Bipartisan Howls as White House Quietly Outsources US Port Operations to United Arab Emirates
The secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a 12-member panel run by the US Treasury Department and composed of official from the Defense, Justice, Commerce, State and Homeland Security departments, approved the transaction after "rigorous review." Of course, all heads of those departments have signed statements pledging allegiance to George Bush's plans.
Yesterday, a bipartisan Congressional group, in a letter sent to Treasury Secretary John Snow, strongly objected to ceding control of US ports to a country with a spotty record on terrorism.
Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) said to AP, "At a time when America is leading the world in the war on terrorism and spending billions of dollars to secure our homeland, we cannot cede control of strategic assets to foreign nations with spotty records on terrorism."
Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said, "The administration need to take another look at this deal. Outsourcing the operations of our largest ports to a country with a dubious record on terrorism is a homeland security and commerce accident waiting to happen."
The letter, which was signed by Senators Tom Colburn (R-OK), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Representatives Vito Fossella (R-NY), Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Mark Foley (R-FL), cited four immediate objections to allowing UAE control of US ports:
– The UAE was one of three countries in the world to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
– The UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
– According to the FBI, money was transferred to the 9/11 hijackers through the UAE banking system.
– After 9/11, the Treasury Department reported that the UAE was not cooperating in efforts to track down Osama Bin Laden’s bank accounts.
Per AP, "The Homeland Security Department said it was legally impossible under the committee's rules to reconsider its approval without evidence DP World gave false information or withheld vital details from U.S. officials. The 30-day window for the committee to voice objections has ended. "
United Arab Emirates company DP World "said it had received all regulatory approvals. "
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At first, I thought this ludicrous story was a premature April Fools joke. It's not.....it's for real. I heartily second the words of blogger Georgia10 at DailyKos when she writes....
"So Gonzales, Rice, Rumsfeld, Snow, and an other Bush administration officials conducted a security review and decided--unanimously--that the sale did not post a national security threat.
How thorough was their investigation? They did not conduct background checks on senior managers of the company, nor did they ask how the company screens its own employees. You know, just in case a terrorist wants to infiltrate the company that now has unprecedented and unfettered access to our ports...."
For further info, Georgia10's post at DailyKos, Bush Administration Sells Port Security To Highest Foreign Bidder, has a great depth of detail about this stealth transaction.
Here's my question.....WHY do Americans erroneously regard the Bush Administration as strong on national security???
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UPDATE - Since the bipartisan Congressional letter was sent yesterday, many more members of Congress, upon first learning of this outsourcing, are loudly objecting to this secretive deal. Among those newly registering objections are Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA). And Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) urges the Senate to block this sale.
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