Dubai Port World – An American Security Risk???

The recent buzz about the acquisition of P&O by a Dubai company has centered on the perception of risk and the impression that a company from UAE cannot be counted on to support American anti-terrorism efforts. As much as I dislike to politics of the Bush administration, they are, at first glance, bang on in their approach. The precedent has already been set. The US does not have any requirements put forth by legislation that limits US port operations to American companies. The fact that P&O is a British company does not guarantee that the company is fully behind US anti-terrorism programs. They are, like any other corporation, driven by profit. DP World is a UAE company, but this doesn’t imply that the company supports anything other than its own profit. Without enacting legislation to ban foreign-operated corporations from running US ports, we cannot ban DP World from US port operations.

That said, the issue of this acquisition has implications well beyond security. Look at who the players are who are profiting from DP World and their association with President Bush. The New York Daily News has provided details (http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/393375p-333478c.html). John Snow is Bush’s Treasury Secretary and was responsible for signing off on the sale of P&O to DP World. Shortly after leaving CSX to join Bush’s cabinet, CSX Railroad sold its port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion. David Sanborn, who was just nominated to head the U.S. Maritime Administration, currently runs DP World's European and Latin American operations. These links to DP World and the secrecy in which the Bush administration has operated suggests (strongly, in my opinion) that the Administration preferred not to have the details of these relationships made public.

It makes you wonder who really is profiting from these transactions!!!

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