Leftists Paranoia Motivated by Political Ambition

Coast Guard Saw 'Intelligence Gaps' on Ports

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; Page A04

The U.S. Coast Guard, in charge of reviewing security at ports operated by a Dubai maritime company, warned the Bush administration it could not rule out that the company's assets could be used for terrorist operations, according to a document released yesterday by a Senate committee.

State-owned Dubai Ports World plans to complete its takeover of London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P&O) on Thursday, assuming ownership of operations at six major U.S. ports even as it pledges to hold off on asserting control while the Bush administration reviews the national security implications of the deal. The White House has strongly argued that a preliminary review showed that the sale would pose no threat to national security.

But in a Dec. 13 intelligence assessment of the company and its owners in the United Arab Emirates, the Coast Guard warned: "There are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that preclude" the completion of a thorough threat assessment of the merger.

"The breadth of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities," says the document, released by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

"Security measures were thoroughly reviewed, including intelligence matters," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. She did not know whether the White House was briefed on the Coast Guard assessment, but, she said, "I do know that at the end of the day, when the process was completed and the transaction was approved, homeland security questions were resolved."

The Coast Guard document, completed about one month before the ports deal received government approval Jan. 17, was the strongest indication that members of the administration had expressed security concerns over the transaction. Officials from the departments of Treasury, Defense and Homeland Security told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that the secretive interagency Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviewed the DP World deal, was unanimous in its position that no concerns had emerged to trigger the 45-day national security review required by the law that established the panel.

Among those who briefed the Armed Services Committee was Rear Adm. Thomas Gilmour of the Coast Guard, who said the agency had reviewed DP World's track record on port management but did not mention the document.

"Given the red-flag questions that the Coast Guard raised, very serious questions about operations, personnel and foreign influence, how could there not have been the 45-day investigation that's clearly required by law?" asked Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine).

Gilmour insisted yesterday he could answer questions on the document only in a secret session to staff members with appropriate security clearances.

Later, the Coast Guard said in a statement that the excerpts of its preliminary evaluation "when taken out of context, do not reflect the full, classified analysis" that eventually concluded "that DP World's acquisition of P&O, in and of itself, does not pose a significant threat to U.S. assets in ports" in the continental United States.

The issue is sure to stoke political concerns that a deal brokered last weekend between the company, the Bush administration and congressional GOP leaders does not go far enough. That deal provided that the company could go forward with its $6.85 billion acquisition of P&O, but it would not assert control over U.S. properties while the administration conducts a 45-day review of the deal's national security implications. Senators from both political parties moved yesterday to immediately stop the deal, pending the review's outcome.

More distortion by anti-Bush administration Democrats and cowardly Liberal Republicans.

Today the Coast Guard spokesman, said very clearly that they are not in the least concerned over this transaction. On the Tony Snow Show this morning, Commander Carter described the United Arab Emirates as "an active and good partner in the war on terror." He said that a lot of information is in the classified report supporting the fact that the UAE is a strong ally. He described it as a purely business transaction, that all employees coming to America had to be thorougly vetted, and that yesterday, today, and in the future the responsibility for port security is the Coast Guard's. Finally he stated that he personally had no problem with this deal going through.

Full Story: Coast Guard Does Not Oppose DPW Deal

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