Feb 20, 2006
More about the ports
It has been in the news about a Dubia company taking over the running of some US ports, and how it is bad for US national security for an Arab company to do this. But what most news stories don’t tell you is how hard the UAE has worked since 9/11 to make the UAE a safe country and to help the US on terror. I thought there was a good story in the Khaleej Times on if this was backlash from 9/11 attacks or just “Islamophobia”. It seems that the US government is pulling out some big names to make the UAE feel better about this. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will be in the UAE later this week, and Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes was here today:
US lawmakers’ objections to a Dubai company’s takeover of US port operations is a backlash from the Sept. 11 attacks, not an expression of wider anti-Arab sentiment among American politicians, the top US envoy for public diplomacy said here on Monday.
In a discussion with reporters, Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes said she didn’t believe the gathering objections represent a general Islamophobia among American lawmakers, as a Dubai newspaper’s opinion article Monday alleged.
“I would hope that is not the case,” Hughes said. “I hope the people of the United Arab Emirates and the government will understand that in a democracy, there is a process of debate.”
Hughes defended the Bush administration’s security review of Dubai government-held Dubai Ports World’s $6.8 billion purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.
But “the lawmakers are questioning about security concerns in light of the fact that a couple of the Sept. 11 hijackers did come from the UAE,” Hughes said. “Since that time, and over a period of years, the UAE has been a long-standing good friend and a strong partner in the war against terror.”
[posted with ecto]