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Peter Gadiel lost his son James in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and heads 9/11 Families for a Secure America. Today, he is incensed because the Bush Administration is allowing Dubai to bid on contracts to run ports in New York, New Jersey and four other cities.
Remember, this is the same Arab emirate where two of the 19 hijackers were citizens of and investigators have found signs that money used to finance terrorism flowed through Dubai banks.
"I'm a lifelong Republican and I think the President's gone insane," said Gadiel.
Republicans have been in charge and like to boast about security. However, only 5-percent of the cargo containers entering U.S. ports are inspected. This anemic record shows Republican incompetence on national security that rivals their failures in Iraq, fiscal responsibility and the sinking of New Orleans.
4 Comments:
Considering how daddy bush is so chummy with the theocratic police state of saudi arabia, it makes one wonder if the bushies are getting some type of perks or kickbacks from Dubai. It really is unbelievable that they would even THINK of putting an islamic company in charge of securing our ports!!! Can you imagine what the reaction from the right would have been if clinton or the democrats had tried such a stunt!? Why cant our government supply security for our ports, isnt that their damn JOB!? Next they'll be putting iran in charge of airport security. The Twilight Zone is no longer just a tv show, under bush it's here and now. Gary (NJ)
posted by Anonymous, at
2/20/2006 3:36 PM
It will be instructive to see if any Democrat has the balls to really break out of the pack & nail Bush to the wall on the port issue .. In remembering the eunuchs on the Shiavo debacle I'm not hopeful. If the Dems can't figure this one out, I'm going to get serious like Bawer and look for a better country to live in. And don't forget that Pappi Bush 41 is hooked up with Arab oil & armaments companies for his profit, a practice that has been documented in the Bush family back to WW1 .. Google it & be shocked!
posted by Anonymous, at
2/21/2006 9:20 AM
From James S. Dobbins in today's National Review:
"I have to wonder if the approval of Dubai Ports World is payback for recent support by Dubai and the UAE in the war on terrorism. Some data points:
- December 2004: Dubai was the first government in the region to sign on to the U.S. Container Security Initiative to screen all containers heading for the United States for security risks.
- May 2005: Dubai signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy to bar passage of nuclear material from passing through its ports, and install radiation-detecting equipment.
- June 2005: The UAE joined the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
- October 2005: The UAE Central Bank directed banks and financial institutions in the country to tighten their internal systems and controls in their fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. UAE banks routinely cooperate with U.N. and international law-enforcement agencies in supplying information about suspect accounts.
- November 2005: In the wake of the terror bombings in Jordan, General Shaykh Muhammad Bin-Zayid Al Nuhayyan, heir apparent of Abu Dhabi and supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, stated that “Muslim scholars who live among us must adopt a stand toward this terrorism… If they do not declare [terrorists] to be infidels, they should at least consider them as non-Muslims. …If there are no honest stands toward these non-religious and inhumane operations, these [attacks] will continue.”
- December 2005: The UAE National Consultative Council called for declaration of an all-out war against terrorism and depriving any person who pledges allegiance to foreign extremist groups the right of UAE citizenship. The council proclaimed that it regarded links to such groups as high treason.
- The UAE has also assisted the Coalition effort in Iraq, in particular training Iraqi security forces and sending material assistance to the Iraqi people.
There is a lot on the other side of the ledger too — particularly a thank you statement from Hamas to the UAE in July 2005 for all the support — but given the way relationships work in the Middle East I can see Dubai expecting favorable treatment in return for its recent cooperation in the effort to combat terrorism, and especially for supporting the war effort in Iraq. It is the way of things.
posted by Anonymous, at
2/21/2006 10:53 AM
