In Good Hands?

From the AP (my bolds):

A company in the United Arab Emirates is poised to take over significant operations at six American ports as part of a corporate sale, leaving a country with ties to the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers with influence over a maritime industry considered vulnerable to terrorism.

The Bush administration considers the UAE an important ally in the fight against terrorism since the suicide hijackings and is not objecting to Dubai Ports World's purchase of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co.

The $6.8 billion sale could be approved Monday and would affect commercial port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.

DP World said it won approval from a secretive U.S. government panel that considers security risks of foreign companies buying or investing in American industry. The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States "thoroughly reviewed the potential transaction and concluded they had no objection," the company said in a statement.

The committee, which could have recommended that President Bush block the purchase, includes representatives from the departments of Treasury, Defense, Justice, Commerce, State and Homeland Security.

The State Department describes the UAE as a vital partner in the fight against terrorism. But the UAE, a loose federation of seven emirates on the Saudi peninsula, was an important operational and financial base for the hijackers who carried out the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the FBI concluded.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) urged the administration to consider the sale carefully. "America's busiest ports are vital to our economy and to the international economy, and that is why they remain top terrorist targets," Schumer said. "Just as we would not outsource military operations or law enforcement duties, we should be very careful before we outsource such sensitive homeland security duties."

Shipping experts noted that many of the world's largest port companies are not based in the United States, and they pointed to DP World's strong economic interest in operating ports securely and efficiently.

"It's in Dubai's interest to make sure this runs well," said James Lewis, who worked with the U.S. committee at the State and Commerce departments.

Stephen E. Flynn, who studies maritime security at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, said even under foreign control, U.S. ports will continue to be run by unionized American employees. "You're not going to have a bunch of UAE citizens working the docks," Flynn said. "They're longshoremen, vested in high-paying jobs."

I agree with those quoted above that our port security is unlikely to be affected adversely by a change in corporate management. So let's not get hysterical about this. But as the article notes appropriately, those who attacked us on 9/11 and the money that supported them passed through the UAE; the hijacker who piloted American Airlines flight 175 into the south tower of the World Trade Center was a UAE citizen. What would you have said if, on September 12, 2001, I told you that five years later Bin Laden would still be free, nuclear terrorism would be a top concern, and a panel of political appointees would approve the takeover of our port operations by a UAE company?

As a sidenote, the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) meets in secret and is headed by Treasury Secretary John Snow. In 2004, DP World purchased part of the American company CSX for over $1 billion. Before he became Treasury Secretary, John Snow was Chairman and CEO of CSX.

The chairman of DP World is Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem. Since this man is about to play a role in protecting our borders from nuclear terrorism and other threats, it's probably worth getting to know him a bit. Here's the link to an interview in which he was asked to rate the corporate threats he faces on a scale of 1-10. His response, in descending order of importance:

1. U.S. dollar decline
2. Oil shocks
3. Stagflation
4. Over regulation
5. Pandemics
6. Terrorism
7. Proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
8. China
9. Climate change
10. Natural catastrophes

So the head of a corporation that's about to control the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia spends his day worrying about currency volatility, oil, stagflation and over-regulation. Terrorism and WMD's rate as only slightly more threatening than that menace we know as "climate change."

How's that for alignment of priorities?