richard
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Bush administration wants to let United Arab Emirates control six U.S. ports
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Feb 20 19:18 UTC 2006 |
from cnn.com, Hillary Clinton is leading a fight against a Bush
admnistration proposal to sell a company that operates six major U.S.
ports to the United Arab Emirates:
"NEW YORK Democratic senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Robert
Menendez of New Jersey introduced legislation on Friday to prohibit
companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from buying US
port operations.
The measure is intended to block the $6,8bn sale of a company that
operates six US ports to a firm controlled by the United Arab Emirates.
Our port security is too important to place in the hands of foreign
governments, Clinton said in a statement on Friday.
A bipartisan group of US legislators called on Thursday for hearings on
the purchase of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation
Company, the UK s largest port operator, by DP World, Dubai s port
company. With the acquisition, DP World would gain control over most
operations at ports in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami,
Baltimore and New Orleans.
Ports are the front lines of the war on terrorism, Menendez said.
We wouldn t turn the border patrol or the customs service over to a
foreign government, and we can t afford to turn our ports over to one
either, he said.
Legislators have also asked the administration of President George Bush
to conduct a more thorough review of the purchase. Seven sent a letter
to Treasury Secretary John Snow, asking a government panel known as the
committee on foreign investment in the US to look into the purchase.
Snow said this month that while he had not seen the congressional
requests for an additional review the committee was thorough, and
carefully considered the issue of national security in that
acquisition. The process worked as it is intended to work, Snow said
in Chicago.
The departments of defence and homeland security had been part of the
process, he said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the administration
continued to support the sale, and would brief congress on its
decision. It s the considered opinion of the US government that this
can go forward, Rice told a round table of Arab journalists at the
state department in Washington.
Rice said there had been a thorough review of the sale, and it was
decided that this could be done and done safely .
She described Abu Dhabi as a very good friend of the US. I hope our
friends in Abu Dhabi would not be offended by the fact that in our
democracy we debate these things.
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richard
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response 1 of 154:
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Feb 20 19:23 UTC 2006 |
So United Arab Emirates got the high bid, $6.8 billion, to take over
the operations of six major U.S. ports. This is all about greed and
quid pro quo. Those people over in Dubai are quite tight with the
Texas oil interests, who are Bush's main people. So Bush wants this
deal to go through because he wants his people to keep seeing the money
flow from Dubai. It is payola, the UAE gets control of the ports, they
take care of Bush's Texas oil friends.
I think Clinton is right, this deal should be stopped. Sometimes you
don't need always need to take the highest bid. There is no reason
these six ports, including here in NYC, should not be run by an
AMERICAN company.
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richard
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response 3 of 154:
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Feb 20 19:38 UTC 2006 |
nharmon, so are you saying our government should contract out all its
business with overseas countries because you think american companies
are untrustworthy?
It seems like good sense, in these times, to keep certain businesses-
such as those running our ports-- here in the States.
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