Here's a nice succinct way of putting it:
The ironic fact is that the UAE is precisely the kind of Arab ally the United States needs most now. But that clearly didn't matter to an election-year Congress, which responded to the Dubai deal with a frenzy of Muslim-bashing disguised as concern about terrorism. And we wonder why the rest of the world doesn't like us.
Burning Allies -- and Ourselves, an op-ed in the Washington Post by David Ignatius, 03/10/2006 (a fun aside for Ignatius can be found
here, in his upcoming movie deals with director Sir Ridley Scott).
I'm making a list of people who should never talk ever again about foreign policy. Updates here.
This is the amendment added by Jerry Lewis (R-CA) regarding blocking Dubai Ports World (pdf) that has been attached to H.R. 4939 (pdf, see pp.82-83, Sec 3011) "Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes."
House Subcommittee members voting for the amendment
Jerry Lewis (R-CA - Chairman)
C. W. Bill Young (R-FL)
Ralph Regula (R-OH)
Harold Rogers (R-KY)
Frank R. Wolf (R-VA)
Tom DeLay (R-TX)
James Walsh (R-NY)
Charles H. Taylor (R-NC)
David L. Hobson (R-OH)
Ernest J. Istook, Jr. (R-OK)
Henry Bonilla, TX (R)
Joe Knollenberg, MI (R)
Jack Kingston, GA (R)
Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, NJ (R)
Roger F. Wicker, MS (R)
Todd Tiahrt, KS (R)
Zach Wamp, TN (R)
Tom Latham, IA (R)
Anne Northup, KY (R)
Robert Aderholt, AL (R)
Jo Ann Emerson, MO (R)
Kay Granger, TX (R)
John E. Peterson, PA (R)
Virgil Goode, VA (R)
John Doolittle, CA (R)
Ray LaHood, IL (R)
John Sweeney, NY (R)
Don Sherwood, PA (R)
Dave Weldon, FL (R)
Michael K. Simpson, ID (R)
John Abney Culberson, TX (R)
Mark Steven Kirk, IL (R)
Ander Crenshaw, FL (R)
Dennis R. Rehberg, MT (R)
John Carter, TX (R)
Rodney Alexander, LA (R)
David R. Obey, WI (D - Ranking Member)
John P. Murtha, PA (D)
Norman D. Dicks, WA (D)
Martin Olav Sabo, MN (D)
Steny H. Hoyer, MD (D)
Alan B. Mollohan, WV (D)
Marcy Kaptur, OH (D)
Peter J. Visclosky, IN (D)
Nita M. Lowey, NY (D)
Jose E. Serrano, NY (D)
Rosa L. DeLauro, CT (D)
John W. Olver, MA (D)
Ed Pastor, AZ (D)
David E. Price, NC (D)
Chet Edwards, TX (D)
Robert E. "Bud" Cramer, Jr., AL (D)
Patrick J. Kennedy, RI (D)
James E. Clyburn, SC (D)
Maurice D. Hinchey, NY (D)
Lucille Roybal-Allard, CA (D)
Sam Farr, CA (D)
Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., IL (D)
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, MI (D)
Allen Boyd, FL (D)
Chaka Fattah, PA (D)
Steven R. Rothman, NJ (D)
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., GA (D)
Marion Berry, AR (D)
People consistently and vocally displaying no clue
John Kerry (D-MA)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Charles Schumer, (D-NY)
Howard Dean, DNC Chairman
Harold E. Ford Jr. (D, State Senator TN) - "President Bush wants to sell this port -- and five others -- to the United Arab Emirates"
Here's a set of criteria to tell that people are idiots about "ports" and "security"
- If they use the word "own" as in 'Dubai or UAE will own ports in the US,' or "run" as in 'Dubai or UAE will run US ports'
- If they conflate terminal operations and port security (port security, dummies, is handled by US Customs/Border and the Coast Guard)
- If they're unaware that 80% of the west coast ports are "run" or "owned" by non-US companies and in some cases (Singapore) partially foreign-government owned companies