What's Wrong With This Picture?

Somebody slap me! If for no other reason than "it just looks bad," this company should not have been chosen to have a hand in operating our ports.

The Bush administration dismissed the security concerns of local officials yesterday and restated its approval of a deal that will give a company based in Dubai a major role in operating ports in and around New York City.

Representatives of the White House and the Treasury Department said they had given their approval for Dubai Ports World to do business in the United States after a rigorous review. The decision, they said, was final.

Dubai Ports World is buying the British company that currently operates the cruise-ship terminal on the West Side of Manhattan, one of the biggest cargo terminals in New York Harbor, and terminals in Philadelphia, Baltimore and other big ports.

Several lawmakers, including Representative Peter T. King of Long Island, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Senator Charles E. Schumer, have criticized the administration for its approval of the deal, saying it was done too quickly and without enough scrutiny of the ramifications for security at American ports.

'In the post-9/11 world, there should have been a presumption against this company,' said Mr. King, a Republican. He added that people in the intelligence community had told him they had concerns about how the company operated the port of Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates.

I swear! People who support Bush because they think he is tough on terrorism or serious about homeland security are dirt stupid. The UAE has some sketchy ties to al Qaeda and terrorism - stronger, certainly, than Saddam Hussein did. Does anyone see how ridiculous this looks? Corporate interests will sell America to the highest bidder - if anyone is harmed, maimed, ruined or killed in the process it is inconsequential.