White House defends ports takeover stance

[sabra]

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20060219&ID=5518566

White House defends ports takeover stance

All Financial Times NewsThe White House is embarking on a vigorous defence of its decision to approve Dubai Ports World's Ј3.9bn (Ђ5.7bn) takeover of P&O, the UK ports operator, in the face of mounting congressional opposition to the deal.

The administration will emphasise two points in response to claims by Washington lawmakers and local officials – both Republican and Democratic – that the deal, which will give Dubai-owned DP World five terminals along the east coast of the US, compromises national security.

A Treasury official said the White House would call on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assure critics on Capitol Hill that the deal was thoroughly investigated by the interagency committee that vets foreign takeovers of US assets on national security grounds and that DP World had a long standing relationship with DHS.

...

The Bush administration will also call on State and Defence department officials to persuade legislators that the US has a "long-standing" and "good" relationship with the United Arab Emirates.

[NVMojo]

1. their arrogance is so thick that they seem to be out of their fecking mind

[freefall]

2. Let's hope it finally brings them down. n/t

[CountAllVotes]

3. and it shall

throw in the spying on American citizens ... a done deal IMO unless the machines win again! :grr:

:kick:

[mom cat]

21. How many things have been the thing that would bring Bushco down?

I've lost count and am feeling weary right now.

[Kierkegaard]

34. Bingo.

I'm very mathematically literate and doubt that I could count high enough to account for all the transgressions that should have toppled the House of Dimwit®.

[mom cat]

38. If this were a democracy, we would have him out of there by now.

[napi21]

4. OH YEA! Another "Trust Me" excuse!!!!! n/t

[tecelote]

5. Once again - America sold out from underneath it's citizens.

Makes sense though, Bushco probably sees the need for another 9/11.

[NVMojo]

6. that's a scary thought. Setting up for another 9/11.

Especially after these same people financed penetration of our air security. What a laugh to even think of turning our port security over to them.

[saigon68]

29. His friends are making a killing Billions of

$$$$$$$$$$$

[Abathar]

32. There is another problem that isn't mentioned

I was reading a news banner on CNN this weekend and it brought up a good point.

If the ports were run by a British firm before they were bought out by the UAE corporation then it really hurts the national defense argument of the port management, we let one country do it but not another.

The problem is that if it is denied both the US, UAE and the British are all members of the WTO, and it smacks of discrimination. If we do not let them as the top bidder take the job then the courts in Belgium will side with the UAE and we will get hit with a huge fine. Guess joining the WTO bites the big one at times of national security.

[saigon68]

33. Good Point

[VirginiaDem]

36. apples and oranges, kind of

The incoming company is gov't owned. That is not true of the British firm. And the gov't-owned part might fly with the WTO since there is a legitimate sovereignty issue. Even if there isn't, WTO disputes take years to settle. Congress has plenty of time to step in.

[seafan]

7. But, but, but, "no background checks and no outside information taken??"

From your link:

A Treasury official said the White House would call on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assure critics on Capitol Hill that the deal was thoroughly investigated by the interagency committee that vets foreign takeovers of US assets on national security grounds and that DP World had a long standing relationship with DHS.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20060219&ID=5518566





So, Mr. White House, care to 'splain THIS????

Stewart Baker, assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said his department had no information about Dubai Ports World that justified an objection to the deal. Indeed, he said, the company has cooperated with the department in its efforts to secure American ports and ships in foreign ports.

"We did not find derogatory information in our review," he said.

But that review, Mr. Baker said, did not involve gathering information from outside sources, like the Port Authority, because the committee must keep a proposed transaction secret. He said the committee's investigation began in November and ended in mid-January.

The investigation did not include background checks on the senior managers of the company or an evaluation of how the company screens its own employees, Mr. King said. "Certainly, you would think they would talk to the Port Authority," he added.

Mr. Schumer said he believed that pressure for a second review was beginning to mount in Congress, among Democrats and Republicans. Mr. King said he would consider holding a Homeland Security Committee hearing on the matter if the administration refused to reconsider.

"This can't be treated in a pre-9/11 way," Mr. King said. "There was a tone-deafness here that indicates they didn't show the level of concern that it warranted."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/17/nyregion/17ports.html


These people are a piece of work.

[Kierkegaard]

35. They are a piece of something...

'work' wasn't the word that came to mind.

[NanceGreggs]

8. Let's cut them some slack, folks!

"... the White House will call on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to assure critics on Capitol Hill ..."

After DHS's fine performance with respect to Katrina and it's aftermath, we can all rest assured that this is in competent hands.

[proReality]

9. Isn't this normal?

I thought this was the way all dictatorships operated. Power to the powerful, squash the people.

[mdmc]

10. kick for the info

:dem:

[madrchsod]

11. "sum of all fears"

and we thought movies were fiction........

[bvar22]

12. Michael Chertoff , head of the Homeland Security Dept,

tells the American people that "Bushie is doing a heck of a job protecting our ports!"

[adriennui]

13. three itty bitty words to the administration

go to hell.

[Solly Mack]

14. "...that DP World had a long standing relationship with DHS"

Just how long could this "long standing relationship" be considering the length of time DHS has been around?

[TheGunslinger]

15. "long-standing"???

How old is DHS again??

[Journeyman]

19. That was my first thought. . .

"It's OK to leave the kids overnight with the new neighbor -- I've known him well over a week and a half now, had a couple of beers with him. He's a regular fellow -- showed me his porno collection."

[Massachusetts]

16. White House defends ports takeover stance

Treason!

[Me.]

17. They Can Spin It Any Way They Want

But if it walks like a duck...

[lovuian]

18. Hey is that the Homeland guy who said he made a mistake with

Katrina... Oh Ya that makes me feel safer...

Why does UAE want our ports???

[leesa]

20. What did we give them for this that makes it so important that it goes

through?

[pinniped]

23. This undoubtedly has something to do with it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2117603

[pinniped]

22. The repuke sissies thought their presidunce was going to protect....

them.

They were used and discarded.

I am not surprised by anything these repukes pull off. I've been seeing Bizarro World shit since they stole the office.

[BadGimp]

24. this is part of 9/11 II

They are setting things up for a super attack that will help them cement their power base.

This is the only explaination which is plausable given the sheer stupidity of this decision.

The good news is they may be forced to abandon this due to the outcry.

Let's hope.

[Vidar]

25. They'd defend their outsourcing of the sun to another galaxy.

[malmapus]

26. Hey!! It'll be cost effective and all we will have to do is just wear a

little more clothing than usual, win / win!

[superconnected]

27. They PURPOSELY omitted the fact that they're owned by arab

imirates. Instead they're saying the "UK company" to try to make it look like a UK company - (our allies) is taking over the ports.

[warrens]

28. Fight bravely, fascists

This is the most amazing piece of idiocy I have ever heard of. But yeah, go ahead and defend turning over our ports to a bunch of Al Qaeda supporters. Keepin' Merka Safe and all that crap.

[Akoto]

30. This will not stand.

No matter how they try to spin it, they're selling off portals into our country to people who can't be trusted with them. I don't say that because they're Arabs. I say that because they're not us, in a time when we aren't exactly the most popular nation in the world.

[The Backlash Cometh]

31. Who trusts these sons of bitches? Nobody trusts them.

How many times do you let a dishonest person steal your blind before you say, it's enough?

[wordpix2]

40. are we going to trust Michael Jerktoff with our port security post-Katrina

when he says "no problem with UAE takeover?"

[VirginiaDem]

37. The administration has blundered into a trap set by itself.

They are really between a rock and a hard place on this one. The rock is the bipartisan opposition that is already shaping up and will continue to shape up. Fortunately for us, the Dems jumped first and sponsored the first bill in the Senate. Now Repubs are jumping ship. Bush is politically defenseless on this. Even if there is an economic/traditional reason to not get our panties in a wad, nobody's buying it. The hard place is Bush's head. He's too stubborn to back off until it's too late and it's already too late.

This ain't gonna make the regime fall, or anything like that, but it will further drag Bush and anyone associated with him down. Meanwhile, the Dems win the weak-on-security immunity idol for at least one more episode.

Finally, there's almost no chance this will go through, at least in the short term. Congress will never allow it--too many Reps and Senators up for reelection--and Bush/Rove don't get it yet.

Don't bogart the :popcorn:

[wordpix2]

39. Scarborough on this with Pete King & both adamantly oppose UAE takeover

Will wonders never cease? Two big Bushistas now oppose * on a security issue!

[wordpix2]

41. K&R to get these bums out of WH!!!