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A breakthrough on the UAE ports deal?
(See my previous related post here.)
UAE Company Agrees to Delay U.S. Port Deal
A United Arab Emirates company offered Thursday to delay its takeover of most operations at six U.S. ports to give the Bush administration more time to convince skeptical lawmakers the deal poses no security risks.
The surprise announcement relieves some pressure from a standoff between President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress, where some lawmakers have threatened to block the deal because of concerns over the UAE's purported ties to terrorism. Immediate reaction on Capitol Hill was mixed.
Under the offer coordinated with the White House, Dubai Ports World said it will agree not to exercise control or influence the management over U.S. ports pending further talks with the Bush administration, Congress and local port authorities. ...
[Read on here.]
If W's got any smarts at all, he'll use the delay for that 45-day investigation that should have been done to begin with.
Of Ports and Potty-Mouths
DJ Drummond
By now, hundreds of comments, of pretty much every conceivable opinion, have been posted here at Polipundit regarding the sale of P&O Ports to Dubai Ports World. Essentially, there have been two camps established in the main, with two additional camps playing at a position but really using the debate for personal politics, which is a common hobby these days. They are:
[Read on here.]
Count me in DJ's second group, as of a about 24 hours ago.
See also: Michelle Malkin here, here, and here and Dafydd ab Hugh here. I can't think of a better way to summarize my attitude on the situation than to quote Dafydd:
... I believe that given the totality of the circumstances (as we know them now), American port security will probably be enhanced, not diminished, by this deal; at the very least, there are compensating factors that mean it will be at least as good. And of course, there are numerous other benefits to American security in other areas that result from the whole idea of promoting moderate Islam wherever we can... which is something the UAE has done better than probably any other country on the planet.
If American security is our concern, then the last thing in the world we need is to tell moderate Moslem countries that have bent over backwards to help us in the war on militant Islamism that we don't want their business because they're Arabs.
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A. J. Strata: The Tide Turns On UAE Deal, Damage Done
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