Funmurphys: the Blog

Dubai Ports, Oh My!

So we have dropped Dick Cheney accidentaly shooting his friend like a wounded quail and its on to the sale of a British company, P & O Ports, to an Arab company, Dubai Ports. There are plenty who think this is a really big deal. I happen to agree with Michael Crichton observation:

The first is that there is nothing more sobering than a 30 year old newspaper. You can’t figure out what the headlines mean. You don’t know who the people are. Theodore Green, John Sparkman, George Reedy, Jack Watson, Kenneth Duberstein. You thumb through page after page of vanished concerns—issues that apparently were vitally important at the time, and now don’t matter at all. It’s amazing how many pressing concerns are literally of the moment. They won’t matter in six months, and certainly not in six years. And if they won’t matter then, are they really worth our attention now?

But I'll throw my two cents in even though there are more important things to write about.

The whole concern really is just anti-Arabism and guilt by association. How many members of al qaida have been recruited among international Arab executives as opposed to alienated Arab youth? It's not like Syria or Hamas is taking over port security, or even Iran getting nukes. One of the things I'm struck by is how were always telling Israel to quit complaining, get over their security concerns, and cooperate with those nice Arabs, but when the shoe's on the other foot, Katie bar the door!

Port security is currently non-existant, but we weren't worried. What do people think - that Dubai Ports is going to use people from Dubai as port security instead of Americans already here? That realistically, anything is going to change except where the money ends up? Does anybody who's complaining really know what a port management company does? If you're seriously complaining, then shouldn't we require background checks on the workers, not just on the ownership? Why not bar any Arab-American from working in port security, airline security, the CIA, the FBI, the police, as a crossing guard just for being Arab? I mean, they are the enemy after all, and security is paramount.

Dubai is an ally in the war on terror, a country that has aligned themselves with the west, and What kind of message does it send to the Arab world besides you'll never be good enough to be trusted by the US. What's the difference between this and Ann Coulter's offensive remark about ragheads except one is made by a fringe polemicist and the other would be the official position of the US government? How would Dubai take such a snub?

I have to admit that I was shocked by President Bushes immediate threat of a veto, especially after all that hasn't been vetoed (that doesn't mean just you, McCain-Feingold, you fascist swine piece of legislation). But perhaps President Bush is trying to repair the damage, or perhaps he overreacted -- just like those who are complaining.

And for those who complain that the President should have realized the American public is a bunch of arabphobic bigots, who abandon their principles at the slightest provocation, all I can say is quit pointing fingers at others for not protecting you against yourself, especially if you call yourself a libertarian. Either that or admit there are times that even adults sound of mind and body need a nanny.

And to those who really do honestly object to the deal because they think Dubai is our enemy, remember Don Vito's advice: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.