A Liberal Voice Of Sanity
Congratulations to Thomas Friedman for being a liberal voice of sanity on the Dubai Ports issue. Writing for the Desert News, Friedman asks some important questions. Here’s a glimpse:
If there were a real security issue here, I’d join the critics. But the security argument is bogus and, I would add, borderline racist. Many U.S. ports are run today by foreign companies, but the U.S. Coast Guard still controls all aspects of port security, entry and exits; the U.S. Customs Service is still in charge of inspecting the containers; and U.S. longshoremen still handle the cargos.
The port operator simply oversees the coming and going of ships, making sure they are properly loaded and offloaded in the most cost-effective manner. As my colleague David E. Sanger reported: “Among the many problems at American ports, said Stephen E. Flynn, a retired Coast Guard commander who is an expert on port security at the Council on Foreign Relations, ‘who owns the management contract ranks near the very bottom.’”
Mr. Friedman makes more intelligent points in those brief paragraphs than everything Senate Democrats have said on this issue in their ‘hearings’. By alot. He follows those points up with this bigger, more important point:
My point is simple: The world is drifting dangerously toward a widespread religious and sectarian cleavage, the likes of which we have not seen for a long, long time. The only country with the power to stem this toxic trend is America. People across the world still look to our example of pluralism, like no other. If we go Dark Ages, if we go down the road of pitchfork-wielding xenophobes, then the whole world will go Dark Ages.
There is a poison loose today and America, America at its best, is the only antidote. That’s why it is critical that we stand by our principles of free trade and welcoming the world to do business in our land, as long as there is no security threat.
America is the example of true freedom to the rest of the world. Even the terrorists agree with that. In fact, al Qaida hate America because they prefer closed societies that more closely resemble the fifth century AD than anything modern.
If we don’t show the Arab world that we reward those who change their habits in the Post-9/11 world, we’ll lose the hearts and minds battle we must win to win the GWOT.
It’s really that simple.
Cross-post at LetFreedomRing
February 25th, 2006 at 5:19 pm
Absolutely true.
Initially I was on the side of the critics, but considering facts that are increasingly being presented (both here and elsewhere) about how the ports are actually run and who actually runs them, defense of blocking the port deal becomes barely tenable.
February 25th, 2006 at 7:00 pm
I saw Michael Moore (no, not that one - one of the V.P.’s of the UAE company) last night on the news, and he was much more sane and coherent that the blatherings of Hillary, Chucky, Billy Frist et al.
If control of stevadoring by a foreign country is such a big deal now, why wasn’t it in the 90’s to Billy Bub and his co-prez Hillaryous? They tried to give half the west coast to China! Including a then-operating naval base! Maybe it’s because they saw the Chinese communists as friends (nothing to do with hefty FOREIGN campaign contributions picked up personally by his house boy, Algore), while they view all persons/companies of the middle east as dangerous (this particular company didn’t contribute yet to Hillaryous’ campaign).
They are as racist as it gets.