Dubai and those Ports
I've given it some thought, and my feelings on the Dubai port deal are mixed. On one hand, giving an Arab country a nice deal might help us in the Middle Eastern world...so long as this company wasn't being run by an oppressive government.
On the other hand, the royal family from this country did have close ties with Bin Laden and this country (UAE) did produce some of the 9-11 terrorists and has, at least indirectly, helped to fund terrorism.
On still the other hand, they have cooperated lately.
So, as much as it pains me to say this, I think the President has a point.
But, in terms of pure politics, I say "it serves him right."
You know, what goes around, comes around...
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=25025&mode=&order=0
Cynthia Tucker: 'Bush tactics come back to bite him'
Posted on Monday, February 27 @ 10:15:54 EST
This article has been read 1362 times.
ATLANTA // President Bush turns out to be a great professor of politics. His lessons - he teaches through example - have become essential political wisdom.
He taught Americans that all Arabs are alike by toppling Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with the terrorist atrocities of 9/11.
Mr. Bush taught us that in the pursuit of power, politics trumps principle. So you never risk alienating the part of your base that's loony and hateful by publicly criticizing their xenophobia.
And the president taught us that a war on terror can cover a lot of ground. No programs, no policies, no answers? No problem. When you're waging a war on terror, you don't have to make sense, and you don't have to explain yourself.
Having led so well, Mr. Bush should not be at all surprised that Democrats and Republicans are trampling each other to get to the microphones to denounce the deal allowing an Arab-owned company to manage seaports in New York, Baltimore, Miami, Philadelphia and other cities. Isn't this Karl Rove's playbook?
While the president doesn't have to face re-election, his GOP allies in the House and Senate do. They want to be able to claim they were keeping the nation safe from Middle Eastern terrorists who might easily use our ports to smuggle in the means of our doom. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, after all, needs some national security bona fides for his presidential campaign. So does Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was among the first to challenge the deal.
On a purely pragmatic level, Mr. Bush is right to back the agreement allowing Dubai Ports World, a government-controlled company, to manage ports. There are a couple of legitimate concerns about the tiny sheikdom of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates - its freewheeling entrepreneurial culture allowed terrorists to launder money, for example. But since 9/11, it has largely cooperated with U.S. anti-terrorism initiatives.
Besides, if the deal goes through, U.S. Coast Guard and Customs officials will still be in charge of security, along with local port authorities. There is no reason to believe this deal would leave U.S. seaports any more vulnerable than they are now. And they are vulnerable, as security experts have pointed out in report after report. Only a fraction - about 5 percent - of the cargo containers entering U.S. ports are inspected. One expert told The New York Times that only one of the six ports in the DPW deal has a working radiation detection system.
The president simply has not shown much talent for the unglamorous, roll-up-your-sleeves work of barring doors, closing loopholes and sealing off the entryways terrorists might sneak through.
The Bush team has frightened voters with terrorist alerts (just how many were there leading up to the 2004 elections?); it has denounced critics as co-conspirators with Osama bin Laden; it has claimed that the secular Saddam Hussein and the hyper-religious bin Laden were somehow working together. In other words, it has sown the seeds of this controversy.
Every now and then, in reflective moments, the president has been at pains to point out that the United States is not at war with the Muslim world. But he has hardly used his bully pulpit to tamp down xenophobia.
He has never had a Sister Souljah moment, when he forcefully and publicly confronted the hateful, nativist elements in his party. He has never even rooted out the bigots in his ranks. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, an outspoken Christian conservative who has dismissed Muslims as idol worshippers, is still a high-ranking Pentagon official, in charge of intelligence-gathering.
Despite the blowback from Democrats and Republicans alike, Mr. Bush may be able to salvage the ports deal. He'll spend the next week persuading, cajoling, threatening; perhaps he'll be able to get enough members of Congress to go along. If not, it's because they've learned the lessons he's taught only too well.
Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her column appears Mondays in The Sun. Her e-mail is cynthia@ajc.com.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
Source: The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/
oped/bal-op.tucker27feb27,0,7805938.story
On the other hand, the royal family from this country did have close ties with Bin Laden and this country (UAE) did produce some of the 9-11 terrorists and has, at least indirectly, helped to fund terrorism.
On still the other hand, they have cooperated lately.
So, as much as it pains me to say this, I think the President has a point.
But, in terms of pure politics, I say "it serves him right."
You know, what goes around, comes around...
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=25025&mode=&order=0
Cynthia Tucker: 'Bush tactics come back to bite him'
Posted on Monday, February 27 @ 10:15:54 EST
This article has been read 1362 times.
ATLANTA // President Bush turns out to be a great professor of politics. His lessons - he teaches through example - have become essential political wisdom.
He taught Americans that all Arabs are alike by toppling Saddam Hussein, who had nothing to do with the terrorist atrocities of 9/11.
Mr. Bush taught us that in the pursuit of power, politics trumps principle. So you never risk alienating the part of your base that's loony and hateful by publicly criticizing their xenophobia.
And the president taught us that a war on terror can cover a lot of ground. No programs, no policies, no answers? No problem. When you're waging a war on terror, you don't have to make sense, and you don't have to explain yourself.
Having led so well, Mr. Bush should not be at all surprised that Democrats and Republicans are trampling each other to get to the microphones to denounce the deal allowing an Arab-owned company to manage seaports in New York, Baltimore, Miami, Philadelphia and other cities. Isn't this Karl Rove's playbook?
While the president doesn't have to face re-election, his GOP allies in the House and Senate do. They want to be able to claim they were keeping the nation safe from Middle Eastern terrorists who might easily use our ports to smuggle in the means of our doom. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, after all, needs some national security bona fides for his presidential campaign. So does Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was among the first to challenge the deal.
On a purely pragmatic level, Mr. Bush is right to back the agreement allowing Dubai Ports World, a government-controlled company, to manage ports. There are a couple of legitimate concerns about the tiny sheikdom of Dubai, part of the United Arab Emirates - its freewheeling entrepreneurial culture allowed terrorists to launder money, for example. But since 9/11, it has largely cooperated with U.S. anti-terrorism initiatives.
Besides, if the deal goes through, U.S. Coast Guard and Customs officials will still be in charge of security, along with local port authorities. There is no reason to believe this deal would leave U.S. seaports any more vulnerable than they are now. And they are vulnerable, as security experts have pointed out in report after report. Only a fraction - about 5 percent - of the cargo containers entering U.S. ports are inspected. One expert told The New York Times that only one of the six ports in the DPW deal has a working radiation detection system.
The president simply has not shown much talent for the unglamorous, roll-up-your-sleeves work of barring doors, closing loopholes and sealing off the entryways terrorists might sneak through.
The Bush team has frightened voters with terrorist alerts (just how many were there leading up to the 2004 elections?); it has denounced critics as co-conspirators with Osama bin Laden; it has claimed that the secular Saddam Hussein and the hyper-religious bin Laden were somehow working together. In other words, it has sown the seeds of this controversy.
Every now and then, in reflective moments, the president has been at pains to point out that the United States is not at war with the Muslim world. But he has hardly used his bully pulpit to tamp down xenophobia.
He has never had a Sister Souljah moment, when he forcefully and publicly confronted the hateful, nativist elements in his party. He has never even rooted out the bigots in his ranks. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin, an outspoken Christian conservative who has dismissed Muslims as idol worshippers, is still a high-ranking Pentagon official, in charge of intelligence-gathering.
Despite the blowback from Democrats and Republicans alike, Mr. Bush may be able to salvage the ports deal. He'll spend the next week persuading, cajoling, threatening; perhaps he'll be able to get enough members of Congress to go along. If not, it's because they've learned the lessons he's taught only too well.
Cynthia Tucker is editorial page editor for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her column appears Mondays in The Sun. Her e-mail is cynthia@ajc.com.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
Source: The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/
oped/bal-op.tucker27feb27,0,7805938.story
posted by Harriet at
2/27/2006 06:47:00 PM
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