Let’s examine past experiences of Republicans jumping on board recent bandwagons: Ann Coulter calling extremist Muslims "ragheads" was met with swift Conservative excommunication.  Denmark is being praised as a champion of free speech by Conservatives, despite the fact that what this type of free speech can do for you, it can do to you. 

With these "don’t look before you leap" bandwagons overloaded with Conservatives, let’s do a review of the  United Arab Emirates (UAE) -owned company, Dubai Ports World, and the contract with the London company to manage U.S. ports.  First, here is the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company who currently manages the ports.  Here is the Dubai Port company.

MYTHS

Myth: President Bush contracted the UAE to manage US ports.
Fact:  The  U.S. Committee on Foreign Investments has approved a pending contract with the state-controlled Dubai Ports World of the United Arab Emirates  to manage U.S. sea ports.  The Committee on Foreign Investment  includes representatives from 12 government agencies and departments, including Defense Department, Homeland Security and the White House National Security Council.  It took 90 days to approve the deal. The British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), currently manages the ports and is selling the management of the ports to Dubai Port.  The White House is backing the contract.  

Myth: The U.S. will be less safe with the UAE managing the ports instead of the British. 
Fact:  The private British company currently manages the ports in question. The ports are already managed by foreigners; in light of the Muslim presence in Britian and the vow from extremists to continue attacks like the ones in London, it could be suggested that US ports managed by the Brits is a riskier venture than to sell the work to Dubai.

Myth: The U.S. would be safer managing its own ports. 
Fact: The U.S. has had more domestic terrorism than the United Arab Emirates.  Consider these home grown American terrorists who carried out domestic attacks: 

-Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols on April 19,1995 used a truck bomb at the Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building that killed 168 Americans, including many children.  McVeigh was executed for his crimes in early 2001.
-Eric Rudolph, known as the Olympic Park Bomber, killed 2 people and injured 111 after setting off a bomb in Atlanta, Georgia’s Olympic Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics.
-Anthrax attacks beginning Sept. 18, 2001.  Five Americans were killed by Anthrax which was delivered to news stations in NYC and 2 Senators in Washington, DC.  The crimes are still unsolved.

*Domestic attacks within the United Arab Emirates since it’s conception in December, 1971:  ZERO.

Yet we trust the US to safeguard our ports over a country, that happens to be Arab, with a better track record on security.

Myth:  The Bush Administration is outsourcing the security of our ports.  
Fact: The U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection are in charge of security of our ports.

Myth: The Bush Administration hid the deal until it was exposed by the media.
Fact: DP World announced its intent to purchase P&O on November 29, 2005. Even before the official announcement, the press was reporting on the possible transaction as early as October 30. Between October 2005 and January 2006, there were at least 162 mentions of the transaction in the press.

Complete Fact Sheet from the White House

Tackling the concerns

-Two 9/11 hijackers "had ties" to the UAE:  All eleven 9/11 terrorists learned to fly in US flight schools, lived in US hotels, used American banks and used the US as an interface to pull off their plots.   The United States is no more guilty by association than the UAE is.  (keep in mind domestic American terrorists)

-The UAE approved the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan.  The UAE was one of only 3 nations that had recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government.  Political analyst Abdul Khaleq Abdulla said the recognition of the Taliban was aimed at putting an end to a civil war that ravaged Afghanistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, and that the Taliban appeared to be in the best position to control the country. "Little did they know that the regime would turn out the way it did," Abdulla said.

In addition to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also recognized the Taliban after they seized the Afghan capital Kabul in 1996. All three countries cut ties with the Taliban after it sheltered al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

WHO’S SUPPORTING THE DEAL:

-Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security Director.
-Joe Lierberman, Dem. CT-Sen .
-Dan Bartlett, White House counselor.
-John Snow, Treasury Secretary.
-Gen. Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
-Donald Rumsfeld, Sec. of Defense. 
-Tommy Franks, Retired Gen US Army:  "We have more U.S. Navy ships using the port in Dubai, Jebel Ali, than any other port outside the United States. We know he difference between an enemy and a friend.  The Emirates is a friend.  That is the best run port that I’ve ever seen."

WHO’S OPPOSING THE DEAL:

-The Usual Suspects
-Dissenting Republicans (like SC Sen. Lindsay Graham, who also broke ranks from the President on the war in Iraq and the surveillance program)
-American Unions (Teamsters Union, full photo)

It didn’t take long, but the demagoguery has begun.  Now that Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton ("We cannot cede sovereignty over critical infrastructure like our ports. This is a job that America has to do."), are coming out and officially blaming the President for outsourcing national security, it seems clear that Conservatives erred in siding with Democrats.   The UAE has been our ally for years and the UAE has graciously offered to postpone the contract to ease US concerns.   The UAE  gave $100 million in aid for Katrina Hurricane relief last year… because that’s what allies do.  The aid from the UAE was nearly four times as much as it received from all other countries combined. Other countries, including some in the Middle East, also pledged large contributions but have not yet sent the money. 

WHY WE NEED THE UAE

The UAE, according to military officials and former CENTCOM GEN Tommy Franks, has one of the safest and best run ports in the world and currently accommodates US ships for our activities in the Middle East.  The UAE has been an outstanding ally on the war on terror with the United States.  The map speaks for itself.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said that religious and racial bias, not a legitimate concern for security, are behind the opposition to Dubai Ports World managing six U.S. ports:

"Most Muslims would agree that underlying this entire issue is an anti-Muslim, anti-Arab bias that says, ‘Muslims and Arabs are somehow less trustworthy than other people.’  People are saying, ‘Don’t sell — sell our ports to the Arabs.’ Well, that’s not what’s happening at all.  The [Department of Homeland Security] is still screening the cargo, the Coast Guard is still protecting the port, the union longshoremen are still loading and unloading the cargo and I believe the majority of the employees of the company are British and American. The [Chief Operating Officer] is American."

Although Democrats may not intend to, they are engaging in the worst case of racial profiling in their effort to take political advantage of a complex situation.  Democrats do not have public confidence on the issue of national security and they have contradicted themselves in an effort to cash in on an opportunity of misunderstanding.  While decrying tight security checks at American airports as "racial profiling", they have proceeded to label an entire race of people because of extremist Muslims within the religion.  In fact, the possibility is that religious Muslims aren’t truly behind the terrorist movement; rather, it is a political and ideological movement draped in the guise of religion (i.e., al-Qaeda, the Taliban) to gain global Muslim support that taints the image of Muslims.  Certainly there are elements of passion in the Arab culture that frighten Americans, but just as it is wrong to stereotype an entire race, it is even wronger to carry out a stereotype of an entire race for political purposes. 

While the jury may still be out, next time, let’s give OUR President the benefit of the doubt.  Be suspicious of any bandwagon filled with liberals.

Expose the Left    Stop the ACLU   Righting America   Sister Toldjah  EIMC  Jo’s Cafe   Conservababes  Don Surber    Flopping Aces 

Trackback URL:
http://amyproctor.squarespace.com/blog/trackback/397076