US Ports Update

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In a post from a few days ago, I expressed my shock that the US government approved the transfer of port operations from P & O, a London based port management company that manages several ports in the US, to Dubai Ports World, another port management company based in the United Arab Emirates. I argued that allowing a company with financial ties to al Queda to operate US ports was simply unacceptable in a post 9/11 America, even if UAE is an ally. 

Michelle Malkin has taken up the cause as well and provides additional information about this very bad idea. Law makers on both sides of the aisle are not happy with this situation and are trying to do something about it:

A number of Republican and Democratic members of Congress urged theCompose Post government to review the deal more carefully and scrutinize all security issues before Dubai Ports assumes management of U.S. ports.

The lawmakers voiced concern that the UAE served as a conduit for parts used for nuclear proliferation and that the local banking system had been abused by terrorist financiers.

U.S. officials have said money for the Sept. 11 attacks was wired through the United Arab Emirates' banking system. Two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were UAE citizens.

"Six of our largest commercial ports are being handed over to a country that is seeking to be Iran's free-trade partner and has been linked to the funding and planning of 9/11," said Rep. Mark Foley, a Florida Republican.

Foley and Schumer were among seven lawmakers who wrote to Snow expressing concern that the Bush administration was not giving the case appropriate attention and urging him to make the Committee on Foreign Investments undertake a full 45-day investig ation.

This whole thing should be rejected. Yes, UAE is an ally today, but alliances can and do change very quickly.

Update:  The Washington Times weighs in and makes some very good points about why allowing Dubai Ports World to run our ports is a potential national security nightmare:

The deadlock cinch here is that Dubai Ports World doesn't even have to be a willing collaborator to be a danger to the United States. All other things being equal, an Arabic company is easier for terrorists to penetrate than a British or American firm. In the least nefarious of scenarios, Dubai Ports World might not even know what happened until after some future attack. That would be possible even if the dockworkers are the same and even if most of the local management is exactly the same. There are other frightening scenarios. What happens if the government of the United Arab Emirates backs away from the counterterrorism support President Bush currently lauds it for?

The president and the treasury secretary should call this deal off on national-security grounds. The United States gains nothing and risks everything by letting Dubai Ports World own these hubs of commerce. Discouragingly, it appears the White House doesn't see it that way.

An article published in the New York Sun today says that more pressure to review this decision is building, and quickly:

The board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey promptly made public their demand to the federal government for information and documents related to the decision in preparation for its own review of the implications of the deal next week. (snip)

American legislators and Middle East specialists have questioned the government's approval of the deal for reasons of national security, citing the United Arab Emirate's ties to terrorism.

The Port Authority of New York is not comfortable either and has requested more information on how the Treasury department came to its decision to approve the transfer of port management:

"In view of the concerns raised by federal, state, and local officials over this approval, the Port Authority must ensure that a full and comprehensive review of this matter is complete," Mr. Coscia said in a letter e-mailed to the secretary of the treasury and chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, John Snow.

The committee, which approved the deal earlier this week, is composed of the secretaries of 12 federal agencies, including the departments of the treasury, homeland security, and state.

Mr. Coscia asked Mr. Snow for all "pertinent information you can provide on the process that the U.S. Department of Treasury used for this review and the rationale for its approval of this application."

As expected, Dubai Ports World defended the move:

"We have worked very closely with the United States on a number of issues relating to the combat of terrorism, prior to and post September 11," the Emirati foreign minister, Sheik Abdullah Bin Zayed al-Nahyan, told the AP. President Bush considers the country an ally in the war on terror.

"We intend to maintain and, where appropriate, enhance current security arrangements," the company said in a statement. "It is very much business as usual for the P&O terminals" in America.

I'm sure Dubai Ports World just wants to grow its business; however, we in a post 9/11 America have too much at stake to allow this transfer to take place.  Our government must remember that one of the tennets of Islam is loyalty to other Muslims.  Radical Islamic terrorists intent on killing us will expect that kind of loyalty from a company owned by the United Arab Emirates.

Update II: Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.  Captains' Quarters has identified where the UAE showed up in the 9/11 Commission Report. This example is particularly frightening:

Page 236: "After training in Afghanistan, the operatives went to a safehouse maintained by KSM in Karachi and stayed there temporarily before being deployed to the United States via the UAE. ... Ali apparently assisted nine future hijackers between April and June 2001 as they came through Dubai. He helped them with plane tickets, traveler’s checks, and hotel reservations; he also taught them about everyday aspects of life in the West, such as purchasing clothes and ordering food. Dubai, a modern city with easy access to a major airport, travel agencies, hotels, and Western commercial establishments,was an ideal transit point."

Ed Morrisey of Captains' Quarters makes an excellent point:

In fact, many of the 9/11 hijackers transited through the UAE, and a significant amount of al-Qaeda cash came through UAE-based accounts. If they run their own country's borders so poorly, why would we trust them to run ours?

The Committee on Foreign Investments in the US, part of the Department of the Treasury, approved this deal.  They need to be told to rethink their decision.