UAE terminal takeover extends to 21 ports

A cargo ship sits at the dock at the Port of Miami February 24, 2006. The White House welcomed on Friday the temporary delay of a takeover letting a state-owned Arab company run U.S. port terminals, but senators called for a new law to put the deal on hold pending a security review. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

This is from The United Press International:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A United Arab Emirates government-owned company is poised to take over port terminal operations in 21 American ports, far more than the six widely reported.

The Bush administration has approved the takeover of British-owned Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to DP World, a deal set to go forward March 2 unless Congress intervenes.

P&O is the parent company of P&O Ports North America, which leases terminals for the import and export and loading and unloading and security of cargo in 21 ports, 11 on the East Coast, ranging from Portland, Maine to Miami, Florida, and 10 on the Gulf Coast, from Gulfport, Miss., to Corpus Christi, Texas, according to the company's Web site.

President George W. Bush on Tuesday threatened to veto any legislation designed to stall the handover.

So instead of six ports, it is now 21 ports that DP World will control with its shipping operations. This was certainly not reported in the mainstream American press. To have a company, owned by the United Arab Emirates, control the shipping operations of 21 American ports, will certainly increase fears that al Qaida terrorists can slip into this country through just one of those 21 ports to conduct an attack. And the Bush administration is okay with this?

The more I look at this deal, the more it smells. And it is not just the fears of Middle Eastern terrorism slipping into the country through these ports. It is really how this deal was brokered secretly, how the issues of terrorism and security were brushed aside through secret government councils, and how the public and Congress were left in the dark on this issue. It smells due to the corporate ties that DP World had through the Bush White House, where the Bush administration appointed DP World executive David C. Sanborn to be the administrator for the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation. This deal is not about what is good for the country. This deal is about what is good for corporate cronyism--where the Bush White House sells out to the highest bidder, and disregards what is best for the country as a whole. The stench of cronyism that has emanated from the White House for the past five years, is now quickly spreading across this country. The American public is waking up to this stench, and no amount of White House PR-spin will be able to mask this smell.