Lawmakers Decry Ports Takeover, Chertoff Defends the Deal

[kerrygoddess]

Lawmakers Decry Ports Takeover, Chertoff Defends the Deal
February 19th, 2006 @ 11:11 pm

Head of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has about as much credibility at this point as a gnat. Needless to say when he “defended the security review of Dubai Ports World” today, it’s a difficult stretch of the mind to trust a word he has to say on this. His record on Katrina speaks for itself.

Chertoff said the government typically builds in “certain conditions or requirements that the company has to agree to make sure we address the national security concerns.” But Chertoff declined to discuss specifics saying that information is classified.

“We make sure there are assurances in place, in general, sufficient to satisfy us that the deal is appropriate from a national security standpoint,” Chertoff said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle (as noted here previously) are questioning the sale to DP World as a possible risk to national security. And then there is also the possible Bush cronyism connection.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1998

[Canuckistanian]

1. Record this

Copy it, write it down, archive it. This WILL be handy later.

[Peace Patriot]

2. Lawmakers are "questioning" it?! QUESTIONING it?! This latest Bush junta

proposal is beyond belief. It leaves me speechless.

Lawmakers are "questioning" it as a "POSSIBLE" risk to national security?!

The consequences of having a president who was selected by Diebold and ES&S--the two rightwing Bushite corporatations that "counted" all the votes in 2004 using "trade secret," proprietary programming code--and a Congress most of whose members were similarly selected, have never seemed more dire than with this plan to sell off our nation's ports to an Arab sheikdom.

The American people lay helpless beneath an illegitimate, treasonous government.

---------------------------------

"Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle...are questioning the sale to DP World as a possible risk to national security."

[PaulaFarrell]

3. I believe the ports have already been sold

and now the company that bought them is being taken over. It's the shareholders who made the sale not bush.

[Catrina]

5. And the Committee for Foreign Investment, made up of Chertoff, Condy

Hadley, Gonzalez, Gutierrez and some other Bush appointments, approved the decision in secret ~ a whole list of the traitors are behind the scenes making these kinds of decisions ~ and Congress is just 'questioning' that decision?

Everywhere you see those names, Americans are being lied to or/and betrayed.

Chertoff is nothing more than a joke at this point, even the wimpy Congress concluded that 'people died' as a result of his and Bush's 'leadership'.

So, we have a man who let people die already, telling us that if we open the ports to a company that could be infiltrated by terrorists, everything will be just fine.

Sometimes I feel like we're living in a nightmare from which everyone will wake up soon ~

Chertoff also 'wasn't watching television' during the Hurricane which is why he 'didn't know that people were in need of help, until three days after the storm hit'. But the WHOLE WORLD knew ~ the scope of their incompence is breath-taking. He should be on trial right now, for criminally negligent manslaughter at least ~

[Catrina]

6. And the Committee for Foreign Investment, made up of Chertoff, Condy

Hadley, Gonzalez, Gutierrez and some other Bush appointments, approved the decision in secret ~ a whole list of the traitors are behind the scenes making these kinds of decisions ~ and Congress is just 'questioning' that decision?

Everywhere you see those names, Americans are being lied to or/and betrayed.

Chertoff is nothing more than a joke at this point, even the wimpy Congress concluded that 'people died' as a result of his and Bush's 'leadership'.

So, we have a man who let people die already, telling us that if we open the ports to a company that could be infiltrated by terrorists, everything will be just fine.

Sometimes I feel like we're living in a nightmare from which everyone will wake up soon ~

Chertoff also 'wasn't watching television' during the Hurricane which is why he 'didn't know that people were in need of help, until three days after the storm hit'. But the WHOLE WORLD knew ~ the scope of their incompence is breath-taking. He should be on trial right now, for criminally negligent manslaughter at least ~

[kerrygoddess]

10. The U.S. can still block takeover of our ports

regardless of whether the deal has gone through.

[PaulaFarrell]

11. on what basis?

I know that the US ports are only a small part of the P & O package, but are you saying that the US government has the ability the to negate a business deal which happened in another country because US ports are involved? It's a genuine question, as I don't know alot about these matters. Would it be on the basis of anti-trust or what? Would any of the 19 countries with P & O ports likewise be able to block the deal? Or would the US have to withdraw the 6 ports and then pay off P & O ? Who would operate the ports in the meantime? What if DP pulls out and PSA takes over P & O instead? What would happen then?

[ProSense]

4. At the same time Hughes is

in Dubai selling America's image. This is beyond comprehension.

[msgadget]

7. Chertoff again...

Homeland Insecurity.

[AndyA]

8. What's next? Osama bin Laden to manage nuke plants in USA?

I mean, really, why not just hand over a couple of our nuclear facilities to Osama? This is an outrage! Our government should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this. Whatever happened to putting AMERICA FIRST? Our own government won't even do it! :mad:

[Twist_U_Up]

9. Clintons fault ,no really......................

This is the rights slant which is probably true.

Clinton's administration originally approved London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to control those ports.

Let's get some history on where this all started and about the status of our West Coast ports.