[Xantar]

Let me just start out with two statements:

1. In the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty minor deal that's not even worth a whole lot of money. Therefore, the President would not be personally involved in negotiating it. It may seem a bit disconcerting to have Bush say that he didn't know anything about this deal, but if the running of these ports had been sold back in 1996, Clinton wouldn't have known about it either.

2. Dubai Ports World won't be running the security of the harbor. Its role from what I can tell is basically administrative. Schedule the boats coming in and the boats coming out, take note of their cargo, things like that. Other companies (also private, I believe) run the security.

My concern is not that DPW is literally owned by the Saudi Royal Family or that I think some of their employees would smuggle a nuke into our country or anything like that. My concern is that these ports are owned by a private company to begin with. DPW may not actually determine the security procedures at the ports, but it will be made aware of them. That means its employees will know what security procedures and countermeasures we use to protect our ports, and that's the kind of information we simply don't want to become a part of general knowledge. Basically, what Kurt said (damnit, did I just agree with him about something?).

One of the definitions of the government is that it has a monopoly on legitimate use of force in the name of security. The government's not great, but it's at least accountable to the citizens, and its primary motive is not profit. I don't think a British company or an American company or a company from the UAE should own our ports. They should be owned by the government just like the roads.