
 |
|
May 24, 2013
May 22, 2013
John Thorne:
They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman
May 20, 2013
Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?
Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star
The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation
David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church
May 10, 2013
Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be
May 8, 2013
Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas
Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate
Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility
May 6, 2013
May 3, 2013
Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine
April 29, 2013
Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust
Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?
Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA
April 26, 2013
Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty
April 24, 2013
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Feb. 27, 2006
/ 29 Shevat, 5766
Any storm in a port
By
Debra J. Saunders
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Here's my take on the news that Dubai Ports World, a company largely owned by Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, is about to run operations at six major U.S. ports.
One: This sort of story bares the worst tendencies in U.S. punditry and Beltway politics. Financial papers were reporting on the impending Dubai Ports acquisition of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. — of London — that was running these ports, but folks in the news biz didn't see it as a front-page story. Now, pundits are suddenly experts on port economics, and they're bashing President Bush and his aides for poorly handling something they didn't perceive as an issue as little as two weeks ago. (My expertise lies in having seen ads for the Dubai International Airport that, to me, scream out: Ladies, if you're Western, you don't have to wear a veil.)
Two: Port security is an oxymoron. Everyone knows that the government isn't doing enough to check cargo containers. Security at the ports was bad before Dubai acquired P&O, and it will be bad if Bush-bashers somehow manage to keep Dubai out. When the Bush administration reminds critics the federal government will remain in charge of port security, that's not exactly reassuring.
Three: The left's outrage about racial profiling goes out the window the minute partisans see an opportunity to bash Bush. Ditto all that high-minded rhetoric about the need for America to win friends among the — all bow — international community.
I don't believe editorial writers have singled out Dubai Ports World simply because Dubai served as a base of operations for al-Qaida, as a San Francisco Chronicle editorial claimed. If ties to terrorism were the issue, editorial writers would have made a stink about P&O because convicted shoe bomber Richard Reid is a British citizen. Face it, Dubai is a target because it is Arab and Muslim.
It's only a matter of time before former Veep Al Gore denounces the Dubai deal — even if he recently lashed out against the "terrible abuses" inflicted on Arabs in America after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when he was in Saudi Arabia, and despite his Jeddah pronouncement that, "The worst thing we can possibly do is to cut off the channels of friendship and mutual understanding between Saudi Arabia and the United States."
Four: Yes, the Bushies are too chummy with CEOs — both American and foreign — and that looks bad to the general public. If Bush showed more skepticism about corporate ethics, it would be easier to trust his administration's judgment on the port question.
Five: Dubai is an ally. Dubai serves as a primary staging base for the U.S. Navy in the region. It sends humanitarian aid to Iraq. The Emirates supplied troops during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. As Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., noted in a statement, "Dubai has cooperated with us in the war and deserves to be treated respectfully."
To the extent that Dubai respects the culture of Westerners who respect its culture, it especially merits respect.
Six: Even still, I don't mind making Dubai Ports World suits squirm a bit. Two Sept. 11 terrorists came from Dubai. Emirates banks funneled money to the Sept. 11 hijackers, and the Los Angeles Times has reported on allegations that, before the Sept. 11 attacks, the Dubai Islamic Bank funneled money to al-Qaida.
If the Middle East can target Denmark's economy — prompting the Danish pavilion to pull out of a Gulf Food exposition in Dubai last week — because a newspaper published some cartoons Muslim leaders don't like, let a Middle Eastern country feel some pain, too.
If Congress wants to hold hearings, conduct an investigation and otherwise make Dubai Ports World perform somersaults, I can't get too indignant. At least Washington will have put Ports World on notice that it would be a bad thing if a bad thing happened in a Dubai-run port.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment JWR contributor Debra J. Saunders's column by clicking here.
Debra J. Saunders Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Christine Flowers
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
A. Barton Hinkle
Jeff Jacoby
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ch. Krauthammer
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Clarence Page
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Greg Schwem
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Lenore Skenazy
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Lisa Benson
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
Matt Davies
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Walt Handelsman
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
David Horsey
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Chan Lowe
Jimmy Margulies
Jack Ohman
Michael Ramirez
Rob Rogers
Drew Sheneman
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Scott Stantis
Danna Summers
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters
Dan Wasserman

Tech Q&A
Mr. Know-It-All
Ask Doctor K
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|