![\"Straddle](\"http:\/\/www.mikepellegrini.com\/Graphics\/strads_pct.jpg\")
\nIt\u2019s amazing the amount of fuss that\u2019s been stirred up on both sides of the aisle by the Bush administration\u2019s approval of the sale of P&O Orient Lines to Dubai Ports World.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s amazing the amount of fuss that\u2019s been stirred up on both sides of the aisle by the Bush administration\u2019s approval of the sale of P&O Orient Lines to Dubai Ports World.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of that sale, Dubai Ports World would take over as operator of six container terminals in the United States. Those terminals are located in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami and New Orleans.<\/p>\n
The country of Dubai, a part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), wholly owns Dubai Ports World. The UAE are located at the southern end of the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
Dubai Ports World has built a solid track record as a stevedore company, with operations all over the world.<\/p>\n
And as a country, Dubai has set itself out to be the banking and financial center of the Arab world. It\u2019s a cosmopolitan, relatively tolerant country where 75% of the citizens are foreigners. But it\u2019s also the country the al Qaeda used to funnel financing to the US for the 9\/11 bombings, and was used as the travel hub by most of the hijackers.<\/p>\n
From the Associated Press:<\/p>\n
\n\u201dA report dated Aug. 21, [2004] by the U.S. commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks provided the most detail yet on the extent to which the hijackers used Dubai as a travel hub.<\/p>\n
According to the report, 13 of the 19 hijackers entered the United States between April 23 and June 29, 2001. And 11 of those late-arrivers \u2014 who were Saudi citizens and primarily the “muscle” for the hijackings \u2014 went through Dubai, according to the report.<\/p>\n
The hijackers traveled in groups of two or three, taking off from Dubai and arriving at airports in Miami, Orlando, or New York City, the report said.<\/p>\n
As for the money trail, Bin Laden’s alleged financial manager, Mustafa Ahmed al-Hisawi, received at a Dubai bank a transfer of $15,000 two days before the Sept. 11 attacks and then left the Emirates for Pakistan, where he was arrested in 2003.<\/p>\n
Marwan Al-Shehhi, an Emirates citizen and one of the hijackers, received $100,000 via the United Arab Emirates. Another hijacker, Fayez Banihammad, also was from the Emirates.<\/p>\n
About half of the $250,000 spent on the attacks was wired to al-Qaeda terrorists in the United States from Dubai banks, authorities said. al-Qaeda money in Dubai banks also has been linked to the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to other reports, even despite supposed safeguards put in place in the Emirates after 9\/11 to deter terrorism, the country still serves as the logistical hub for the al Qaeda. There\u2019s also an unresolved question that a Dubai government official may have tipped off Osama bin Laden in advance of an impending raid, allowing bin Laden to escape capture.<\/p>\n
Given all these questions and the relatively recent history of close ties to al Qaeda, is it really a good idea to allow this company to operate US ports?<\/p>\n
The stevedore company operating a container terminal has great latitude in what it does. All the security safeguards aside, I can think of at least six ways that someone in a position of power like that could arrange to have a bomb sent through \u2013 by simply manipulating the system. And if I can figure it out, I\u2019m sure terrorists could.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also been a lot of rhetoric about other foreign companies operating ports here, much of which is true. But I would argue that having Dubai Ports World operating US terminals is not at all comparable to the situation where other foreign companies operate terminals here in the US.<\/p>\n
Take P&O Orient for example. They are (or were) a British company \u2013 that\u2019s true. But then when was the last time England attacked us or actively helped those who were attacking us? Or for another example, Maersk is a big Danish company, but then have we ever been at war with Denmark? Evergreen Marine is a Taiwanese company \u2013 but no, we\u2019ve never been at war with Taiwan, and the Taiwanese government, with who we\u2019ve had close, friendly ties for at least 50 years, has no ties to terrorism.<\/p>\n
That is the difference: none of those companies is government owned, and none of those countries have ever been identified as sponsoring or condoning terrorism against us. Never.<\/p>\n
Dubai, on the other hand, has had some very real and very recent problems. They profess friendship for us \u2013 now. They would have us believe they\u2019ve changed. But is that for real?<\/p>\n
Only time will tell.<\/p>\n
One or two years \u2013 with a questionable track record, at best \u2013 as America\u2019s \u201cfriend\u201d is just not enough time. The al Qaeda is famous for its long-range planning \u2013 planning operations that take several years or more to come to fruition. Who\u2019s to say this isn\u2019t just another bid by the al Qaeda to get their foot in the door, here? A foot in the door to possibly pull off their most outrageous operation yet \u2013 say for example, exploding dirty bombs at six US ports on the East Coast?<\/p>\n
There are too many unknowns about this deal, and the stakes are way too high.<\/p>\n
As a longshoreman and as an American, I have to oppose this.<\/p>\n
Dubai Ports World should not be allowed to operate any terminals in the US. It\u2019s just too risky. Maybe in 10 or 20 years, but not now.<\/p>\n
A country\u2019s actions speak louder than words. Give Dubai time to prove themselves to us before we give them the keys to the kingdom. Time is the true test of friendship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s amazing the amount of fuss that\u2019s been stirred up on both sides of the aisle by the Bush administration\u2019s approval of the sale of P&O Orient Lines to Dubai Ports World. Under the terms of that sale, Dubai Ports World would take over as operator of six container terminals in the United States. Those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-port-of-tacoma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikepellegrini.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}