What is wrong with this guy ?

Secret deals given to Saudis in Port deal.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060223/ap_on_.../ports_security

'Don't worry about security,' says Curious George

UAE 'mixed record' on terrorism, shipment security

God, you can't even get the country right....

Yeah, I was just thinking that too.

This is just another horrible idea- but what else is new? Sure, the Coast Guard still "runs" security and inspections, but they only actually inspect about 4% of the shit coming in. What that really means is that they set the standards that the ports "have to" follow. Here's some info on the ports deal, Dubai, and the UAE:






Here are a couple of points for why this IS a good idea (for some people):

Ehh, ... close enough

Insert sarcasm face

This story needs to be updated. Last I heard it was now 22 ports. Some involving military instalations as well.

Damn stupid thing to do.

But not as stupid as how America funded & supported Bin Laden.

Or is it?

Mr. Hett??

I would try and explain, but foreign policy doesn't seem to be you, or your countrie's strongest ability.

Grammer's not your stong suit, Mr. Hett, we all have flaws. Yours tend to be more obvious than some.

Canadas foreign policies pretty much are comprised of sitting on the fence in most global-type situations. I have never denied that. In fact, I've probably complained about it at some point.

Excellent rebuttal, as always. That was a typo, not a grammatical error.

Reasons to question UAE
Background on UAE and Islamist Extremism

-- 1991. On the eve of the 1991 Gulf War, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan,” the father of the current UAE president, branded the United States “our number two enemy” after Israel.
1. “our number two enemy” after Israel. Welcoming Terror to U.S. Ports (column)
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadA...le.asp?ID=21413

-- 1997. UAE is one of few countries recognizing the Islamist Extremist Taliban as legitimate government of Afghanistan.
2.United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban regime in 1997
http://www.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/a/10958.htm

-- 1998. Al-Qaida money in UAE Dubai banks linked to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania blamed on Osama bin Laden.
-- 1999. UAE royal family meets with Osama Bin Laden - after Bin Laden's 1996 and 1998 declarations of war on the United States. UAE rulers maintained close ties to Osama bin Laden before September 11. U.S. intelligence detected an official United Arab Emirates government airplane in Afghanistan to meet with Osama Bin Laden on at least one occasion.
3. UAE Govt and Bin Laden
Report: Considered an ally now, UAE backed bin Laden
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20...23441-8908r.htm
4. Bin Laden 1996 & 1998 Declarations of War
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/terrorism/inte...fatwa_1996.html
http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/opf980830a.htm
http://www.ict.org.il/articles/fatwah.htm

-- 1999-2003. Sheikh Zayed's Zayed Center for International Coordination and Followup, founded in 1999 as the official Arab League think-tank, was shuttered under international pressure in 2003; it provided a platform for anti-Western, anti-Christian and anti-Jewish extremists like Saudi economist Dr. Yussuf Abdallah Al Zamel, who blamed the war in Iraq on "radical Zionist and right-wing Christian" influence.
-- 2001. UAE “compensation” plan for the Palestinian intifada in 2001 included $3,000 for every Palestinian shaheed, $2,000 for his family, $1,500 for those detained by Israel, $1,200 for each orphan. In addition, families of those terrorists whose homes Israel demolished each received $10,000. Also in 2001, in support of the martyr’s families in the Palestinian intifada, two telethons were organized in the UAE. “We Are All Palestinians” raised 135 million dirham, or $36.8 million, and “For Your Sake Palestine” raised 350 million dirham, or $95.3 million.
5. HAMAS and Zayad data:
Welcoming Terror to U.S. Ports (column)
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadA...le.asp?ID=21413

-- 2001. United Arab Emirates served as a financial base of September 11 hijackers who used UAE banks to get terrorists funds in USA who attacked USA - about half the $250,000 spent on the Sept. 11 attacks was wired to al-Qaida terrorists in the United States from Dubai banks, according to U.S. Treasury investigators
-- 2001. United Arab Emirates served as an operational base for the September 11 hijackers (two of whom came from UAE)
6. January 2004 - UAE Banks Investigations and Roles in 9/11
Associated Press: U.S. Eyes UAE Banks in Terror Money Probe
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/000670.php
9/11 -- UAE Funds Transfer -- Money is Moved to the Hijackers
http://cryptome.quintessenz.org/mirror/usa-v-zm-ind.htm
7. Al-Qaida money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania blamed on Osama bin Laden.
U.S. Eyes UAE Banks in Terror Money Probe
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/000670.php

-- 2001. UAE - it was through Dubai that Russian arms dealers supplied bin Laden's Taliban backers in Afghanistan before the U.S.-led war ousted their Islamic government.
8. U.S. Eyes UAE Banks in Terror Money Probe
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/000670.php

-- 2002 to 2005 (?) - UAE - Dubai-based companies in the United Arab Emirates have been cited linchpins in the lucrative nuclear weapons black market that has supplied Iran, Libya and North Korea. SMB Computers, a key element in the nuclear weapons black market operated by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. Another UAE company involved in the nuclear black market was Gulf Technical Industries. The shipments were said to have been disguised and often relabeled in Dubai to avoid detection. Dubai company SMB was also the front for the nuclear network that sought to provide up to 1,000 centrifuges to Libya. SMB owner Tahir was shipping agent for nuclear black market, using UAE shipping facilities. UAE port of Dubai served as the port of destination for these shipments.
9. Computer Firm in Dubai was Hub for Black Market Nuke Network
http://www.10e20webdesign.com/news_center_latest_technology_
internet_news_February_13_2004_computer_firm_in_dubai_
was_hub_for_black_market_nuke_network.htm

-- 2004. UAE Red Crescent donated $2 million to HAMAS “charities” to be distributed to 3,158 terrorists’ orphans.
-- January 2004. According to US officials, banks in UAE remain a key focus in the investigation into terror funding despite moves to tighten reporting rules, freeze accounts and control informal money transfers; this is due to Dubai's history of shady transactions and the difficulty of tracking a matrix of legal and illegal free trade. UAE continues to stonewall the U.S. Treasury Department's efforts to track al Qaeda's bank accounts.
-- March 2005. UAE Friends Society transferred $475,000, through the UAE Red Crescent, to West Bank “charitable” organizations in Hebron, Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem to distribute to the families of “martyrs”
-- May 10, 2005. Saudi/UAE Al-Majd TV: “the fact that [the U.S.] entered [Iraq] … makes it every Muslim's duty to go out against them, not only the Iraqis… Jihad today has become an individual duty that applies to each and every Muslim… When the Muslims fought in Afghanistan they destroyed the Soviet Union… It collapsed, and Allah willing so will [the U.S.] collapse.”
10. May 10, 2005 Saudi/UAE Al-Majd TV:
http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/...le.asp?ID=16814

-- July 27, 2005, the Palestinian Information Center carried a public HAMAS statement thanking the UAE for it’s “unstinting support.” The statement said: “We highly appreciate his highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan (UAE president) in particular and the UAE people and government in general for their limitless support
11. Welcoming Terror to U.S. Ports (column)
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadA...le.asp?ID=21413

-- February 2006. UAE Company Hosts Hamas Web Site - a company in the United Arab Emirates provides hosting services for one of the leading web sites of Hamas
12. UAE Company Hosts Hamas Web Site
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=19347&only

-- February 2006. Misuse of passports on the rise in UAE. "Cases of fraud involving misuse of passports are on the rise in the UAE, Khaleej Times, has learnt."
13. Misuse of passports on the rise in UAE
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle...february704.xml

Good job everyone that scuttled this deal, we probably could have used the extra intelligence...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...mplate=nextpage

Former Inside the Ring co-author Rowan Scarborough has written a new book revealing a key reason the Bush administration pressed hard for the 2006 deal for the United Arab Emirates-based Dubai Ports World to take over management of several U.S. ports.

According to Mr. Scarborough, the administration wanted the deal to go through because the UAE government had agreed to let the United States post agents inside its global port network who could report on world shipping.

Dubai Ports currently runs port facilities at key U.S. intelligence targets, including Venezuela, China, Pakistan, India and Saudi Arabia.

"Dubai Ports, in essence, was going to become an agent of CIA," Mr. Scarborough said in an interview. "The arrangement is helping us detect whether any kind of terror contraband was being moved around."

The management deal to run ports at New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami was initially approved by the Treasury Department-run Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, but was eventually scuttled in 2006 after pressure from Congress. Both Republicans and Democrats raised concerns that the deal would affect U.S. port security since al Qaeda had used UAE as a major financial base for its terrorist network.

Sorry don't believe a word of it. If the US wanted to have spies in the ports then send in agents, why involve businesses anyway?

Legitimate businesses provide perfect cover, so that CIA operatives can have deniability when their hands get caught in the cookie jar.