The other diary on this was wrong and skimpy, so I stepped in. This is very imPORTant, you might say.
Forget LIHOP, this is pure MIHOP! How in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster could Bush do this, unless he truly does want to leave the barn door wide open for another attack!
This is the most outrageous --
If the Dems don't come out swinging on this one... Hillary too, Goddamit!
White House Defends Port Operations Sale
AP - 13 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration on Thursday rebuffed criticism about potential security risks of a $6.8 billion sale that gives a company in the United Arab Emirates control over significant operations at six major American ports.
Lawmakers asked the White House to reconsider the deal.
The sale to state-owned Dubai Ports World was "rigorously reviewed" by a U.S. committee that considers security threats when foreign companies seek to buy or invest in American industry, National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
Four senators and three House members asked the administration Thursday to reconsider its approval. The lawmakers contended the UAE is not consistent in its support of U.S. terrorism-fighting efforts.
"The potential threat to our country is not imagined, it is real," Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., said in a House speech.
The Homeland Security Department said it was legally impossible under the committee's rules to reconsider its approval without evidence DP World gave false information or withheld vital details from U.S. officials. The 30-day window for the committee to voice objections has ended.
DP World said it had received all regulatory approvals.
"We intend to maintain and, where appropriate, enhance current security arrangements," the company said in a statement. "It is very much business as usual for the P&O terminals" in the United States.
In Dubai, the UAE's foreign minister described his country as an important U.S. ally but declined to respond directly to the concerns expressed in Washington.
"We have worked very closely with the United States on a number of issues relating to the combat of terrorism, prior to and post Sept. 11," Sheik Abdullah Bin Zayed al-Nahyan told The Associated Press.
This is insane...
And Bush just appointed the Director at Dubai Port World to become the Maritime Administrator of the whole US of A, working directly under Norm Mineta. Plus DP World just took over P&O, England's huge port company!
Fox in charge of henhouse, anyone?
More: http://www.dpiterminals.com/...
NOTE: This is not "The. Biggest. Story. Ever." That will have the title "The. Biggest. Story. Ever."