Bush might discover veto for port debacle
Bush Says Ports Deal Will Stand
TED BRIDIS
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers determined to capsize the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates said President Bush’s surprise veto threat won’t deter them.
Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports. In a forceful defense of his administration’s earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.</i>
So why is Bush being such a hardass about this? Other than his lifelong bending over to rich Arabs, that is?
Hey come on, its Bush. Hence, its for sale:
The Dirty Little Secret Behind the UAE Port Security Flap
Politicians and the media are loudly decrying the Bush administration’s proposal to turn over port security to a firm owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – a country with ties to terrorists. They are talking tough about national security – but almost no one is talking about what may have fueled the administration’s decision to push forward with this deal: the desire to move forward Big Money’s “free” trade agenda.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a BushCo production without cronyism, would it?
Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administration
MICHAEL MCAULIFF
The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.
One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World – giving it control of Manhattan’s cruise ship terminal and Newark’s container port.
The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World’s European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.</i>
Sadly, there is nothing at all surprising about this. Bush has put our national security- hell, our entire nation and its founding concepts- up for sale. He’s also given an opposition party- if we had one, that is- a perfect item to run on and win.
Or as the president Bush most resembles, Nixon said to David Frost on the Watergate affair: “I gave them a sword. And they used it.”
Let’s hope the sword is used on Bush. Slowly and painfully, much like his “presidency”.
