WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Friday he was troubled by the political storm that forced the reversal of a deal allowing a company in Dubai to take over take over operations of six American ports, saying it sent a bad message to U.S. allies in the Middle East.
Bush said the United States needs moderate allies in the Arab world, like the United Arab Emirates, to win the global war on terrorism.
The president said he had been satisfied that security would be sound at the ports if the Dubai deal had taken effect. "Nevertheless, Congress was still very much opposed to it," Bush said. He made his remarks to a conference of the National Newspaper Association, which represents owners, publishers and editors of community newspapers.
"I'm concerned about a broader message this issue could send to our friends and allies around the world, particularly in the Middle East," the president said. "In order to win the war on terror we have got to strengthen our friendships and relationships with moderate Arab countries in the Middle East."
"UAE is a committed ally in the war on terror," Bush added. "They are a key partner for our military in a critical region, and outside of our own country, Dubai services more of our military, military ships, than any country in the world.
"They're sharing intelligence so we can hunt down the terrorists," Bush added. "They helped us shut down a world wide proliferation network run by A.Q. Khan" - the Pakistani scientist who sold nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, he said.
"UAE is a valued and strategic partner," he said. "I'm committed to strengthening our relationship with the UAE."
After a storm of protest in the Republican-controlled Congress, DP World announced Thursday that it would transfer six U.S. port operations to a U.S. entity. The moved spared Bush from a veto showdown with GOP lawmakers. Yet the larger issue highlighted by the DP world controversy - U.S. port security - shows no signs of going away.
"The problem of the political moment has passed, but the problem of adequate port security still looms large," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said.
Republicans and Democrats alike welcomed DP World's decision to give up its aspirations to manage significant operations at the six ports, but they warned that the move doesn't negate the urgent need for broad legislation aimed at protecting America's ports.
"I'm sure that the decision by DP World was a difficult decision to hand over port operations that they had purchased from another company," Bush said.
"There are gaping holes in cargo and port security that need to be plugged," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said.
The Bush administration also announced Friday that free trade talks with the United Arab Emirates were being postponed.
The talks, which were supposed to begin Monday, were postponed because both sides need more time to prepare, according to an announcement from the office of U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman. USTR spokeswoman Neena Moorjani refused to say whether the postponement was related to the controversy over the port operations.
Legislation on the issue has piled up in both the House and the Senate in the weeks since the flap over DP World erupted and divided Bush from the Republican-led Congress.
Before the United Arab Emirates-based company's announcement, the House and Senate appeared all but certain to block DP World's U.S. plan despite Bush's veto threats - a message that GOP congressional leaders delivered personally to the White House.
Facing a disapproving public in an election year, a House committee overwhelmingly voted against the plan Wednesday. And House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., warned the president in a private meeting Thursday that the Senate inevitably would follow suit.
Within hours, Sen. John Warner, R-Va., one of the few members of Congress to back the administration's position on the issue, went to the Senate floor to read a statement from the company.
"DP World will transfer fully the U.S. operations ... to a United States entity," H. Edward Bilkey, the company's top executive, said in the statement. It was unclear which American business might get the port operations.
The White House expressed satisfaction with the company's decision.
"It does provide a way forward and resolve the matter," said Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary "We have a strong relationship with the UAE and a good partnership in the global war on terrorism, and I think their decision reflects the importance of our broader relationship."
The company's decision gives the president an out. He now doesn't have to back down from his staunch support of the company or further divide his party on a terrorism-related issue with a veto.
It was unclear how the company would manage its planned divestiture, and Bilkey's statement said its announcement was "based on an understanding that DP World will not suffer economic loss."
"This should make the issue go away," Frist said.
Even critics of the deal expressed cautious optimism that DP World's move would quell the controversy surrounding that company's plan to take over some U.S. terminal leases held by the London-based company it was purchasing.
"The devil is in the details," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, echoing sentiments expressed by other lawmakers.
DP World on Thursday finalized its $6.8 billion purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the British company that through a U.S. subsidiary runs important port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. It also plays a lesser role in dockside activities at 16 other American ports.
The plan was disclosed last month, setting off a political firestorm in the United States even though the company's U.S. operations were only a small part of the global transaction.
Republicans were furious that they learned of it from news reports instead of from the Bush administration. They cited concerns over a company run by a foreign government overseeing operations at U.S. ports already deemed vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Democrats also pledged to halt the takeover and clamored for a vote in the Senate. They sought political advantage from the issue by trying to narrow a polling gap with the GOP on issues of national security.
Senate Republicans initially tried to fend off a vote, and the administration agreed to a 45-day review of the transaction. That strategy collapsed Wednesday with the 62-2 vote in the House Appropriations Committee to thwart the sale.
__________________ Commen Sense and Critical Thinking are an absolute joke in today's society. Yes I am talking to you!
Location: West, Central Florida, Third World America
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But, it appears the powers also know what would have happened if they continued to push. Don't cry bush, the postponeing of your meeting with the uae will just give you more time to plot about what other parts of America you can sell off to enrich yourself and your buds. I'm sure your uae buds have plenty of suggstions. They are no more our friends than any of the other rag head maniacs. the uae is just playing both sides of the fence...after all, two pay checks are better than one....duh!
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"They cannot be trusted.....The Romulans (our politicos) are without honor." Worf
Ya' can't please everyone so you might as well please yourself.
If it ain't good for America,don't do it,period!
We're becoming too dam dependent on others trying to please them,might be too late,but if we don't start taking care of OUR interests,no one will and we will pass away as a shadow in history like those before us.:nod:
But it's not in our interest to scare off foreign investment and tick off our allies. Isolationism doesn't and never has worked for any nation.
No one cared that a British company owned it to begin with and if Dubai hadn't outbid them, a Singapore corporation would own it now.
The flip side of the coin is that American corporations own holdings all over the world, as well. Including the Middle East. We'd be raising Cain if the Saudis or UAE made us divest ourselves from something over there.
It just seems like a run-of-the-mill holdings sale has become a platform for political grandstanding by people playing on our fears because it happened to be an Arab corporation.
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"Would it make you feel better, little girl, if they was thrown outta windows?"-Archie Bunker
I understand.
I'm not saying there's anything you can do about human nature. But politicians know better and they're counting on human nature to further their own agendas. I think they are making an average corporate move into something sinister because they know how we would react to it.
If you recall the initial story when it came out was that they'd be in charge of security, which was a blatant falsehood. But it set the stage for the grandstanding to come.
You must understand, I don't think it's a good idea for any foreign entity to own anything as strategic as ports, but I also see alot of manipulation on this issue by politicians. I hate having my strings pulled and that's whats happening.
They should bar foreign holding of anything strategic or infrastructurally key instead of this "oh no the Arabs are gonna invest in port operations" crap.
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"Would it make you feel better, little girl, if they was thrown outta windows?"-Archie Bunker
Outrider I am not sure that this deal would have made my life any less secure, yet I do have some precaution about letting an Islamic government owned company have control of the day to day operations and shipping manifests to our ports. Granted all it takes is one man to bribe someone, I feel it would be easier for Alqueda to find a more sympathetic official if he happened to be a Muslim and from the Middle East. I also believe that no American Port worker would be as easily tempted to look away knowing what the results would be, much like the airline passengers that downed the plane.
__________________ Commen Sense and Critical Thinking are an absolute joke in today's society. Yes I am talking to you!
Last edited by SPOCAHP ANAR; 03-11-2006 at 09:06 PM.
Again, the people who actually work the port would be the same ones who worked it two months ago. The Dubai company is a holding company.
Around here glass houses are changing companies every two years or so. The actual glass factory workers and managers never changes, but the parent company is always changing. Thats what holding companies do. They buy controlling interest or ownership of a business and generally have little to do with on the ground operations. A bunch of Dubai Arabs won't be unloading ships.
That being said, I absolutely agree that vital or strategic interests should be domestically owned and operated.
My beef is with people like Senator Clinton and many others on both sides of the aisle who are pandering and fear-mongering instead of addressing that core issue. This deal gave everyone a reason to poke at Bush instead of coming up with good answers for good questions.
Any foriegn entity is a potential enemy in the future (especially with W in charge) and certain fundamental things shouldn't be foriegn owned. Even by our oldest, staunchest allies.
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"Would it make you feel better, little girl, if they was thrown outta windows?"-Archie Bunker
Location: West, Central Florida, Third World America
Posts: 6,342
if you love them so much, if you trust them so much and you are so high up on your high horse you think morally we should allow this...then why don't you sell your security, and your's only to these maniacs? Most Americans who don't stand to make money off this deal and, are true Americans who are concerned with the clear and obvious threat a deal like this presents to the safety of America, can see just how dangerous it is to allow them to have control over anything that is American. What's wrong with you? Even an absolute moron can see how dangerous this is. It's not "fear mongering" as you suggest. It's plain old common sense....sense you seem to lack.
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"They cannot be trusted.....The Romulans (our politicos) are without honor." Worf
Take a pill, Rufus. Do you actually read what you are responding to?
I believe I clearly stated that NO foriegn corporation should own ANY vital or strategic enterprise.
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"Would it make you feel better, little girl, if they was thrown outta windows?"-Archie Bunker
Last edited by Outriderdark; 03-14-2006 at 04:53 PM.
