Three Cabinet Secretaries Approved Port Deal They Knew Nothing About

[JABBS]

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has joined the list of high-ranking Bush Administration officials -- including President Bush -- who claim to have not been aware a United Arab Emirates-owned company was seeking to operate terminals in six U.S. ports.

The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States approved the deal on Jan. 17. The committee is made up of 12 senior government officials, including the Treasury, State, Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce secretaries and the Attorney General.

But three of those secretaries -- Chertoff, Treasury Secretary Snow and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld -- claim they didn't know about the deal transferring operations from British company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. to Dubai Ports World until it was made known by the media.

The various agencies are defending the lack of notification by calling the transfer a "routine" matter that no one is "second-guessing." This in spite of the fact that some of the Sept. 11 hijackers used the United Arab Emirates as an operational and financial base, and the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan.

Given the firestorm from both sides of the political aisle, I wonder if anyone in the Bush Administration will think twice the next time.

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This item first appeared at JABBS.

[elehhhhna]

1. jabbs: It's 21 ports, not 6.

[peacetalksforall]

4. The number of ports is up in the air (for me). If you look at a map on

the P & O website you will see 21 ports on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts - none on the Pacific coast. We know Loa Angles and San Diego (counted as one?) were on the list of 6. There are ports north of LA as well.

When first announced we were told six, but we were told they bought all of P & O ports, so P & O appears to own many more than 21.

Othere are claiming that there are 21 TERMINALS at 6 PORTS.
Others have said that some of the terminals at LA/SD are owned by the Chinese and some other countries.

But the text, referring to 21, is phrased differently on the P & O website.

It is all very strange indeed.

I think we may have been lied to AGAIN when they said 6 and 21 doesn't seem to be right, either.

Regarding the map, there was talk on tv yesterday about the port at Charleston - Charleston is not on the map.

We need to ask ourselves why the UAE company would only buy only 6 of all of our ports when P & O owned all (if that statement is correct).

[opihimoimoi]

2. And they want us to TRUST THEM???? my ass.....

[Jane Austin]

3. This whole administration is phoning it in - - from

wherever they are on their current PR tour for Social Security, Iran or New Orleans or other doomed and idiotic plan bushco is pushing now.

[JABBS]

5. isn't the real problem

that cabinet secretaries voted on something they didn't know about?

How can the Bush Administration say that it is fighting the war on terror and conducting homeland security if it can't follow its own rules on due diligence?

[KansDem]

6. Let's see, we have cabinet secretaries who approve deals...

...they know nothing about; we have a congress that will vote on legislation its members haven't read; and a president who doesn't study PDBs.

Ignorance is bliss!