Bush's War Rhetoric Blows Back in Port Furor -LAT

[Rose Siding]

President Bush may not like the arguments that critics are raising against the Dubai company attempting to take over cargo and cruise operations at ports in six U.S. cities. But he should recognize them. The arguments marshaled against Bush closely echoed the ones he deployed to defend the Iraq war.

The president, in other words, is stewing in a pot he brought to boil.

At the core of Bush's case for invading Iraq was the contention that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks changed the burden of proof in evaluating potential threats. Bush justified the war, despite inconclusive intelligence about whether Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, largely on the grounds that after Sept. 11, waiting for definitive evidence of danger was itself too risky.

"Facing clear peril," Bush declared in his starkest expression of this argument, "we cannot wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

In so many words, that's what many critics are saying now about the deal.......

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-outlook26feb26,1,3824408.column?coll=la-headlines-nation

[kentuck]

1. hoisted on his own petard?

we might say?

[SpiralHawk]

29. Flipping in his own flop

George AWOL Bush

[European Socialist]

2. Thanks for this post--Can't be said enough!!

[nolies32fouettes]

17. I agree!

I know he and Rove are twisting Republican's arms to do what he says. Probably becuase they know this is their last hurrah (unless the Diebolds, ES&S, and hidden tabulators and suppression keeps working.)

In the meantime, I wrote on my blog about more Iraq stuff that may not be known. It's amazing the whole extent of corruption and inhumanity this regime has. Scares me sometimes!

http://www.progressiveu.org/130708-civilian-deaths-in-iraq

[ray of light]

18. nice blog.

This is a good article here that you wrote.

http://www.progressiveu.org/111446-hunger-strikes-in-guantanamo-sanitized

[Trevelyan]

26. article in Wednesday's Village Voice - the UAE port deal - John Negroponte

point you toward this article in Wednesday's Village Voice that makes sound parapolitical sense of the UAE port deal vetted by the office of John Negroponte. Regarding the cuts to operational capacity of the Coast Guard and the inadequacy of Customs, James Ridgeway writes:

This is a dream setup for any arms or dope dealer, and that's exactly what the United Arab Emirates is all about.The ties between its top officials and royal family with the Taliban and Al Qaeda go back at least a decade.

The UAE is not only the center of financial dealings in the Persian Gulf, it is switching central for dope and arms dealing. The dope comes out of Afghanistan into the UAE where tax monies are collected and used to buy arms, which were sent back in for the Taliban. Some of this money is thought to have helped finance the 9-11 attacks. A money trail is set forth in the government's filings in the Moussaoui case.

Long at the center of this operation is the mysterious Russian arms dealer, Victor Bout.... His planes are registered to various companies all operating out of the United Arab Emirates.In fact, the United Arab Emirates have been viewed as hub for trade going and coming to Afghanistan, with drugs coming from Afghanistan on their way to the West, and weapons from Bout, going back. While transportation was via Bout's different air cargo interests, it
also involved the Afghan state airlines, called Ariana Airlines. The airline was controlled by Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda agents masquerading as Ariana employees flew out of Afghanistan, through Sharjah, one of the emirates, and on to points west. Bout, naturally enough for someone beyond the reach of any arm of justice, has been a wildly successful contractor to United States forces in Iraq. Last month, Douglas Farah wrote of Bout's Pentagon connections:

Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russell Feingold first raised the issue of Bout's coalition military contracts on May 18, 2004, in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Feingold asked then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage about reports of U.S. military links to Bout's companies. It took Wolfowitz eight months to respond....
http://www.RigorousIntuition.blogspot.com

[NightOwwl]

3. Terra! Terra! Terra!

He made his own fucking bed, now he can lie in it.

[pauldp]

4. So the Muslim world might think we are in a clash of civilizations

If we block the port deal?
:wtf:

I think the war in Iraq and threatening Iran are better examples of that.

Here comes the spin.

[Rose Siding]

5. War and threats were just post-9/11, pre-clash of civilizations

diplomacy. ;)

I like to see bush taking heat, but Brownstein still misses the folly in his new position.

[DallasNE]

6. Sen. Warner Caves This Morning

Today he announced a "deal" to delay the takeover for 45 days.

What will that 45 days provide? Not a damn thing. Just as Sen. Spector's "hearings" on the warrantless wiretaps on American's provided no insight, the deal Warner has struck will simply provide political cover for Republicans in tough races in 2006.

I see this as just more business as usual. The Republicans are still in lockstep with Bush.

[Bluestar]

7. LA Times as usual

Brownstein is a jerk who makes good points in the article about Bush doing a flip-flop on this issue then, predictably, takes Bush's side. He can always be counted on to carry the GOP's water.

[realFedUp]

11. True and it's 21 ports Mr. B, not 6

donchajust hate it when supposed journalists
can't keep up with the facts.

[Vinca]

8. You reap what you sow.

Bushco has never backed away from the opportunity to invoke a "new-q-ler" threat, mushroom cloud and/or the specter of 9/11, especially when running for office again. The folks who bought the story and voted for them are now mad as hatters and not likely to be swayed. The rest of us (the sane segment of the population) are both amused and horrified. Amused because we've learned the sheeple have a pulse, horrified because this is nearly a done deal and King George pretty much does whatever he wants when he wants.

[Trevelyan]

9. We all need to sign up for FReeperville and start leaving messages about

the truth of Bushco. Given their reactions to NSA Domestic Spying and the Saudi Arabians "protecting" our ports, I think we could gain a lot of converts and the management of FReeperville might see most of their and bush's base sign up with DU!

[stevietheman]

10. But Bush-inspired xenophobia is fueling only a part of the opposition.

Those of us who aren't xenophobes and racists oppose the deal because:

1. The UAE is an adversary, not an ally, that has provided tacit support to al-Qaeda (our sworn enemy) and recognition of the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
   
2. The UAE's port management would *indeed* have something to do with port security, as who else but port management would be implementing the day-to-day security measures at the ports? A company that doesn't manage the ports? (give us a break)
   

Common sense *must* prevail on this issue.

[efhmc]

12. I am sure that this has been asked and answered elsewhere but are

there no other American owned and run companies that can do this job? I really find that hard to believe.

[sarcasmo]

15. Halliburotn is the ONLY American company able to do this job.

When all is said and done Halliburton will get this contract.

[mac56]

22. Not true, and not true.

nm

[EVDebs]

13. Repeat after me : Ptech, Ptech, Ptech, Ptech

FBI shut down investigation into Saudi terror cell in Boston
http://www.madcowprod.com/mc4512004.html

Ptech had access to FAA and NAS (National Airspace Systems Agency) computers, in a scenario strikingly similar to the Dubai Ports World one. Allowing foreigners access to a piece of the outsourced national security apparatus; on 9-11 it lead to insider information on wargames (see
http://www.oilempire.us/wargames.html ).

What will this latest outsourcing and privatization lead to ? Iran looms large.

[Higans]

16. Don't stop, kick it to the top.

[pauldp]

19. Hey watch it with those unspeakable truths!

Somebody might just catch on.;-)

[sadiesworld]

30. kick

[stickdog]

14. Kick (nt)

[Eugene]

20. K & R for chickens coming home to roost.

BushCo exploited fear for all it was worth and now it has blown up in their faces.
The Dubai Port deal has serious problems, but I am not happy that the "Islamofacist"
card that justified the war is being played.

[WinkyDink]

21. Heeheeheeheehee. Gotta love it!

[JohnnyRingo]

23. And I think his AM radio minions have been spreading a message of

hate and distrust of all things Arab for five years now.

Even Arab American buisiness owners have felt the bias caused by Buxh and his fear tactics.
Now Buxh is sending the message that Arabs are so trustworthy that they should watch over our coastlines.

Freepers heads must spin dizzily over this. They like to think in "Good Guy / Bad Guy" terms.

Maybe next he'll sell Reagan's grave to the Russians. Hahaha

[Mr_Spock]

24. Said simply - says it all

...and it's not just Democrats that have noted this major hypocrisy...

[Trevelyan]

25. Drug and Money Laundering and the UAE Port Deal.

esoteric source, but interesting comment on the port deal nonetheless:
http://zetatalk.com/index/zeta263.htm

begins with:
"...examine the buyout, which did not go to the highest bidder. Why would the stockholders approve of a deal giving them substantially less money, to sell to the UAE, than selling to Singapore would have provided? Indonesia is not only a staunch ally of the US and Britain, but also had no links to terrorism or support of 911 and Bin Laden. The stockholders of the private British company up for sale, of course, were not presented with an option, nor are private companies that well regulated so few recourses were available to the stockholders, so they took the option they were given. Grab the money and run.

The known links to terrorism the UAE presented included hosting Bin Laden for hospital care in the months leading into 911, visiting him in Pakistan, being the home country for a number of the 911 terrorists, and laundering money for the 911 crowd. With this rap sheet, why would the British and the US want to encourage their control of key ports in the US..."

[Sabien]

27. Raise the threat level!

A member of congress (or a group - say a bi-partisan group?) should have a press conference and request that the national color-coded threat level be raised until this ports deal is sunk!

Wait a minute, that might actually work...so they wouldn't do such a thing - would they?

hmmm.

[Trevelyan]

28. article in Wednesday's Village Voice - the UAE port deal

- John Negroponte - ... point you toward this article in Wednesday's Village Voice that makes sound parapolitical sense of the UAE port deal vetted by the office of John Negroponte. Regarding the cuts to operational capacity of the Coast Guard and the inadequacy of Customs, James Ridgeway writes:

This is a dream setup for any arms or dope dealer, and that's exactly what the United Arab Emirates is all about.The ties between its top officials and royal family with the Taliban and Al Qaeda go back at least a decade.

The UAE is not only the center of financial dealings in the Persian Gulf, it is switching central for dope and arms dealing. The dope comes out of Afghanistan into the UAE where tax monies are collected and used to buy arms, which were sent back in for the Taliban. Some of this money is thought to have helped finance the 9-11 attacks. A money trail is set forth in the government's filings in the Moussaoui case.

Long at the center of this operation is the mysterious Russian arms dealer, Victor Bout.... His planes are registered to various companies all operating out of the United Arab Emirates.In fact, the United Arab Emirates have been viewed as hub for trade going and coming to Afghanistan, with drugs coming from Afghanistan on their way to the West, and weapons from Bout, going back. While transportation was via Bout's different air cargo interests, it
also involved the Afghan state airlines, called Ariana Airlines. The airline was controlled by Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda agents masquerading as Ariana employees flew out of Afghanistan, through Sharjah, one of the emirates, and on to points west. Bout, naturally enough for someone beyond the reach of any arm of justice, has been a wildly successful contractor to United States forces in Iraq. Last month, Douglas Farah wrote of Bout's Pentagon connections:

Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russell Feingold:yourock: first raised the issue of Bout's coalition military contracts on May 18, 2004, in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Feingold asked then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage about reports of U.S. military links to Bout's companies. It took Wolfowitz eight months to respond....

http://www.RigorousIntuition.blogspot.com


:kick:

[newspeak]

31. after 9/11

I was for federalizing security at the airports, instead of privatizing it. I am for federalizing the ports. This administration spouts less government, but they've actually increased government, especially when it is invading US citizens' privacy. Why should we trust any corporation in security, who only think of the bottom line and they do not answer to the American people? If another terrorist attack does occur, who will take responsibility? Are they going to slap the UAE on the hand? I've seen too much corporate corruption where the perpetrator is given a hand slap--During the spanish-American war our troops were fed tainted beef and the government was sold defective guns (sound familiar?), more soldiers died from food poisoning and poor equipment than from actually being shot by the enemy, and what did the companies get for KNOWINGLY selling bad merchandise and murdering people? A slap on the wrist.