Keys to Half-Dozen U.S. Ports Now In Hands of ... an Arab Company?
by Chad Groening
February 15, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A national defense expert and a former presidential candidate do not think it is in America's best interests to allow an Arab-owned company to operate six major ports in the U.S. According to a Washington Times report, the Bush administration recently approved a deal for DP World -- a global port operator based in the United Arab Emirates -- to purchase Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P&O), a British firm that operates the ports of New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Miami, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The decision favoring DP's $6.8 billion bid was made by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which includes representatives from various federal agencies.
Gary Bauer points out that the United Arab Emirates was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a "financial and operational base" for the 9-11 hijackers. That causes the former GOP presidential candidate to wonder: "Is our security for sale?"
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Bob Maginnis could very well be having the same thoughts. The former Army officer considers it unwise to turn over American ports to a country that has terrorist ties.
"It's very disconcerting that an Arab country has now purchased a British company that oversees millions of these containers that are coming into this country," he says, noting that DP "could hire people that have other than our best interests in mind."
And those employees, he suggests, could easily smuggle in weapons of mass destruction. "It would be easy to hide small quantities of smallpox or anthrax or even a dirty bomb in there [if] you hid it in another type of container that would be hard to detect," Maginnis says. "That's all in the realm of possibility -- and we recognize that."
The defense expert discounts the fact that the outgoing port operator, P&O, is well-established. He says he does not think "giving the keys to our key ports" to an Arab-based company -- even though it is purchasing a company that has been doing the job for years -- is in the nation's best interests.
Maginnis says even though the United Arab Emirates is considered an ally of the United States, there is evidence that the capital of Dubai -- where DP's head office is located -- has served as a base for al-Qaeda activities.
See related article from the Center for Security Policy
Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
