Ex-9/11 Commission head slams port deal

[kpete]

Kean: Ports deal 'shouldn't have happened'


Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration yesterday said it would not reconsider its approval for a United Arab Emirates company to take over significant operations at six U.S. ports, a deal that the former head of the Sept. 11 commission said "never should have happened."

Meanwhile, opponents, including the agency that runs New York and New Jersey ports, took their case to court, while the company, Dubai Ports World, stepped up efforts to change the minds of congressional critics.

The president's national security adviser said the White House would keep trying to convince lawmakers - there's more time since the company offered to delay its takeover - but the administration wouldn't reconsider its approval.

"There are questions raised in the Congress, and what this delay allows is for those questions to be addressed on the Hill," Stephen Hadley said. "There's nothing to reopen."

Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey who led the bipartisan probe of the Sept. 11 attacks, said the deal was a big mistake because of past connections between the 2001 hijackers and the UAE.

"It shouldn't have happened, it never should have happened," Kean said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The quicker the Bush administration can get out of the deal, the better, he said. "There's no question that two of the 9/11 hijackers came from there and money was laundered through there," Kean said.

Kean acknowledged the UAE is now being helpful by allowing the United States to dock ships in its country's waters, and helping the U.S. with intelligence.

"From our point of view, we don't want foreigners controlling our ports," Kean said. "From their point of view, this is a legitimate company that had a legitimate bid and won, and here are all these congressmen saying all these things about not wanting this company. It looks to them like it's anti-Arab."

"I think this deal is going to be killed," Kean said. "The question is how much damage is this going to do to us before it's killed."

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/nation/13959171.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

[Cooley Hurd]

1. I dunno - it looks like the congressional GOP is folding on this...

From http://www.cnn.com :

BREAKING NEWS GOP congressional leaders are working on a compromise that may allow a Dubai company to manage six U.S. ports, CNN has learned.

[HockeyMom]

2. Freepers certainly have done a turn around

WHY? MONEY. There is a lot of MONEY to be made on this. Security? American Jobs? Nope, to Republicans MONEY trumps everything else.