[07 March 2006 - I originally had "guarded" instead of "operated" in the headline; I mistakenly thought that the security was going to be left in the hands of Dubai Ports. I still think this is a terrible political move by the administration, but I certainly want to clarify that my original characterization was wrong. Note as well that earlier this week President Bush, in Pakistan, mistakenly called Pakistan an "Arab country" when in fact he apparently meant "Muslim country". Is it any wonder that the waters of public perception are so muddied?]
Many of you who follow the news probably already know about this, but it was new to me as of last night.
The department of Homeland Security has agreed to allow the ports of six major US cities to have their operations overseen by a firm based in the United Arab Emirates. The idea that a foreign company can appropriately oversee US ports seems improbable at best to me, but the idea that a company based in a country that is a financier and haven for anti-American terrorism seems impossible. But the Bush administration has already signed off on its approval of the project, according to the article.