the new Iraqi government into submission. Am I going too fast for you, as usual?
sanity says:

March 11, 2006 at 12:12 pm

It’s the short attention span generation Cav.

They are used ot thinks flying past them, flickering from screen-to-screen, the iconic generation of not reading but pressing icons and buttons.

steve things take time, heck to be born took you 9 months and htat is just to pop you out of the shoot, then to educate you and get your to adult hood it took 18 years (just assuming adulthood at 18).

You expect a counrty that has only known dictatorship and nothing of democracy to form one and get up and runinng in a short time? That is a rediculous notion.
steve says:

March 11, 2006 at 3:47 pm

At the rate of $2 billion each and every week, time is the one thing we don’t have. New Orleans needs money, we need a universal health care system, we need a ton more money to get our seaports safe. We are still there only so bush and the boy’s can save face at this point. Peace
Amy Proctor says:

March 11, 2006 at 5:48 pm

You know it’s funny. At first just about ALL conservatives were on the anti-Dubai band wagon. I believe Americans are basically uninformed (I hate to say the word “stupid”, but that’s entirely possible, too).

We have two major U.S. bases in the UAE. The port of Jebel Ali docked over 500 Navy warships last year, and played host over 70,000 American troops.

The Air Force flies reconnaissance and refueling missions out of the Al Dahfra airbase, which played a critical role in the air wars over Iraq and Afghanistan.

So… how in the hell Republican Senators and Congressmen who claim to be on board the war on terror can justify their vote….. I can’t figure. Stupid, STUPID, STUPID. We needed the UAE.

My hubby did a year in Iraq with the 82nd ABN and he’s FURIOUS over this mess. One thing most people who haven’t been to the Middle East don’t know is what offends Arabs. This sort of public disrespect of them, with American Senators talking about what a security risk the UAE is (they have arguably the safest port in the world) and claiming the UAE supports the Taliban (they broke off ALL TIES with the Taliban after 9/11 and became our earnest allies, so Dems are just ignorant or lying about that) or that the UAE fasciliated 9/11 with their “2 terrorists) (The US fasciliated 11 terrorists, then, who used the US as an interface for carrying out their 9/11 plots… we’d be more guilty than the UAE) is absolulety INSULTING to Arabs… particularly since it’s false. My husband said that in his experience with Iraqis and Kuwaits, an Arab man would respect you taking him privately aside and punching his lights out but not for publicly disrespecting him, so this is a HUGE insult to our UAE friends. And they truly are friends and allies.

STUPID SENATORS!

Another lie is that the UAE was “taking over US Ports.” Totally false. The office of Homeland Security said, “DP World will not, nor will any other terminal operator, control, operate or manage any United States port. DP World will only operate and manage specific, individual terminals located within six ports.”

In fact, Dubai paid out of its own pocket millions to appease Americans via extra security training of it’s workers.

If these hallowed Senators have any respectibility, they will kick out China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan from US ports. They all operate as the UAE would have.

This is just so sad. Any moron can just look at a map of the UAE and see why we need them. We’ve never had any problems with any of our troops and ships that have passed through there, and there have been 10’s of thousands. You know, Kuwait and Qatar have governments just like the UAE…. to diss the UAE is to diss them all.

Stupid Democrats, stupid Republicans. Were any Republicans supporting the deal?
CavalierX says:

March 11, 2006 at 7:25 pm

>At the rate of $2 billion each and every
>week

Aww, it’s kind of cute when Liberals pretend to be fiscal Conservatives…

>New Orleans needs money

…especially when the mask slips seconds later and they start screeching for money for their social programs. Personally, I don’t want my tax dollars rebuilding a city in a flood zone, below sea level, that was destroying the environment by its very presence. You do realise that the city was causing the mass destruction of the wetlands? Or don’t you care about the environment?
CavalierX says:

March 11, 2006 at 7:58 pm

Ahh, well, that link didn’t work. Try this
steve says:

March 11, 2006 at 8:17 pm

Wow, an actual conservative Conservative worrying about enviornmental destruction, impressive. New Orleans is not going to disappear so destruction of the eco-system has to be prevented. The money to do that is being wasted in Iraq so bush and Cheney can save face. Let’s stop the nonsense and end the debacle in Iraq so we can save lives, money and ourselves. Peace
sanity says:

March 11, 2006 at 8:39 pm

And how many more billions do you want to shove at ONE city damaged by flooding?

Seems media reports and caring all revolve around NO, but no mention of any other state or city that has been devastated by the actual hurricane.

Remember, the devestation was said to be the size of Great Britian, and that is a BIG area. So why does it seem like the media and everyone only cares about NO?

Here is something to ponder:

Put yourself in the shoes of those not in NO, but have been devestated by the ACTUAL hurricane (not flooding afterwards), and you tell me how PO’d you would be listening to the media and money going to NO and the problems of the actual hurricane victims seem to be forgotten.

Just sit back and let that sink in for a moment, look back and look at the media reports, where the national attention is, where the money seems ot all be going….ponder that for a few and think how you would feel……
CavalierX says:

March 11, 2006 at 10:33 pm

>an actual conservative Conservative
>worrying about enviornmental destruction

Conservatives are far better stewards of the environment than Liberals could ever be. Why is that, you ask? Because unlike Liberals, we actually believe there’s a future to plan for… to conserve for. Conservation means management of resources, which includes harvesting and use. We understand that nature is in a constant state of flux. Walling off portions of the world and demanding that things never change there runs completely counter to nature, and destroys the environment by putting it in a glass bubble, disconnected from the real world. Hey, that kind of sounds like Liberals…
CavalierX says:

March 11, 2006 at 10:35 pm

>The money to do that is being wasted in
>Iraq

That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, since they are two completely seperate things. Do you have no concept whatsoever of budgeting and government?
steve says:

March 12, 2006 at 7:35 am

Tax dollars are money. Money is budgeted. Too much money is budgeted for the Defense Department. It should be cut by at least $225 billion in 2007. Peace
CavalierX says:

March 12, 2006 at 8:22 am

>Too much money is budgeted for the
>Defense Department.

It’s the only Constitutionally-mandated expense, and one of the few legitimate expenses, of the Federal government. It’s all the useless feel-good programs that don’t actually have any effect on the problems they’re supposed to solve that waste my money. If it weren’t for the Defense Department, you’d be speaking German or Japanese. On the other hand, there would probably be forced euthanasia for the useless.
sanity says:

March 12, 2006 at 9:10 am

Think the ports are safe with UAE out of the picture? Think again.

Here is a recent study you should read:

Among the study’s findings:

_Safety problems were not limited to overseas ports. A warehouse in Maine was graded less secure than any in Pakistan, Turkey or Brazil. “There is a perception that U.S. facilities benefit from superior security protection measures,” the study said. “This mind set may contribute to a misplaced sense of confidence in American business practices.”

_No records were kept of “cursory” inspections in Guatemala for containers filled with Starbucks Corp. coffee beans shipped to the West Coast. “Coffee beans were accessible to anyone entering the facility,” the study said. It found significant mistakes on manifests and other paperwork. In a statement to the AP, Starbucks said it was reviewing its security procedures.

_Truck drivers in Brazil were permitted to take cargo containers home overnight and park along public streets. Trains in the U.S. stopped in rail yards that did not have fences and were in high-crime areas. A shipping industry adage reflects unease over such practices: “A container at rest is a container at risk.”

_Practices at Turkey’s Port of Izmir were “totally inadequate by U.S. standards.” But, the study noted, “It has been done that way for decades in Turkey.”

_Containers could be opened aboard some ships during weekslong voyages to America. “Due to the time involved in transit (and) the fact that most vessel crew members are foreigners with limited credentialing and vetting, the containers are vulnerable to intrusion during the ocean voyage,” the study said.

_Some governments will not help tighten security because they view terrorism as an American problem. The U.S. said “certain countries,” which were not identified, would not cooperate in its security study — “a tangible example of the lack of urgency with which these issues are regarded.”

_Security was good at two terminals in Seattle and nearby Tacoma, Wash. The operator in Seattle, SSA Marine, uses cameras and software to track visitors and workers. “We consider ourselves playing an important role in security,” said the company’s vice president, Bob Waters.

In theory, some nuclear materials inside cargo containers can be detected with special monitors. But such devices have frustrated port officials in New Jersey because bananas, kitty litter and fire detectors — which all emit natural radiation — set off the same alarms more than 100 times every day.

Read the whole thing here
Baklava says:

March 13, 2006 at 11:17 am

More fallout. Our relations with the UAE is hurt .
Baklava says:

March 13, 2006 at 1:32 pm

Jim Pinkerton writes:

On Feb. 17, Hillary denounced the Dubai deal, declaring, “Our port security is too important to place in the hands of foreign governments.” But on March 2, the Financial Times reported that Bill was called in to advise the United Arab Emirates about securing the deal for its company.

Indeed, Hillary’s own financial disclosure forms showed that Bill received $450,000 for giving speeches in Dubai in 2002, and that UAE officials had donated up to $1 million to the Clinton presidential library in Little Rock. Did Hillary really not know about that? Didn’t she get curious about any possible conflict of interest that those Arab monies might have posed?

Bold emphasis mine:
Fix 4 RSO » Blog Archive » What Drive-By Media and Vote Getters Hath Wrought says:

March 14, 2006 at 5:09 am

[…] References and Thanks! Bloggers I read: Amy started me on this thread! Found Amy cross-posted to CaliforniaConservative too Buck’s got a sound posting on this mess Babylonandon cracks me up – sees a finger in the dike PunditGuy wonders what is going on now Sister Toldjah’s short blurb on the fallout – she has more […]
Fix 4 RSO » Blog Archive » US Military Wastes Precious Budget Bucks says:

March 15, 2006 at 4:13 am

[…] This whole post started in response to these comments I read about the UAE Ports Deal debacle on Sister Toldjah’s blog. One of her readers tossed out the tired and worn out drivel … oh, here’s the exchange: “The next fuss will be over the greatest Socialist organization in America, the Defense Department. $600 billion dollars a year is far too much money to give to this entitlement program. 1/2 of that amount should be more then enough. Peace” [Comment 88819] […]

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