Port
scandal exaggerated, needs more consideration
Sean
Cocca
If there is one thing I have noticed throughout this whole national debate
over a company from the United Arab Emirates acquiring a British company that
managed several of our U.S. ports, it is the colossal lack of knowledge about
the whole matter.
I do not know whether it is from simple ignorance, misinformation or just blatant
racism and prejudice, but there are a lot of powerful people making unfounded
accusations against the Bush administration for not killing this deal when
it had the chance. In reality, there is nothing wrong with it.
Dubai Ports World (DPW), a company based in UAE, recently purchased the British-owned
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), which operated
several terminals throughout six ports in the United States. These ports include
Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, Houston and Newark/Elizabeth,
N.J., according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Web site.
Many people are more than a little apprehensive about a country from the Middle
East controlling port operations in the United States, but their fears are
largely unfounded. First, DPW and P&O made an agreement to comply with
the security programs to which P&O currently adheres.
There will be no policy change in terms of security. In fact, DPW will not
be handling security at all. DPW will be acting as terminal operators at each
of these ports. It will be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the port
terminal, such as general upkeep, the loading, unloading, or transfer of cargo,
storage and repair of facilities.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the CBP are the ones directly responsible for security
at the ports. The CBP’s mission is “to prevent terrorists and terrorist
weapons from entering the United States by eliminating potential threats before
they arrive at our borders and ports,” according to the CBP Web site.
The Coast Guard regularly inspects cargo and makes sure each port facility
complies with the rules and regulations set forth by the government.
These are the men and women who are protecting our ports and ensuring our safety.
It is not as if the U.S. government is handing the UAE keys to our ports and
politely asking them to lock up when they leave. As President George W. Bush
has said, if there were a threat to national security, this deal would never
have gone through.
But that is not good enough for most people. Most people in America no longer
take the president’s word at face value. Sometimes they will not even
take honest facts from him unless some pundit succumbs to rationality and agrees
with something the president says.
That is what has happened in this whole debacle. There is no real threat to
national security because of this deal. Let me illuminate some realities for
you, the poor, tired masses longing for truth.
The UAE is a strong ally to the United States. It is most certainly our strongest
ally in the Middle East and one of our strongest allies in the War on Terror.
The UAE hosts more U.S. Navy ships in their ports than any other country in
the world, outside the United States of course, according to the U.S. Department
of State Web site. DPW currently runs one of the main ports that harbors– U.S.
ships in the UAE. This provides the Navy with a strategic position in the Middle
East. It also allows the U.S. Air Force to utilize several of its airfields.
The UAE has frozen many suspected terrorists’ bank accounts in an effort
to shut down the global terror finance network. It has enacted new laws against
money laundering and provides funding for counter-terrorist operations.
The UAE was also the first Middle Eastern country to join the Container Security
Initiative (CSI), which is a multinational agreement to help protect global
trade from terrorism, according to the Department of State Web site. The article
goes on to say, “Under CSI, a team of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection officers is permanently stationed inside Dubai’s ports,
where they work closely with Dubai Customs to screen containers destined for
the United States. Cooperation with Dubai officials has been outstanding and
a model for other operations.”
The UAE has been a model citizen when it comes to port security and cooperation
with national security agents.
Finally, the UAE has been a big supporter of the new Iraqi government. It has
provided significant funding to help establish and maintain the government.
The UAE has traditionally been a champion of Middle East peace efforts.
From everything I have researched, it seems as though the UAE is one of our
greatest allies and most certainly, our greatest ally in the War on Terror.
What kind of message does it send when we say to that ally, “We don’t
trust you with our ports.”
It is a slap in the face, plain and simple.
And just in case you still had any doubts as to the intentions of the UAE,
I will leave you with this little tidbit: The UAE donated $100 million to help
with the relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. They were one
of the first nations to donate and they made the largest donation of any country.
Yeah, that doesn’t really sound like the type of people I want managing
our ports.
Sean Cocca is a senior journalism major and the news editor of the Daily
Forty-Niner.
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