VIDEO- KO on the UAE Ports with Bob Menendez

[liveoaktx]

Menendez has introduced legislation

[Wetzelbill]

1. I just watched this, it's very good

great post.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. Thanks for the link

I read a page about UAE, and according to it, the US isn't even one of UAE's main trading partners, so what Chertof was saying about trade was even more bunk than what was said.

[Coexist]

3. thanks - I missed Countdown tonight.

[madokie]

4. Again Thanks liveoaktx. You are doing a great service to people like

myself, Peace may you forever be smiled upon.

[bear425]

5. This is a very good interview. Menendez speaks well and

clearly got his points across. I hope some eyes were opened to this critical story.

Thanks for posting liveoaktx!

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. K & R with thanks. Here is my current unofficial PORT SALE COMPILATION:

You'll see several threads mentioning the bill Menendez and Clinton have introduced.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2454971
thread title (2-12-06 GD-P): 911 Bankers to Run SIX Major U.S. Ports—Dubai(UAE). IMPEACH NOW!!!
Comment/excerpt: “Six ports will be run and protected by a Dubai based port management company (DP World): New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. The deal was approved by a “U.S. government panel coordinated out of the White House. Just prior to the deal, David C. Sanborn of Virginia was appointed as administrator of the Maritime Administration of the Transportation Department. Sanborn worked as DP World's director of operations for Europe and Latin America.…. A company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving a country with ties to the Sept. 11 hijackers with influence over a maritime industry considered vulnerable to terrorism.“
Also gives info on Dubai’s links to suspected terrorist financing and money laundering.

Even the freepers are upset about this outrage:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x446111
thread title (2-16-06 GD): Freepers JUST AS MAD About the Port Control Issue... Common Ground?
Comment/excerpt: Free Republic posts expressing concern/outrage over Dubai operating 6 major US ports.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x446003
thread title (2-16-06 GD): OK!!! I think the Pres. just cut his own throat!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2113537
thread title (2-16-06 LBN): White House Defends Port Operations Sale
Comment/excerpt: Yahoo News/AP. “The Bush administration on Thursday rebuffed criticism about potential security risks of a $6.8 billion sale that gives a company in the United Arab Emirates control over significant operations at six major American ports. Lawmakers asked the White House to reconsider the deal. The sale to state-owned Dubai Ports World was ‘rigorously reviewed’ by a U.S. committee that considers security threats when foreign companies seek to buy or invest in American industry, National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones said….”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x453502
thread title (2-17-06 GD): Freeper and neocon websites unable to put a spin on the UAE port takeover
Comment/excerpt: COMPILATION post with many links and good explanation, for example of the role played by GOLD in the money trail to al Qaeda. Also that the United Arab Emirates were one of the THREE COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD THAT RECOGNIZED THE TALIBAN AS THE LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT OF AFGHANISTAN. Much more on the obvious security disaster this deal would be and why.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x452192
thread title (2-17-06 GD): Excellent! "Democrats plan bill to block Dubai-US port deal"
Comment/excerpt: Reuters: “Two U.S. Democratic senators said on Friday they would introduce legislation aimed at blocking Dubai Ports World from buying a company that operates several U.S. shipping ports because of security concerns. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Hillary Clinton of New York said they would offer a measure to ban companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from acquiring U.S. port operations.” Hillary is calculating that the GOPs and Dems will like this position and it will boost her presidential chances, but I wouldn’t care WHO was calling for sanity in this.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2115471
thread title (2-17-06 LBN): US Democrats plan bill to block Dubai-US port deal
Comment/excerpt: Cites same Reuters article as the preceding thread in GD.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x460075
thread title (2-18-06 GD): Please tell me why every other thread is not about the sale of the ports?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x461270#462457
thread title (2-18-06 GD): In light of the sale of 6 US ports to the United Arab Emirates, PNAC VIDEO
Comment/excerpt: Links to two Dutch VIDEOS, one 20 min and one 48 min. They are in English about the PNAC, the Carlyle group, and the greedy corporate network ruling the world today.. Reply #8 has a summary. Excerpt: “No civilised country would tolerate the close relationship Carlyle and, by practical extension, United States' president George W. Bush, enjoy with the Saudi royal family and its cohorts in terror, repression and murder. The behaviour of those setting the agenda of our global future is unconscionable at best and downright evil when taken at face value. The documentary is thoroughly researched, well presented, and carries no trace of the conspiratorial. The facts speak for themselves. Sowing death, destruction and terror about the globe, George W. Bush and his power-crazed sidekicks, supporters and collaborators are everything they pretend others to be; namely, global terrorists bent on furthering selfish interests.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2118357
thread title (2-18-06 LBN): Firm Sues to Block Foreign Port Takeover
Comment/excerpt: AP at Yahoo News and CBS – link in Reply #1. Excerpt: …“The Miami company, a subsidiary of Eller & Company Inc., presently is a business partner with London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which Dubai Ports World purchased last week. In a lawsuit in Florida circuit court, the Miami subsidiary said that under the sale it will become an "involuntary partner" with Dubai's government and it may seek more than $10 million in damages. The Miami subsidiary, Continental Stevedoring & Terminals Inc., said the sale to Dubai was prohibited under its partnership agreement with the British firm and "may endanger the national security of the United States." It asked a judge to block the takeover and said it does not believe the company, Florida or the U.S. government can ensure Dubai Ports World's compliance with American security rules.” …
Reply #4 Cites and excerpts an important article on the Dubai sale in the Feb 12 Washington Post that describes the secretive process by which a government panel raised no objection to the sale:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/11/AR2006021101112.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2118356
thread title (2-18-06 LBN): Bill would stop sale of port operations to Arabs
Comment/excerpt: An editorial from Buffalo. Excerpt: “Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey have introduced legislation to prohibit companies owned or controlled by foreign governments from buying U.S. port operations. The measure is intended to block the $6.8 billion sale of a company that operates six U.S. ports to a firm controlled by the United Arab Emirates.“

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2118060
thread title (2-18-06 LBN): Fear Escalates on Foreign Control of Ports
Comment/excerpt: Washington Post, same title. Excerpt: “WASHINGTON -- A New Jersey congressman said Saturday he wants to require that security officials at U.S. ports be American citizens to prevent overseas companies operating shipping facilities here from hiring foreigners in such sensitive positions. Republican Frank A. LoBiondo, chairman of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee, cited "significant" security concerns over a $6.8 billion sale that gives a company in the United Arab Emirates control over operations at six major American ports. LoBiondo said he wants the new mandatory citizenship requirements approved by Congress and President Bush before state-owned Dubai Ports World completes its pending purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. … Caught by surprise over the breadth of concerns expressed in the United States, Dubai Ports World is cautiously organizing its response. The company quietly dispatched advisers to reassure port officials along the East Coast, and its chief operating officer _ internationally respected American shipping executive Edward "Ted" H. Bilkey _ was expected to travel to Washington soon for meetings on Capitol Hill and elsewhere.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x463914
thread title (2-19-06 GD): Arab Takeover of US Ports Seen as Security 'Insanity'
Comment/excerpt: Worldnetdaily link. Excerpt: UAE has known ties to terrorists and 9/11 hijackers, raising concerns at the ports involved: New York, Baltimore, New Jersey, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. … "On the face of it, this looks like fucking insanity to me", said a Republican member of the New York City council, James Oddo. "This shouldn't happen. It really boggles the mind", Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the American Center for Democracy said. "The UAE is a hub for all kinds of terrorist activities." "Should we be outsourcing our own security?"...Senator Chuck Schumer said on Fox News.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x471124
thread title (2-20-06 GD): Our Ports are a Tradeoff!! All about $$$ and Oil
Comment/excerpt: Documents General Electric’s financial interest in Middle East access and much more. Supports the poster’s comment, “If it isn't apparent what's going on here, it should be. Our government and corporations have traded our ports for better access to the ME. Iraq was a lie (we know this) and I believe the "war on terror" is garbage as is the drum-beating over Iran. PNAC's plan is being followed to the letter and it's all about money and controlling the world's oil supply.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2471320
thread title (2-20-06 GD-P): the connection to it all - Carlyle Group involved in port security deal
Comment/excerpt: “MM&P-contracted CSX Lines, the US-flag container shipping subsidiary of CSX Inc., will be sold to the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm based in Washington, DC for $300M. The acquisition will give Carlyle control over the nation's largest Jones Act container fleet and will add to the company's growing transportation portfolio. CSX Lines will be renamed Horizon Lines LLC, when the transaction is completed early next year pending regulatory approval. CSX Lines is the nation's largest ocean transport company, with 17 US-flag vessels and 22,000 containers, providing ocean transportation and logistics services to and from the US, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Carlyle's other maritime holdings include Seabulk International, formerly Hvide Marine, which owns and operates 10 Jones Act tankers in the Gulf of Mexico. Through United Defense Industries, Carlyle controls United States Marine Repair, the nation's largest non-nuclear ship repair and conversion company…
John Snow, the CEO of CSX, was appointed Treasury Secretary by the younger President Bush last week.
…and more – they want to get into NUCLEAR SUBMARINES TOO…

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x473813
thread title (2-20-06 GD): Carlyly Group's involvement in port security company
Comment/excerpt: Same main article as the GD-P thread about sale of CSX lines to Carlyle, appointment of former CSX CEO as Sec of Treasury. Reply 24: DUBAI PORT WORLD – THE ONES BUYING THE AMERICAN PORTS – OWN CSX!!! CSX also owns biggest rail in the east, plus trucking.(Reply #30) But Reply #34 says DPW bought the terminal business from CSX for cash and does NOT own CSX, only a business CSX once owned.
Much needs to be clarified, but there are lots of dots there to connect, and it all comes back to sellout by the Bushies for money and to please their MidEast patrons.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x476901
thread title (2-20-06 GD): UAE ports would get advanced warning on military shipments:
Comment/excerpt: FORTY PERCENT OF US ARMY CARGO WOULD BE CONTROLLED BY DUBAI-OWNED US PORTS!!! Excerpt from ThinkProgress article: “The company, Dubai Ports World, would also control the movement of military equipment on behalf of the U.S. Army through two other ports. From today’s edition of the British paper Lloyd’s List: has just renewed a contract with the United States Surface Deployment and Distribution Command to provide stevedoring of military equipment at the Texan ports of Beaumont and Corpus Christi through 2010. According to the journal Army Logistician ‘Almost 40 percent of the Army cargo deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom flows through these two ports.’ “

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x472697
thread title (2-20-06 GD): Port Security - Kerry warned us!
Comment/excerpt: COMPILATION POST on Kerry statements about extremely lax security in US ports and their vulnerability to terrorists. Now Bush wants to SELL the operation of six crucial ports – two of them handling 40% of US Army cargo - to a nation that supports extremists (the Taliban) and terrorists.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x475764
thread title (2-20-06 GD): Behold The Golden Calf (port sale)
Comment/excerpt: The Plaid Adder’s take on the sale of control of six US ports to Dubai. Excerpt: “…Since 2000 it has become obvious that the Bush revolution is powered by three major interest groups: the worshippers of power, the worshippers of capitalism, and the worshippers of God the Smiter. … Occasionally, the desire to make a buck will run up against one of the priorities of God the Smiter, or the worship of power will produce policies that are economically disastrous or interfere with the American capacity to smite. … Well, we are finding out which master Bush really serves, and surprise surprise, it's Mammon….And isn't it nice to know that with the system of checks and balances now fundamentally broken, the opposition party neutered, and the majority party being kept in line through a combination of bribery and threats, when Bush decides to sell out you, me, and the country for the benefit of his rich friends, there is no one to stop him….”

[Nothing Without Hope]

8. error in my comment on the 3rd-to-last entry in the compilation -

the 40% of US army shipments would not all be going through "Dubai-owned" ports, rather two of the major ports that have in the past handled that 40% would have STEVEDORING provided under UAE-owned contract. It's still a security risk. The quote that I included in that comment is correct.

[louis c]

9. Good Work

Thanks for the update.

Fox News, Mike Savage, Republican Lawmakers, as well as Democrats are slaughtering this deal.

We have to keep the heat up. I hope Bush defends this. The last news report I heard says that "the administration will not back down"

I hope not. I'd love to keep pummeling them until November.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. Be sure to read the PDF FILE OF THE LETTER TO SOT John Snow

from some Congress members - it's actally hosted at the Fox News website and has important points, some of which were brought out by the Keith Olbermann interview of Sen. Menendez.

Here's the link for the pdf file:
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/Dubai_Ports_letter.pdf

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. I do think Menendez made a MISTAKE when he gave the number of

shipping containers that are inspected. He said "only 95%" - actually he may have had that backwards. Kerry has been talking about this for years:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x472697
thread title (2-20-06 GD): Port Security - Kerry warned us!

In 2003, Kerry pointed out that ONLY 4% OF PORT CONTAINERS WERE INSPECTED:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2003/12/18/kerry_says_security_at_ports_is_lacking/

I've emailed Keith to point this out. If it seemed the same to you and you want to email him too:
[e-mail]

[Nothing Without Hope]

11. I don't think Sen. Menendez mentioned: the UAE are a DRUG TRANSSHIPMENT

point for trafficking and are also active areas for money laundering. It's at the CIA's own site!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x478454
thread title (2-21-06 GD): CIA: UAE is a DRUG transhipment point (& money laundering) / PORT SALE
Comment/excerpt: From the CIA web site: “The UAE is a drug transshipment point for traffickers given its proximity to Southwest Asian drug producing countries; the UAE's position as a major financial center makes it vulnerable to money laundering….”