There is a great deal of commotion today about a proposal to sell the management rights of several US seaports to a United Arab Emirates based company called Dubai Port World. Most of the concern centers on the potential that Islamic terrorists could use this as an entry way into the United States. The debate may have the potential to force some major Democratic politicians to acknowledge that there is a real threat to America that originates in the Muslim world.
The local blog reaction is split in that Kevin says this type of ownership arrangement should not be considered a major threat to security due to oversight provisions of US law enforcement. Jib, however, says he knows an idea is bad when Jimmy Carter supports it. In a similar way, I know it is an idea is good when John Nichols opposes it.
Palestine Chronicle: The problem with the Bush administration's support for a move by a United Arab Emirates-based firm to take over operation of six major American ports is not that the corporation in question is Arab owned. The problem is that it that Dubai Ports World is a corporation. … There are two fundamental facts about corporations that put this controversy about who runs the ports in perspective.Once again Nichols is quick to remind all of us that the danger in the world is not terrorism. The danger is capitalism and the profit motive.
First: Like most American firms, most Arab-owned firms are committed to making money, and the vast majority of them are not about to compromise their potential profits by throwing in with terrorists.
Second: Like most American firms, Arab-owned firms are more concerned about satisfying shareholders than anything else. As such, they are poor stewards of ports and other vital pieces of the national infrastructure that still require the constant investment of public funds, as well as responsible oversite by authorities that can see more than a bottom line, in order to maintain public safety -- not to mention the public good of modern, efficient transportation services.
-John Nichols, The Nation's Washington correspondent, has covered progressive politics and activism in the United States and abroad for more than a decade. He is currently the editor of the editorial page of Madison, Wisconsin's Capital Times.
