Villainous Company

Full transcript via Vital Perspective: Bush talks about the UAE port deal in Air Force One interview on Tuesday.

The thing that scares me about this is Jimmy Carter supporting the Presidents' position. Given that Mr Carter has probably done more damage to Middle Eastern stability than any other president by hanging the Shah of Iran out to dry, the subsequent hostage fiasco, legitimizing terrorists (let's negotiate with Arafat) and his ongoing public positions I have faith that his judgement is faulty. This makes me want to take a careful look at the situation.

I am still reading and thinking Pogue.

Carter is someone I pay no attention to. So far as I can tell, facts play no role in his decision-making process, so his opinion is irrelevant - he is a weathervane, as likely to come down on one side as another, for God knows what reason.

What you said that makes eminent sense is this: we should all be taking a very careful look at the situation. Too many people from too many different political persuasions are coming down on the same side for this to be a simple issue.

My biggest concern about this deal can be summed up thus: Mohammed Cartoons. When the Islamic world can ignore beheadings, car bombings, IEDs and all manner of terror visited upon our troops and on innocent civilians and never utter a peep, but go totally ballistic over some stupid cartoons, it makes me wonder how many of those incendiary individuals will be in positions of authority at our ports.

Hugh Hewitt makes the point, which I believe to be valid, that a potentially hostile party being on the inside where he can observe the daily grind, the comings and goings of ships and personnel, and simply learn the pulse of our ports, is a potential hazard to our safety.

Someone made the point that Jimmah Cahtah gave the Panama Canal away in the 70's, and now the Chinese control the ports at each end of the canal. Bill Bennett was discussing the strategic locations that the Chinese are purchasing and controlling around the world, and these could all be choke points if they decided to get frisky. Well, having a bunch of possible Islamists buying up ports around the world, and getting a toehold on our continent, just seems like a bad idea.

Was Halliburton not available?

From a long-term strategic and economic viewpoint MathMom, I could not agree more.

However, look at who (from what one source I read said) are the four companies in a position to do this job: all foreign owned: Sinagore, Hong Kong, UAE, and the UK. And the UK firm is being acquired by the Dubai Ports.

Now Asia, in general, is no friend to our LT economic interests, and frankly there are plenty of militant Muslims (and terrorists) in Asia too. So how is *that* an improvement over the Saudis?

Can you imagine the shrieking if Halliburton took this over? Even assuming they are equipped to do so? Good God almighty we'd never hear the end of it. I believe the Democratic party would rather turn our ports over to al Qaeda.

It's not hard to learn the 'pulse' of our ports. I'd be more worried, frankly, about tampering with paperwork from the inside than security - I think that's not much of a concern. Manifests and the like are the types of things that would be easier to access if you had an in with DP, and that's what I'd be worried about.

I think a lot of people are shooting from the lip on this. That's why I'm not saying much right now. Because I don't know nearly enough about it. It struck me as odd a few days ago, so I raised the issue. Then when I had time (which I really *haven't* lately because I've been working) it began to seem that maybe there was more to it.

People might want to remember the last time we had a big port kerfuffle, who caused it and what went on? A lot of times when people who have never given a rat's tuckus about national security go all cappuchino commando on you all of a sudden, there is money involved somewhere, or a vocal lobbying group, or likely both.

All that's left now is for John Kerry to wade in and I'll be sure I'm right, but he may have been sidestepped.

Cassandra! Posting at 11:18 pm! It's way past your bedtime! :)
Speaking as someone who has some connection to bringing in and taking out literally thousands of metric tons in containers every year, this is a fart in a whirlwind.
But it does speak volumes about:
1) The lack of confidence in Pres. Bush by the Republicans in Congress
2) The two-faced duplicity of the Democrats regarding this so-called "crisis" we've been in since, oh, Sept 11, 2001, dontcha think? Now,all of a sudden, they're worried about Arabs "controlling" six major container ports.
3) Prediction (this one's easy): John Kerry will "oppose" the purchase of management rights by the UAE company, for some high-falutin' reason.
4) Go to some major international airport and see the number of airplanes OWNED by Middle-eastern airline companies that are sitting around the terminal (like Dulles, or JFK, which handles a lot of international airfreight coming into and going out of the country). Frankly, this scares me a whole lot more than container ports being "owned" by some off-shore entity. I don't think they can successfully infiltrate the Coast Guard...yet.

What's that Heinlein quote about "what are the facts?" I don't have time to look it up. Seems to apply here though.

*sigh*

re: my bedtime. Don't I know it. I sat bolt upright in bed this morning at 6 am. My husband had gotten up, shaved and showered, turned on the lights, gotten dressed, and turned them back off at 5 all without even waking me up and he is not quiet in the morning. I must have been dead to the world.

Six cups of coffee and I'm about to pass out again.

Don, we want the world to be simple again, like it was when we were kids, don't we? But we don't want all those awful confining rules that would *make* everything black and white again because that would limit our choices... so booooooring.

[yaaaaawn....]

Come to think of it, safety is so fricking boring. It involves stuff like submitting to stuffy authority figures and tradeoffs and restricting our activities.

I mean *really*...

[BOOM!]

Good night :)

Were you thinking of this one??

"What are the facts? Again and again and again—what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell," avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history"—what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!" -Robert Anson Heinlein.

Gee, that's twice in one day I quoted Bob.

That's it!

You're the best :)

But it does speak volumes about:
1) The lack of confidence in Pres. Bush by the Republicans in Congress

The Kos retards believe this is actually an Evil Rove Plan to give Congressional Republicans a way to distance themselves from the President (after all, EVERYONE hates him, according to the Kos-tards), so they can get votes in the November elections.

What a cynical, paranoid, delusional bunch of morons. (Yeah, I know...nothing new there.)

Good point, but on the otter heiny, at least they can claim to be suffering from a recognized disorder and should therefore be able to file for benefits under the Americans with Disabilities Act :D

I keep wondering what excuse the spineless RepubliTards we elected plan to foist on us?