. . . have pointed out that opposition to the UAE-US port management deal has a 'racist' tint to it. Bogus. The problem here is that we are giving a foreign company and country (it's state-owned) control over a vital national security concern. What's worse, is that we're considering giving it to a country/company that has links to non-state actors. The same non-state actors that blew up the WTC, the Pentagon and the Cole.

This is a sovereignty issue, but not in a xenophobic/Lou Dobbs/Michelle Malkin type way. It goes to the heart of our struggle with al Qaeda. The UAE still has ties to al Qaeda-not to mention that is was a focal trans-shipment point for material from the network of AQ Khan in Pakistan. P&O, to the best of my knowledge, has links to neither.

This argument also goes to the core of our whole War on Terror (Long War? Global Struggle Against Extremism? What's-In-A-Name?) strategy too: are we fighting a non-state actor or state sponsors or terrorism? Either way, this is a bad deal. Why privatize something so essential to our security?

Update: Some thoughts on the 'business' angle: this deal is like what we saw happen here in Texas in the 90s, and now in America. Bush is selling off 'state-owned assets' to his pals. He did it here in Texas during his governorship and he's doing much the same nationally. This deal is about corrpution and self-dealing and patronage on a vast scale. And it's not a conspiracy. It's happening right in front of us.

Growing up I used to think stuff like this only happened in Mexico. Boy was I wrong.