Bush Unaware of Emirate-Port Deal Before Approval; Is Race Involved?

The sale of a British port operating company to a government-owned United Arab Emirates company has created a major issue in Congress and the White House. The deal, which would transfer charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia to Dubai Ports World has already been approved by both companies and an administration review panel.

“President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday. Defending the deal anew, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner about the transaction, which has triggered a major political backlash among both Republicans and Democrats.”

Intellectual Insurgent, a frequent visitor to this site, has opined on the issue:

“Watching the Democrats jumping on the bigotry bandwagon in all this is equally amusing. In the excitement over a non-issue that distracts the masses from their otherwise drab lives, the supposed promoters of tolerance are now arguing that race should be a factor in determining who gets to own a port operations company. Out of nowhere, the Democrats have become “tough on security”. Could it be an election year?”

TheStateOf . . . Port Security. What would you do if you were Bush? Should he have been informed about this prior to approval? If I were him, I’d be pretty upset about not being informed. Is Congress Islamophobic? On the one hand, the U.A.E. was the home of 2 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers and U.A.E. banks allegedly laundered hijacker money. On the other hand, is that enough to justify opposition to the sale? Would Congress oppose control by any Arab world-based entity?