Just when I thought the Dubai port takeover story couldn't get any worse, I stumbled across this article from March of 2004 that adds a whole new layer of mystery to this whole affair.
According to the article, CIA Director George Tenet revealed in a congressional hearing that the CIA had passed on an opportunity to bomb and kill Osama Bin Laden because a significant portion of the Royal Family of the UAE was visiting him in Afghanistan at his request.
Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, but this how much more concrete a proof do you really need that this is not a smart thing to do? Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) stated “No matter what steps the administration claims it has secretly taken, it is an unacceptable risk to turn control of our ports over to a foreign government, particularly one with a troubling history. We cannot depend on promises a foreign government has given the administration in secret to secure our ports.”
I couldn't agree more. Bush's aggressive promotion and endorsement of the Dubai port takeover is at the very least an extreme case of criminal negligence. Something is seriously amiss here. It makes so little since given the current political climate and the war on terror that it overwhelmingly reeks of graft or corruption.
Somewhere, somehow, some administration insiders have got to be making a killing on this deal going through. It simply doesn't compute under any other context. I find it inherently suspicious, as I mentioned previously, not just that the President is for this takeover, but that he is so adamant about it.
In defense of this fiasco, the President commented "Lawmakers who have called for the deal to be blocked need to "step up and explain why a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard."
For more exhaustive insight on this story, Michelle Malkin has it covered.
