United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

[superdave]

I think this is a horrible idea and the ports should be under American control in light of terrorism and UAE's reputation for having Al-Qaeda in their country involved with 9/11. Sure, UAE and Dubai are well known for being the most western styled middle eastern country, but I'd feel more comfortable having an American or European company running major ports here.


Here's a link for more information:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3664484.html

[sono]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

i think you'll find the saudi royal family has 1 trillion dollars worth of shares in the biggest american companies which include, time warner, exxon mobile, citigroup, general electric....

Slowly but eventually american companies are bought out by chinese, russian and arabian oligarchs. That's what you get when you put your companies out in the open market.

[superdave]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

i think you'll find the saudi royal family has 1 trillion dollars worth of shares in the biggest american companies which include, time warner, exxon mobile, citigroup, general electric....

Slowly but eventually american companies are bought out by chinese, russian and arabian oligarchs. That's what you get when you put your companies out in the open market.

I think you're missing the point. The concern is that terrorists could sneak WMDs through one of these ports. Btw, the companies you mentioned aren't foreign controlled anyway.

[thesightless]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

I think you're missing the point. The concern is that terrorists could sneak WMDs through one of these ports. Btw, the companies you mentioned aren't foreign controlled anyway.

umm no. research these organizations. and what they do. they staff and inspect.

NY port authority,
us customs
us coast guard

there wont be a sudden influz of 70,000 dock workers from UAE
not to mention that they will be staffed by unionized american workers

you reading too much into it.

half on manhatten is owned by holding companies outside the US

[anonin]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

I think you're missing the point. The concern is that terrorists could sneak WMDs through one of these ports.

you reading too much into it.

what he said ^. terrorists sneaking WMDs through a port in new york is absurd.

[sammwalk]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

what he said ^. terrorists sneaking WMDs through a port in new york is absurd.

so is terrorists hijacking airplanes and flying them into the WTC

but i'm sure you were being sarcastic

[anonin]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

so is terrorists hijacking airplanes and flying them into the WTC

but i'm sure you were being sarcastic

ya rly! and i knew as soon as i typed that someone would come back and mention 9/11.


hijaking plans is one thing, sneaking in a nuclear weapon and delivering it to a target is another... think about that one for a second...

[sammwalk]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

i've got a book you should read:



I've read this book by the well-qualified Flynn, who makes a very convincing case of the vulnerability of America mainly through its ports. Trust me, it's an easy read and very informative. Port security is extremely important and still easily bypassed simply because of the sheer volume of containers trafficking through the country,

Don't say it's impossible. Famous last words, IMO.

[superdave]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

Sneaking WMDs through the ports has been a concern since 9/11. How can it be so absurd if both Republicans and Democrats in Congress are fighting to have the UAE company not manage the ports?

As mentioned, only a small perecentage of containers are actually inspected due to the large number of containers. Probably all the goods from China.

[miketpoto]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

Hmmmmm.... sneaking a weapon in is absurd?

Do you know how small that weapon can be? Do you know how big ships are? Do you know that ships come into port every day and many times a day? Do you know that they arent searched for security purposes before leaving wherever they are coming in from? Don't you think it might be a fuck of a lot easier to sneak something into one of those than to coordinate the hijacking of 4 planes by 22 people and having them trained to pilot huge fucking airplanes with precision directly into the bullseye of their targets? (successfully I might remind you)

think about that for half a second

[toasty]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

I have to say, under any set of facts, this seems like an awful idea.

Serious question to anyone that knows the answer: How/why did we settle upon this group? Was there a bidding process and they won?

[thesightless]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

the real problem exists at the port of call. not entry. the bombs will come from ports already controlled by them.

weird thing is, they didnt tell you that it isnt really a """new""" contract, just a renegotiated one when the takeover took hold.

i dunno, im indifferent, the ports will still be staffed by US workers, and policed by the same who have been. if they are gonna use a nuke, they really dont have to worry from their end. they could blow it as they arrive in port. if we want our ports truly secure we would have to police the ports where the ships come from.

[thesightless]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

I have to say, under any set of facts, this seems like an awful idea.

Serious question to anyone that knows the answer: How/why did we settle upon this group? Was there a bidding process and they won?

we didnt settle, the UAE company bought out a smaller firm via a stock takeover. therefore they inherited the existing contract.

[toasty]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

we didnt settle, the UAE company bought out a smaller firm via a stock takeover. therefore they inherited the existing contract.

gotcha. That makes sense.

I dunno. This may end up being much ado about nothing -- but it certainly merits a closer look, I think.

[thesightless]

Re: United Arab Emirates company to take over major U.S. ports

gotcha. That makes sense.

I dunno. This may end up being much ado about nothing -- but it certainly merits a closer look, I think.

to me, it just seems like another oppurtunity for the democrats who are partisan to jump on a podium, and say ""look another thing the administration is doing wrong"" when all they have to do is propose a law today, run it through and make it illegal.

we cant back a free market economy, and vouch for capitalism and cry when someone we dont completely agree with buys out another company on our markets.

like said, the staff, police forces and customs agents arent changing, just the name on the conglomerate.