Dubai Ports World Deal – Handing The Keys To The Kingdom To An Enemy?
It’s amazing the amount of fuss that’s been stirred up on both sides of the aisle by the Bush administration’s 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 terminals are located in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami and New Orleans.
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.
Dubai Ports World has built a solid track record as a stevedore company, with operations all over the world.
And as a country, Dubai has set itself out to be the banking and financial center of the Arab world. It’s a cosmopolitan, relatively tolerant country where 75% of the citizens are foreigners. But it’s 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.
From the Associated Press:
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