Originally Posted By DouglasDubh <I have serious concerns when our government is going to turn over major port authority responcibilities to a foreign government despite any secret promises and assurances that foreign government has made to any US administration.> We're not turning over port authority to a foreign government. The port officials will still be US government employees. I'm pretty sure all of the guards will be US citizens, too. They just get paid by a company that is owned by a company that's foreign owned.
Originally Posted By StillThePassHolder Apparently Tom Ridge isn't completely on board with this, either. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/20/port.security/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITI CS/02/20/port.security/index.html</a>
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan (Off topic greeting) mrichmondj! WOW! Welcome back! Long time no 'see' on the boards! (Return to topic now...)
Originally Posted By mrichmondj (off topic hand waving) Hey K2M -- nice to finally have some spare time again to be back! Thanks for noticing! (Return hands to keyboard and back on topic now)
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Robert Menendez, Democratic Senator from New Jersey, hit the nail on the head: "No matter what steps the administration claims it has secretly taken, it is an unacceptable risk to turn control of our ports over to a foreign government, particularly one with a troubling history. We cannot depend on promises a foreign government has given the administration in secret to secure our ports."
Originally Posted By Lake Nona Hate to say this but Bush is wrong, but on this issue, what kind of security is going on. Let's see... The Chinese (A Hong Kong company) runs the Panama Canal, (Thanks Pres Carter) and another Chinese company runs The Port of Long Beach.? The dems and reps are right on this stupid issue. Let's not forget that almost 3000 people died within 100 minutes on 9/11. To have a UAE company run 6 US ports is just asking for trouble. In case of a war, the MSC (military sealift command) may have logistical issues with this UAE company. Any chance this president can listen to the people for once?
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<The Chinese (A Hong Kong company) runs the Panama Canal, (Thanks Pres Carter) and another Chinese company runs The Port of Long Beach.?>> Not sure about Long Beach. But correction its a company owned by the Chinese Army that operates the Panama canal. <a href="http://hometown.aol.com/beachbt/panacosco.txt" target="_blank">http://hometown.aol.com/beachb t/panacosco.txt</a>
Originally Posted By StillThePassHolder And now some GOP governors aren't too thrilled with the idea. <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060221/ap_on_go_co/port_security" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200 60221/ap_on_go_co/port_security</a>
Originally Posted By StillThePassHolder "We're not turning over port authority to a foreign government. The port officials will still be US government employees. I'm pretty sure all of the guards will be US citizens, too. They just get paid by a company that is owned by a company that's foreign owned." Au contraire. The company given the contract is owned by the Dubai government.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh True. I blew that one. I think the rest of my post was right, however.
Originally Posted By StillThePassHolder "I think the rest of my post was right, however." If you're referring to "The port officials will still be US government employees. I'm pretty sure all of the guards will be US citizens, too", that apparently is not clear and a very large part of why people from both sides of the aisle are so upset.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper We buy millions and millions of barrels of oil from Arab nations, oil that is shipped to US ports. Isn't it in their best interest, as well as ours, that they keep the ports safe? I don't see port security getting worse as a result of this. When you are at near bottom the only way to go is up.
Originally Posted By StillThePassHolder Bush just said he'll veto any bill that stops the deal. If he says "trust us" one more time the entire Congress may erupt in derisive laughter. Bush increasingly just doesn't get it.
Originally Posted By CrouchingTigger >> We buy millions and millions of barrels of oil from Arab nations, oil that is shipped to US ports. Isn't it in their best interest, as well as ours, that they keep the ports safe? << We were their best customer in the '70's, too, but in 1973 the Arab countries decided to punish any country that supported Israel. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_energy_crisis" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1 973_energy_crisis</a> What would happen if, in addition to not selling us oil, they were able to prevent _any_ cargo from arriving at a U.S. port?
Originally Posted By DlandDug I seldom stop by WE anymore, but I did take pause at the title of this topic. Neither the original article states, nor the private business transaction pending will, "put Arabs in charge of port security." The pending transaction will put a company controlled by the UAE in charge of port operations in six US cities. Security at these ports will be handled (as always) by US law enforcemnent. The six ports have been managed by a private British company, which is brokering the deal. Bush did not propose to put "Arabs" in charge; he has simply declined to oppose the deal. I personally have been opposed for some time to foreign companies owning or managing US resources. But since we are a part of the global economy, it is inevitable. This whole uproar reminds me of nothing so much as the tempest in a teapot back in the 70s when "Arabs" were supposedly taking over America. After that, it was the Japanese in the 80s. Meanwhile, the insidious foreigners with the biggest investments in America remain... the British and the Dutch. (P.S. The governmenet of the UAE, unlike Iraq, have been one of Amwerica's staunchest allies in the region. That its private citizens have been involved in 9/11 does NOT tie the government to that disaster. How amusing it is to see how tenuous connections are being trotted out by those who are usually so, so skeptical.)
Originally Posted By CrouchingTigger >>How would they do that?<< "The port's closed today, folks. Come back tomorrow."
