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The good news
for Bush-Cheney-Rove-Rumsfeld this week is the Dubai Ports World deal is that
the media is paying more attention to it than Snoopgate, Plamegate and Enron,
all running beneath the radar, radioactively. Quoted! Abramoff-scandal embattled Montana GOP Sen. Conrad Burns called Pres. Bush stubborn, saying the
president's skull is “solid granite.”
In an interview today, Burns spokesman Matt Mackowiak clarified the statement,
saying Burns believes the
White House should have been more forthcoming with the details of a deal to
allow a state-owned company in the United Arab Emirates to assume
control of operations at 6 major U.S. seaports. http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2006/02/27/local_headlines/gop.txt Asia Times’ Thalif Deen: Why Bush is Stuck on the Dubai Ports Deal: Dubai is one of the world's most prolific arms buyers and a multi-billion-dollar
military market both for the US and Western Europe. The energy-rich Persian
Gulf nation is currently taking delivery of about US$8.4 billion worth of military equipment, mostly
state-of-the-art fighter aircraft, ordered from the US ($6.4 billion) and
France ($2 billion) over the past 5 years. The delivery of 80 US-built F-16 E/F fighter planes -
described as one of the biggest single arms packages to a Middle Eastern nation
and finalized in March 2000 - is to be completed in 2007. And this verrrry interesting MIC
(military industrial complex) factor again raises its head: "You
could already see some UAE unhappiness over a failed deal to buy Hawkeye
airborne early warning aircraft due to the US refusal to fully transfer Link-16
secure communications technology," he added. The Europeans traditionally
have been more willing to sell equipment without strictures, and well-equipped
militaries with the wherewithal to buy high-tech equipment are not going to
settle for systems that cannot be used to their full capabilities because the
US refuses to provide the full-up version, Baranauskas said. "Yet, Israel usually gets
such full-up versions. The double-standard here is noted and duly filed away in
memory, to possibly rebound in a later competition," he said. http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HB25Ak04.html Coast Guard not crazy
about Dubai ports deal Citing broad gaps in U.S. intelligence, the Coast Guard
cautioned the Bush administration weeks ago that it could not determine whether
a United Arab Emirates-based company seeking a stake in some U.S. port
operations might support terrorist operations. The disclosure came during a hearing Monday on Dubai-owned
DP World's plans to take over significant operations at six leading U.S.
ports. The Bush administration
said the Coast Guard's concerns were raised during its review of the deal,
which it approved Jan. 17, and that all those questions were resolved. "There are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for
DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludes an
overall threat assessment" of the potential merger, the unclassified Coast
Guard intelligence assessment said. "The breadth of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown
threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities," the
assessment said. The Coast Guard
said the concerns reflected in the document ultimately were addressed. In a
statement, the Coast Guard said other U.S. intelligence agencies were able to
provide answers to the questions it raised. J-Post: Dubai Port World boycotts Israel: “US law bars firms from complying with such
requests or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel.” http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395502196&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Note: The
boycott against Israel is an important distinction between P&O, the UK company that
currently operates 21 U.S. ports, and Dubai Ports
World. So we shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) tells US to freeze DPW
deal. ADL chief Foxman said that "even if solutions are found for the other
problems, the administration and Congress must demand Dubai formally renounce
its participation in the boycott of Israel in order to be worthy of a contract
with the American government." Foxman noted that, when the U.S. was negotiating trade
relations it Bahrain, it had demanded the Gulf nation abandon its participation
in the boycott of Israel. http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/688591.html Lawmaker: Ports deal never probed
for ties to Al Qaeda http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/01/port.security/index.html |
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