US Ports --Safety VS Fear

Lee Ellis

Suddenly, many people are frightened by the sale from Britain to the United Arab Emirates of a cargo-handling company that handles cargo in six American cities. I fell into that trap, too, because I made assumptions sans facts.

It is a perfectly emotional reaction.. It is the same fear that caused us to move Japanese families of men, women and children from the American farms and society during WWII and put them in concentration camps for years. I can still recall the days when some thought that all crooks were Italian and called all Polish people dumb. Thank God we got rid of the Polish jokes and stopped judging people by either accents or skin color!

The facts are:

1. Dubai Ports will not have anything to do with security. America will still own and control that with its Coast Guard and Homeland Security.

2. Dubai Ports will not own the American ports; they will only manage the cargo handling under a lease.

3. The fight against this seems to be by the unions and by the Far Left who want to drive a wedge between us and the UAE.

4. If we lose the UAE friendship and its support as an ally, we could be overcome by terrorists. We are in need of their cooperation, military-intelligence, their ports, their launching pads, and their soil! Without these, prepare to have many more 9/11s and to be driven out of the Middle East!

5. Previous owners were foreign (British) and we know that England could not control terrorists. Remember the subways?

6. General Tommy Franks served in the UAE, lived there and has said that Dubai Ports runs the most efficient cargo-handling company of any. I will trust General Tommy Franks before I will trust those who are responding to this from either fear or emotion and ignoring true facts! General Franks worked with Dubai Ports; he has the evidence. This same company now services our naval war ships---over 600 of our war ships! If it is safe enough for the US Navy, it is safe enough for these ports. Incidentally, the CEO of Dubai Ports is an American.

7. The UAE Dubai Ports company was investigated by all security departments of the USA, including the Navy and Army!

8. Added to these facts is that Mr. M. Moore, the Senior VP of Dubai World has verified the following on the Fox News on Feb.24: That in their contract with P & O, the British company that they are buying, it reads that all management will be transferred to this new company so that only the actual ownership changes; the management team remains the same. Dubai Ports World will only handle the cargo as has been done under P. & O. Ports Authority of the US cities will still be in charge, as before, and security will still be controlled by the United States. Also the Container Security Initiative has extended its reach from the US to the UAE and they will be using the new radio scanning of all items as specified in the CSI. At the same time, all members of the Brit Hume Panel: Mort Kondracke,a Democrat, Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes all seemed to agree that we must support our Middle East Allies and not drive them into the arms of the anti-American Arabs, especially if we are to need a military advantage over Iran and Syria.

Previously, Bill O'Reilly asked, if we don't use the new Dubai owners, who is available? Answer: No one! If we don't have a top-notch ports system, this loss could throw the US into an economic hole as job losses in our six port cities would affect the entire USA. If you were the President of the USA, what action would you take knowing all these facts, knowing, for example, that if you lose the UAE as an ally, that you can lose the advantage you now have in the Middle East, especially the intelligence, airports and launching pads against Iran et al? You could also throw America into a job loss so great that the Far Left will sweep into office now and 2008.

The liberal Democrats and a few moderate Republicans say that the UAE supported the Taliban. Yes, but that was when Russia was invading Afghanistan, not now since we have had control! Yes, a couple of terrorists came through the UAE, but MORE have come through Ohio, Florida, New Jersey and New York. Do we stop doing business with those states? Terrorists have also come through Canada. Do we treat this country north of us now as an enemy?

Let us not let false fear mislead us. If not all Japanese were against us in WWII (many fought nobly for us against Germany) why should we think that all people in Dubai are also against us. If this were true, our airports, ships and planes would have been decimated while there. We cannot name one that was. Our people would have been killed there, but were not. So why must we assume that they will suddenly betray us now?

While my first thoughts were that this was a bad move, this was because I did not know the facts. I suspect I made the error of assuming that all Arabs think alike. Naughty profiling, I guess. Now, as I learn more from people like General Tommy Franks, George Friedman, CEO of Stratfor Geopolitical Intelligence, Rush Limbaugh, O’Reilly and research people at the WSJ, along with updated information from the Republican Party and other sources, I am willing to say that the Bush Administration has done its homework and is doing what is best for American interests, including safety, security and economic power.

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Lee Ellis is a retired journalist and narrator, formerly with both CBS and Gannett (USA Weekend). He was also a combat veteran of WWII, having fought in the South Pacific invasions. He had the pleasure of interviewing Ronald Reagan as an actor and then later working to help him become Governor of California. At the age of 80, he is keeping busy writing and doing free lance narrations for radio and television. He is an active member of Rotary and the VFW.

indiolee@dc.rr.com