February 21, 2006

Bush Standing Firm on Ports Deal

I "misunderestimated" my President. He won't cave on letting Dubai Ports World run six U.S. ports. He even threatened to veto Congress' attempt to stop it. That would be his first veto ever. He told reporters it isn't about politics, it's about policy. More telling is his concern about "mixed messages:"

And the message is, it's okay for a British company, but a Middle Eastern company -- maybe we ought not to deal the same way. It's a mixed message.

At the White House Bush said,

[Dubai Ports World] is a company that has played by the rules, has been cooperative with the United States, from a country that's an ally on the war on terror, and it would send a terrible signal to friends and allies not to let this transaction go through.

Bush pretty much called opponents anti-Arab. And since I've seen nothing substantial from opponents I think the President is right. The best New Jersey Governor John Corzine could offer was a "deep, deep feeling this is the wrong direction for our nation to take."

Let's step away from all the posturing. This is a payoff to the United Arab Emirates for being an ally in the Islamist War. In the Middle East we need as many friends as we can get. Plus, connecting the region into the Core is vital for U.S. security. Hopefully the administration will be watching Dubai Ports World closely just to assuage concerns. Opponents of the ports deal will have to find something of substance, a pattern of security lapses for example, to kill the deal.

"Bush Shrugs Off Objections to Port Deal"

UPDATE: I thought I'd be out in wilderness away from the screaming hordes who fail to understand there are good Arabs out there. Well, I'm not.

UPDATE II: Kevin @ Lakeshore Laments isn't troubled by the deal. He bases it on real-world experience, something most bloviators have little of. Both he and Bryan Preston @ JunkYardBlog are freaked Jimmy Carter came out for it.

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