Update 2-21-06 - President Bush called reporters
at about 2.30 ET aboard Air Force One to issue a very strong defense of port deal. He said
he would veto any legislation to hold up deal and warned the United States was sending
'mixed signals' by going after a company from the Middle East when nothing was said when a
British company was in charge... Lawmakers, he said, must 'step up and explain why a
Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard.' Bush was very forceful when he
delivered the statement... 'I don't view it as a political fight,' Bush said
Feb 15, 2006 White Houses Requests $65B More to Fund War on Terrorism - can't find 6.8 billion for port security???
Feb 10, 2006 - A company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over
significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving
a country with ties to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers with influence over a maritime
industry considered vulnerable to terrorism. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a loose
federation of seven emirates on the Saudi peninsula, was an important
operational and financial base for the hijackers who carried out the attacks against the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the FBI concluded.
The $6.8 billion classified deal would let Dubai Ports
World (DPW) of the United Arab Emirates run commercial ports in New York, New Jersey,
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Miami. London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Co., which had been running the six ports, was bought last week by the
government-owned DPW
DP World said it won approval from a secretive U.S. government panel that considers
security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry. The U.S.
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States "thoroughly reviewed the
potential transaction and concluded they had no objection," the company said in a
statement.
The committee, which could have recommended that President Bush block the purchase,
includes representatives from the departments of Treasury, Defense, Justice, Commerce,
State and Homeland Security.
The committee action followed concerns expressed by a Miami-based company, Eller &
Co., according to Eller's lawyer, Michael Kreitzer. Eller is a business partner with the
British shipping giant but was not in the running to buy the ports company.
The State Department describes the UAE as a vital partner in the fight against terrorism.
But the UAE, a loose federation of seven emirates on the Saudi peninsula, was an important
operational and financial base for the hijackers who carried out the attacks against the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the FBI concluded.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican called the deal "tone-deaf
politically at this point in our history" and agreed that "we certainly should
investigate it." "I'm not so sure it's the wisest political move we could have
made. Most Americans are scratching their head wondering why this company, from this
region, now," Mr. Graham said. "I don't think now is the time to outsource major
port security to a foreign-based company."
Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security
Committee,said the takeover terms are insufficient to guard against terrorist
infiltration. "I'm aware of the conditions, and they relate entirely to how the
company carries out its procedures, but it doesn't go to who they hire, or how they hire
people," Mr. King said.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged the administration to consider the sale carefully.
"America's busiest ports are vital to our economy and to the international economy,
and that is why they remain top terrorist targets," Schumer said. "Just as we
would not outsource military operations or law enforcement duties, we should be very
careful before we outsource such sensitive homeland security duties."
Shipping experts noted that many of the world's largest port companies are not based in
the United States, and they pointed to DP World's strong economic interest in operating
ports securely and efficiently.
"It's in Dubai's interest to make sure this runs well," said James Lewis, who
worked with the U.S. committee at the State and Commerce departments.
Stephen E. Flynn, who studies maritime security at the New York-based Council on Foreign
Relations, said even under foreign control, U.S. ports will continue to be run by
unionized American employees. "You're not going to have a bunch of UAE citizens
working the docks," Flynn said. "They're longshoremen, vested in high-paying
jobs."
U.S. lawmakers said the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of
smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani
scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan. They also said the UAE was one of only three countries to recognize
the now-toppled Taliban as Afghanistan's legitimate government.
Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., urged congressional hearings on the deal.
"At a time when America is leading the world in the war on terrorism and spending
billions of dollars to secure our homeland, we cannot cede control of strategic assets to
foreign nations with spotty records on terrorism," Fossella said.
Critics also have cited the UAE's history as an operational and financial base for the
hijackers who carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The lawmakers pressing the White House to reconsider included Sens. Schumer, Tom Coburn,
R-Okla., Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Reps. Foley, Fossella and
Chris Shays, R-Conn.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dubai, United Arab Emirates. A recent crackdown on oil smuggling in Iraq's southern ports
has uncovered a smuggling chain that stretches all the way down the Persian Gulf to the
glittering, ultra-rich cities of the United Arab Emirates.
The biggest blow to the smuggling came in July, 2005, when the U.S. Navy detained the Navstar
1, a Dubai ship that was carrying 3,500 tons of diesel fuel from the Iraqi port
of Umm Qasr bound for the United Arab Emirates.
The smuggling adds up to a loss of $250,000 a day, money that is sorely needed for
rebuilding the wrecked country.
The sliver of Iraqi territory that fronts on the Persian Gulf is small - about 30 miles,
between the Kuwaiti and Iranian borders -- but the number of vessels used for smuggling is
so great that until recently allied military planners were simply overwhelmed in their
efforts to foil the illicit oil trade.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/10/22/MNG7L2GHCB1.DTL
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCHIVES FROM APRIL 4, 2001-
Smuggling is not a new issue to the Bush Administration- Persian
Gulf is on the verge of the ecological disaster
The authorities in the United Arab Emirates say they have managed to contain an oil slick
from the sunken tanker Zainab that had been threatening to cause a major environmental
disaster for the Gulf state. UAE Health Minister Hamad Abdul-Rahman al-Madfa broke several
hours of silence to say that coastguard divers had managed to plug holes in the ship
through which oil had been pouring. He said environmentally safe chemicals were being used
to treat the oil slick, which had begun to disperse.
The Zainab, a Georgian-flagged tanker, was carrying 1,300 tonnes of fuel oil when it sank
off the port of Jebel Ali, south of Dubai, on Saturday. All 11 crew members, including the
Iraqi captain, are said to have been rescued. A US Navy official said the vessel
was smuggling Iraqi oil in violation of United Nations sanctions. There were
fears that the spill would reach the coastline and the desalination plants which supply
Dubai with fresh water. An Emirates official said the Zainab was a very old Iraqi tanker
that was travelling from Iraq to Pakistan. Smugglers tend to use old vessels that are
poorly-maintained, because they know they will lose them if they are caught. US Commander
Jeff Gradeck said the ship had been intercepted several days ago by the Multinational
Interception Force that enforces sanctions against Iraq. It is the 24th vessel to be
impounded by the force so far this year. He said it was on its way to a holding area in
international waters for sanction-busting ships when it ran into trouble, BBC reports.
Nothing was reported about possible involvement of American servicemen in the disaster.
http://english.pravda.ru/politics/2001/04/16/3614.html
Saudi Arabia is the world's largest oil
exporter and the most influential member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries, which pumps a third of the world's oil.
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