Why is Bush so determined to ram through this port deal?

Published 7:16 am Monday, February 27, 2006

By Staff
The Bush administration's first hint that outsourcing control of six American ports in a $6.8-billion deal might not be a good idea should be the alarm from his own Republican Party, such as Cass County's congressman, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton. Upton Feb. 22 condemned the deal putting Dubai Ports World in charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. “In these challenging times, we must always err on the side of security,” Upton said.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., went a step further Feb. 23 in opening remarks before the Senate Armed Services Committee: “One of America's greatest vulnerabilities in defending against terrorist attacks is our ports. With over 11 million containers coming into our ports every year - 95 percent of which are never opened or inspected - port security probably leads the list of our nation's Achilles heels.” At the same time, Levin added, it has been a “constant struggle to devote adequate funds to strengthen port security.” According to the Wall Street Journal, the $630 million spent on port security is dwarfed in comparison to $18 billion spent on airport security since 9/11.
Yet the administration made this momentous decision to transfer ownership of port facilities to a company owned by the government of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without even consulting Congress. The UAE has a checkered past in the war on terrorism, starting with producing a couple of 9/11 hijackers and its membership among a few countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. UAE ports host more U.S. Navy ships than any port in the world outside of the United States. It has also provided the United States with access to its ports and territory, overflight clearances and logistical assistance for our military forces in the region. The Taliban's support of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda led us to 9/11 in the first place. Millions of dollars in al Qaeda funds flowed through UAE financial institutions. “What is deeply troubling to me about this proposed sale,” Levin said, “is the … casual approach” relied on to sell one of America's greatest vulnerabilities to terrorist attack to a country with a spotty record on combating terrorism, yet President Bush, Secretary of the Treasury John Snow, who chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who serves on that committee, learned of federal approval the same way as Congress - “after the fact, through media reports.” The Homeland Security Department initially objected, but relented after DP World agreed to security restrictions. The Dubai-owned company Feb. 23 indefinitely postponed its takeover. Another proposal included a 45-day review. Congressional leaders are to meet Tuesday to discuss how to proceed. The administration adopted its usual our-way-or-the-highway attitude that it weighed the pros and cons and the sale should go forward without the annoying checks and balances of congressional oversight. Bush even threatened to veto any legislation delaying this sale, which would be a first in more than five years of runaway federal spending. What aren't we being told about this deal that makes it urgent to this administration?