Remember when Bush wanted to create Homeland Security and everyone was
dubious?  He sold it as a way to get all the agencies to talk to one
another.  Well, evidently they're talking alright, and swapping
contracts like crazy.  And when the public finds out, it's required to
lay a sacrifice on the block -- like George Tenent.  Chertoff's turn
is coming.

The blogosphere has been quick to point out the crony connections
between Snow and Sanborn.  Treasury Secretary John Snow was formerly
CEO of CSX. Sanborn was an executive with CSX/Sea-Land division. Then
Sanborn left to become a director with Dubai Ports and brokered a deal
for Dubai Ports to
purchase the South American and Asia port operations from CSX. Two weeks
ago, Sanborn became the new Assistant Secretary of Transportation -
Marine Administration. Shortly after, the Committee on Foreign
Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is chaired by John
Snow, ruled the purchase viable.

Jude

UAE Would Also Control Shipments of Military Equipment For The U.S. Army
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/20/uae-military-equipment/

There is bipartisan concern about the Bush administration's decision to
outsource the operation of six of the nation's largest ports to a
company controlled by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) because of that
nation's troubling ties to international terrorism. The sale of P&O to
Dubai World Ports would give the state-owned company control of "the
ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and
Philadelphia."

A major part of the story, however, has been mostly overlooked. 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:

[P&O] has just renewed a contract with the United States Surface
Deployment and Distribution Command to provide stevedoring [loading and
unloading] 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."

Thus, the sale would give a country that has been "a key transfer point
for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran, North Korea and
Lybia" direct control over substantial quantities U.S. military
equipment. ++

GOP Governors Threaten to Block Port Deal
WILL LESTER, AP
2 hours, 50 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060221/ap_on_go_co/port_security

WASHINGTON - Two Republican governors are threatening legal action to
block an Arab company from taking over operations in major U.S. ports
and some GOP lawmakers say the deal should be closely examined.

In the uneasy climate after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush
administration decision to allow the transaction is threatening to
develop a major political headache for the White House.

New York Gov. George Pataki and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich on Monday
voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been
running six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in
the United Arab Emirates.

The British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., runs
major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey,
New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia.

Both governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at
ports in their states because of the DP World takeover.

"Ensuring the security of New York's port operations is paramount and I
am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam by
Dubai Ports World," Pataki said in a news release. "I have directed the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to explore all legal options
that may be available to them."

Ehrlich, concerned about security at the Port of Baltimore, said Monday
he was "very troubled" that Maryland officials got no advance notice
before the Bush administration approved the Arab company's takeover of
the operations at the six ports.

"We needed to know before this was a done deal, given the state of where
we are concerning security," Ehrlich told reporters in the State House
rotunda in Annapolis.

The arrangement brought protests from both political parties in Congress
and a lawsuit in Florida from a company affected by the takeover.

Public fears that the nation's ports are not properly protected,
combined with the news of an Arab country's takeover of six major ports,
proved a combustible mix.

Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said on Fox News Sunday
that the administration approval was "unbelievably tone deaf
politically." GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia said on ABC's "This Week,"
"It's a tough one to explain, but we're in a global economy. ... I think
we need to take a very close look at it."

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey said Monday that he and
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will introduce legislation
prohibiting the sale of port operations to foreign governments.

At least one Senate oversight hearing was planned for later this month.

Critics have noted that some of the 9/11 hijackers used the UAE as an
operational and financial base. In addition, they contend the UAE was an
important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components
sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.

The Bush administration got support Monday from former President Carter,
a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration.

"My presumption is, and my belief is, that the president and his
secretary of state and the Defense Department and others have adequately
cleared the Dubai government organization to manage these ports," Carter
told CNN. "I don't think there's any particular threat to our security."

Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff made the rounds on the talk shows Sunday, asserting
that the administration made certain the company agreed to certain
conditions to ensure national security. H said details of those
agreements were secret.

During a stop Monday in Birmingham, Ala., Attorney General Alberto
Gonzales said the administration had a "very extensive process" for
reviewing such transactions that "takes into account matters of national
security, takes into account concerns about port security." ++

'President's Gone Insane' - 9/11 Dad
Jimmy Vielkind
Monday, February 20, 2006 by New York Daily News
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0220-08.htm

Peter Gadiel just doesn't get it.

How, asks Gadiel, whose son James died in the 9/11 attacks on the World
Trade Center, can a company owned by a terror-linked country get control
of our nation's ports?

"I'm a lifelong Republican and I think the President's gone insane,"
said Gadiel, 58, who heads 9/11 Families for a Secure America.

Two of the 19 9/11 hijackers were citizens of Dubai, the Arab emirate
whose bid to run ports in New York, New Jersey and four other cities was
okayed by the White House even though investigators have found signs
that money used to finance terrorism flowed through Dubai banks.

"How the hell could this happen?" fumed Bill Doyle, 58, a retired Staten
Island stockbroker whose son Joseph also died when the Trade Center
fell.

"We're not securing our country in any way by selling our ports to
foreigners," he said.

Gadiel and Doyle stood with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) yesterday at the
harbor to express their outrage.

Bruse DeCell, 55, whose son-in-law died in the attacks, said that
homeland security should be the highest concern when approving the
activities of foreign business interests.

"This administration is putting the selling of our country on a fast
track," he said. "There are a lot of loose ends that caused 9/11 to
happen. I'm trying to close them."

Only 5% of the cargo containers entering U.S. ports are inspected, said
Schumer, who has called for upgrades in port security for years. ++

It is not enough to be compassionate; you must act.
-- The Dalai Lama