Tuesday, February 21, 2006
SIMPLE SOLUTION FOR DUBAI/US PORT TAKEOVER BROUHAHA: CALL MAERSK!
A British company which managed the 6 largest ports in the USA sold them to a company owned in part by the government of the UAE.
Though approved by the WH, the sale has caused a BI-PARTISAN public outcry. Most people think it's simply nuts to have our ports managed by a foreign company, let alone an Arab company - especially in a time of war. This feeling is widespread even though the port operator is NOT responsible for port security - the US government is, (and would remain so even if this deal goes through). (More stories on the brouhaha HERE and HERE and HERE.)
I HAVE A SIMPLE SOLUTION: Let's get P&O - the current British owner - or Ports World (the impending Dubai owner) - to sell the port operations to MAERSK - a DANISH shipping company. They're one of the LARGEST shipping container companies in the world, and already manage dozens and dozens of major ports; in fact, Maersk's APM TERMINALS division is the THIRD LARGEST port operator in the world.
I think most Americans trust the Danes - and would LOVE to see the Danes get this business, especially NOW! DOWN WITH DUBAI! UP WITH DENMARK!
IOW: Let's not just "BUY DANISH!"; let's SELL SOMETHING TO THEM, TOO!
WE CAN "PROTECT OUR PORTS" AND HELP AN ALLY IN NEED AT THE SAME TIME!
UPDATE: Welcome VODKAPUNDIT readers and JAWA REPORT readers! And Hotline's BLOGOMETER, too!
Though approved by the WH, the sale has caused a BI-PARTISAN public outcry. Most people think it's simply nuts to have our ports managed by a foreign company, let alone an Arab company - especially in a time of war. This feeling is widespread even though the port operator is NOT responsible for port security - the US government is, (and would remain so even if this deal goes through). (More stories on the brouhaha HERE and HERE and HERE.)
I HAVE A SIMPLE SOLUTION: Let's get P&O - the current British owner - or Ports World (the impending Dubai owner) - to sell the port operations to MAERSK - a DANISH shipping company. They're one of the LARGEST shipping container companies in the world, and already manage dozens and dozens of major ports; in fact, Maersk's APM TERMINALS division is the THIRD LARGEST port operator in the world.
I think most Americans trust the Danes - and would LOVE to see the Danes get this business, especially NOW! DOWN WITH DUBAI! UP WITH DENMARK!
IOW: Let's not just "BUY DANISH!"; let's SELL SOMETHING TO THEM, TOO!
WE CAN "PROTECT OUR PORTS" AND HELP AN ALLY IN NEED AT THE SAME TIME!
UPDATE: Welcome VODKAPUNDIT readers and JAWA REPORT readers! And Hotline's BLOGOMETER, too!
BLOGROLL US!
