Soccer Mom: Unplugged

Dick Meyer over at CBS wrote an insightful explanation of the popular uproar about the 'President Bush selling our ports to Arabs' crisis.  Now, I know he's working for CBS so there goes a lot of credibility, right out the window.  But even so, his points are valid, well presented and just plain make sense.  I'm still open to an honest rebuttal - something besides "but, but, (sputter) they're Arabs".  Yes, two of the 9/11 hijackers came from UAE but you know what?  Timothy McVeigh came from New York. 

Meyer does a little myth busting that puts this whole matter into perspective:

Myth #1: An Arab company is trying to buy six American ports.
No, the company is buying up a British company that leases terminals in American ports; the ports are U.S.-owned. To lease a terminal at a U.S. port means running some business operations there -- contracting with shipping lines, loading and unloading cargo and hiring local labor. Dubai Ports World is not buying the ports...

Myth #2: The U.S. is turning over security at crucial ports to an Arab company.
No, security at U.S. ports is controlled by U.S. federal agencies led by the Coast Guard and the U.S. Customs and Border Control Agency, which are part of the Homeland Security department. Local jurisdictions also provide police and security personnel... 

 Myth #3: American ports should be American.
Well, it's too late, baby. According to James Jay Carafano of the Heritage Foundation (a place really known for its Arab-loving, soft-on-terror approach), "Foreign companies already own most of the maritime infrastructure that sustains American trade…" Thirty per cent of the countries port terminals are operated by companies that are, um, unAmerican...

Myth #4: The United Arab Emirates has "very serious" al Qaeda connections.
That's what Republican Rep. Peter King says. It's also what the administration said of pre-war Iraq, but that didn't mean it was true. I suppose you could say each and every Arab and Islamic country has al Qaeda issues, but even on that yardstick the UAE is a pretty good player and by most accounts, getting better.
Politicians have been quick to point out that two of the 9/11 hijackers were from UAE. And we're turning over our ports to them? Well, by that logic, we shouldn't let Lufthansa land in our airports or have military bases in Germany, because that country housed a bunch of the 9/11 hijackers as they were plotting.
Yes, Dubai has plenty of blood in its hands, especially as a source or courier for terror funds. To my knowledge its crimes were not government sponsored. It is not a rogue state. It has been among the closer and more cooperative Arab allies for the past two years...

What astounds me even more than the misunderstandings about our ports and how they work is the zealous denouncing of the administration's handling of the matter by so many Republicans.  I expect the Dems to climb over each other in a savage attempt to grab the media spotlight and denounce President Bush - after all they are the OPPOSITION party.  It's what they do.  Republicans, however, stood by supportive while W led our sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers into battle in two different countries.  They willingly forgave NSA wiretapping and offered to legitimize anything unseemly after the fact with new legislation and they authorized the Patriot Act, extending his ability to go after corporate, national and individual sponsors of terrorism.  Suddenly, this week, they are talking about the Ports deal as if he were to dumb to wipe his own....  well, you know where I'm going with that.

If Bush were so incapable and so unintelligent - why weren't you voicing some dissent before you allowed 2000 American service members to meet untimely deaths.  If you trusted this man and his administration with my husband's life, you damn well better trust him with the ports of this country.  The sudden turn on Bush by his own party can only mean one thing: 

It's an election year.

*** Fox News has decided to start putting the facts (and the fires) out about this whole port issue.  Both John Gibson and Brit Hume covered Port Leasing 101.****