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February 20, 2006
A Theory on Letting Arabs Run Our Ports
Peter Gadiel — whose son James died at the World Trade Center on 9/11 — has as good a theory as any as to why President Bush would allow a company based in the United Arab Emirates to run several major US ports:
I'm a lifelong Republican and I think the President's gone insane.
Well, that would explain why Bush allowed ultra-liberals like Chuck Schumer and even Barbara Boxer to outflank him on the right on security. Democrats are threatening legislation to prevent a company from the UAE — home of two 9/11 hijackers and a source of some of its funding — from calling the shots at ports that include New York City's.
It would also explain why more than four years after 9/11, Norman Mineta — who has made no secret of the fact that he considers political correctness a far higher priority than preventing Muslims from hijacking airplanes — is appallingly still the Secretary of Transportation.
Gadiel's theory also helps us make sense of Bush's refusal to lift a finger to stop the total chaos on our southern border.
Applications of the theory go beyond national security. Presenting us with a massive new prescription drug entitlement when it is obvious that the entitlements we already have will eventually bankrupt the economy is the first to come to mind.
However, Gadiel's theory starts to look shaky when you compare W to someone who actually is certifiably insane: Al Gore, for example.
Considering the opposition, we are fortunate to have Bush as our President. But that's not to say a little more sanity in Washington wouldn't be very much appreciated.
Posted by Van Helsing at February 20, 2006 12:42 PM
Comments
I remain the lone right-wing dissenter on this. I think the purchase of the company that loads and unloads container ships at the ports is a cause for concern, but my concern stops way short of the hysteria a lot of people are evincing on this.
I'm just not convinced it's a big deal in the scheme of things. Port security would still be the responsibility of DHS, and it is DHS's incompetence that should be of concern, not what company from what country owns the trucks and cranes that unload ships. If Wal-Mart can know precisely the origin, contents, and destination of every container it brings into port, why can't DHS?
What's the difference if an American company owned the truck and cranes that unload the ships if that company was hiring illegal aliens, or immigrants who have not been screened because of fears of racial profiling?
Posted by: V the K at February 20, 2006 2:19 PM
Listen, I harbor as ill feelings about the Saudis as anyone, but I think V the K is actually looking at this from a perspective that a lot of people aren't. And you have to consider that because al Qaeda, in particular, hates the Saudi regime so much then the Saudis will likely employ some pretty serious security measures to protect their own interests if anything.
Of course I'm no expert in such things, but hey.
Posted by: Oyster at February 20, 2006 2:45 PM
