Racist Liberals Fighting Port Deal on All Fronts

Coast Guard Worries Reanimate Ports Debate

By LIZ SIDOTI
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 28, 2006; 8:06 AM

WASHINGTON -- Republican congressional leaders had hoped to curtail bipartisan outcries over a United Arab Emirates-based company's pending takeover of some U.S. port operations by brokering an agreement for a new investigation of the deal's potential security risks.

Then came the disclosure that the U.S. Coast Guard had raised concerns weeks ago that, because of U.S. intelligence gaps, it could not determine whether the UAE company, DP World, might support terrorist operations.

Bush administration officials say those concerns were addressed and resolved.

Nevertheless, both Republicans and Democrats seized on the Coast Guard assessment, which was released by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing Monday, to launch a fresh round of criticism just as the furor over the ports deal appeared on the brink of subsiding.

"I am more convinced than ever that the process was truly flawed," said Collins, the Homeland Security Committee's chairwoman. "I can only conclude that there was a rush to judgment, that there wasn't the kind of painstaking, thorough analysis that needed to be done, despite serious questions being raised and despite the involvement of a wide variety of agencies."

"If this isn't a smoking gun," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said, "it shows that there may be one undetected" by the multi-agency panel that approved DP World's proposed purchase of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. The panel signed off on the deal without doing a 45-day investigation into security implications, which critics say the law requires.

More fuel could be added to the fire Tuesday when the Senate Commerce Committee holds a hearing to review the DP World deal. Edward H. Bilkey, DP World's chief operating officer, was to testify.

In February, the Commerce Committee vetted the appointment of David C. Sanborn of Virginia, a senior DP World executive, to be the new administrator of the Maritime Administration of the Transportation Department.

The White House appointed Sanborn, who worked as DP World's director of operations for Europe and Latin America, to the post in January, the same month the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States approved the DP World takeover.

Two Democrats, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Bill Nelson of Florida, have vowed to block Sanborn's nomination unless he testifies again before the Commerce Committee. "He worked for Dubai Ports World when this deal was rushed through under cover of darkness without sufficient security review," Kerry said in a statement Tuesday. "In the post 9/11 world, we need to know why."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan has said the DP World deal "went through the normal review process and was carefully checked."

"Under the cover of darkness?" Uh, Senator Kerry, I would hardly call a 45 day vetting process "under the cover of darkness." This whole deal was common knowledge in the business community, but I guess as a wealthy socialist you aren't really interested in the business world. Or is it that you are running for President again and are crassly using this as a political issue...no...you'd never do that.

If brains were money, Senator Kerry-Heinz would be living under a bridge, but fortunately for him his gigilo existence keeps him in cognac and khakis. The man hasn't an honest bone in his body. He would lie to his priest if he thought it would get him elected.

Hypocrisy on the Left abounds here. Liberals are lying and twisting facts to suit there own agenda (no surprise there). Susan "RINO" Collins has been caught quoting the Coast Guard out of context, intentionally twisting the statement, to justify her opposition to the port deal.

BBC reports the Coast Guard later released a statement saying: "The excerpts made public earlier today [by Senator Susan Collins], when taken out of context, do not reflect the full, classified analysis performed by the Coast Guard."

The Coast Guard Spokesman Commander Jeff Carter further stated: That their analysis concludes “that DP World's acquisition of P&O, in and of itself, does not pose a significant threat to U.S. assets in [continental United States] ports. "Upon subsequent and further review, the Coast Guard and the entire CFIUS panel believed that this transaction, when taking into account strong security assurances by DP World, does not compromise U.S. security.” [Emphasis added]

Shame on you Senator Collins, that is truly a despicable act. You owe America and the President an apology. In addition your continued presence in the Senate is a blight on any pretense of integrity in the Senate. For that blatant lie, you should immediately resign.

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