UAE To Transfer Port Authority to a US Company

President Bush has got to be the smartest "dumb" president ever. Just look at his track record. Doesn't it seem that he often uses the bait-and-switch routine to get his job done? Take Harriot Meyers. Are we to honestly believe that he was serious about her as a Supreme court nominee? I think that he just stuck her out there as cannon fodder to take the heat off his actual nomination. Enter Judge Alito. The Democrats are thinking, "Hey at least we shot down his first nominee" when in fact they were shooting at the decoy.

Now let's look at the port deal in the same light. What if this whole thing was a put-on so Bush could transfer control to a company like Halliburton? There would be calls of favoritism on both sides, but now the Democrats and Republicans could actually be doing his work for him. The president now only needs to nod to any American company and the deal is done. The President is now free to play favorites while looking patriotic. Meanwhile, Democrats and others rejoice that they defeated the President yet again.....Suckers! You stepped right into his trap.

www.cnn.com...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A United Arab Emirates-owned company has agreed to turn over all of its operations at U.S. ports to an American "entity," Sen. John Warner said Thursday

The announcement comes after congressional leaders reportedly told President Bush that the deal for DP World to assume some operations at six U.S. ports appeared dead on Capitol Hill.

Point...set...and match. His over the top call for a veto should tip everyone off. He doesn't veto anyting.

[edit on 9-3-2006 by dbates]

I was wondering if anyone would post a topic about the latest episode of this ports mess

Please see this thread for the earlier decision: The the port deal was a done deal.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Here's Yahoo's take on the situation.

It was unclear how DP would manage the planned divestiture, and Bilkey's statement said its announcement was "based on an understanding that DP World will not suffer economic loss."

The firm finalized its $6.8 billion purchase Thursday of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the British firm that through a U.S. subsidiary runs important port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. It also plays a lesser role in dockside activities at 16 other American ports.

Despite the furor, the company's U.S. operations were never the most prized part of the global transaction. DP World valued its rival's American operations at less than 10 percent of the nearly $7 billion total purchase.

But that portion of the deal set off a political chain of events unlike any other in Bush's five years in office. Republicans denounced the deal, saying they were worried about the effects it would have on efforts to make ports safer from terrorist threats. Democrats did likewise, and capitalized on the issue as well as a way to narrow the polling gap with the GOP on issues of national security.

news.yahoo




[edit on 9-3-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

PBS News Hour - Norm Ornstein says:

They have got a dilemma now, because there simply aren’t American companies that have the know-how and the breadth to do this. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, what I had heard earlier in the day, as they were looking at those that have the — the kind of resources, Halliburton was a name that came up.

Of course now Halliburton is denying any involvement. A real case of "These aren't the droids ports you're looking for" if I ever saw one.

[edit on 10-3-2006 by dbates]

Have they actually sold the lease to Halliburton, or withdrawn their bid? The UAE government had to take out a giagantic amount of credit to make the deal go through, I can't imagine that they'd just 'give' it to anyone, including Halliburton, without profit.

btw....does this ports deal mean that we're going to make all foreign government owned companies give up their leases at ports, or just scary arab countries??

They have not withdrawn their bid. As of right now, Dubai Ports World owns the terminal operations rights to the 6 US ports. It's theirs.

They've said they're going to divest itself of that ownership, which means "give away something that you own" to an American "entity".

Companies like DPW have all sorts of front organizations to act as the "beard" to own assets in countries that simply don't allow foreign ownership. Here's how it's done: DPW hires a lawyer in the US. This lawyer incorporates in Delaware as a US company. The shares in this company are owned by a capital investment firm or holding company, which is owned by an agent of DPW. For all legal purposes, it's a US company that's the owner.

The thing that's being missed here is that THE DEAL WENT THROUGH. All the jumpin' and hollerin' in Congress was window dressing. If they wanted to stop the deal, there would have been an injunction preventing the deal from closing. The offer of a 45-day investigation was the tip-off. Remember, the 45 days would have started a week after the deal closed!, so it would have meant absolutely nothing. Who's going to do the investigation? John Warner, the Senator from the great state of UAE?? Here's a guy that was pushing for the deal to go through, and when there's an announcement made that DPW is going to divest, who makes the announcement??? John effing Warner. Who in the hell does he work for? This is an American senator acting as the mouthpiece for DPW. Why? Now THERE's something to investigate: a US senator fronting for a company owned by a country that's a state sponsor of terrorists.

This deal is filthy from end to end. Absolutely nothing is going to change. There's a little shuffling of paper and it's business as usual. When the day is done, Dubai Ports World still owns ownership of the terminal operations of the 6 ports.

And what exactly was supposed to happen during that "45-day investigation"? Was the UAE suddenly going to stop recognizing the Taliban? Were they going to suddenly recognized the State of Israel? Hell, it's been a whole three years since they actually gave money to a terrorist organization, so why all the negative vibes?

Interesting the George W. Bush hasn't said a word about this. It's all "let's let things cool down so everybody will forget about the whole thing".