Both good and bad.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

So Germans and Australians would be fine with this company opperating their entire seaboard?

Look: this UAE company is going to be responsible for loading and unloading at 22 American ports. There is a far better chance for something to go wrong at one of them then there is at the ONE they control in Germany or the ONE they control in Australia.

And Germershime only has 20,000 people. New York has ~12 Million, and even Boston has 500,000.

[The Emperor Fabulous]

Originally posted by DaShi


He's being wire-tapped.

Wouldn't be surprised.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by The Emperor Fabulous
RAG-HEADS? I don't use words like that. They're xenophobic.

And they control the loading/unloading of ships. Said ships include those transporting (highly explosive and spreadable) natural gas through some of these ports including mine.

So, the 'rag-heads' are going to convince American longshoremen to do things to blow both themselves and other Americans up?

You're making the Gaulists in France look good.

[Sikander]

As someone who can't possibly be mistaken for a kumbaya Arab lover, I nonetheless find myself disgusted by the way members of both parties have manipulated this issue to appeal to the most racist portions of their constituencies. Bush at worst gave the issue a cursory examination, but there really doesn't seem to be any "there there". So a foreign company leases a terminal, or 22. Foreign airlines, including numerous government owned airlines have done so for longer than most of us have been alive at airports all across the country. Airlines in fact are responsible for much more in the way of security than port operators have ever been.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Originally posted by The Emperor Fabulous
Another note: Norfolk is the US's (and the World's) largest Naval station.

What this means is:

if two guys who are disenfranchised by the United States and its mission in the middle east, and they are employed by this UAE company, they could get in a dingy and drive explosives into the hull of one of 75 ships that station in Norfolk when not on duty.

and as if they cannot do it now. That is get employed by UK company (or even if this was US publicly held company) , and do what they pertained to do. Security =/ paranoia.

[Dinner]

I do think this is partially of Bush's own making. He won the last election almost entirely by fear mongering against Arabs (well, and by claiming anyone who disagreed with him was a defeatest). This cartoon shows basically why Bush is having a hard time with this.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by notyoueither
It's an international issue.

You Yanks are going tilt over the rag-heads owning a company that manages your ports, nevermind that they don't control access to those ports, a myriad of American govenment agencies do.

Meanwhile, your reactions to a UAE company buying a British company's assets are only going to fuel fires of resentment abroad.

That is an international issue.

Now please explain how the CG has intelligence on the UAE that nobody else has.

"rag-heads" -- who is calling who, xeneophobic?