Bush Admin. won't reconsider ports deal (AP) Updated: 2006-02-25 11:08
The Bush administration said Friday it won't reconsider its approval for a
United Arab Emirates company to take over significant operations at six US
ports. The former head of the Sept. 11 commission said the deal "never should
have happened."
A cargo ship from
Panama sits at the unloading docks at the Port of Baltimore Tuesday, Feb.
21, 2006. The Bush administration said Friday it won't reconsider its
approval for a United Arab Emirates company to take over significant
operations at six US ports.
[AP] |
Opponents, including the agency
that runs New York and New Jersey ports, took their case to court, while the
company, Dubai Ports World, stepped up efforts to change the minds of
congressional critics.
The president's national security adviser said the White House would keep
trying to persuade lawmakers — there's more time since the company offered to
delay its takeover — but the administration wouldn't reconsider its approval.
"There are questions raised in the Congress, and what this delay allows is
for those questions to be addressed on the Hill," Stephen Hadley said. "There's
nothing to reopen."
Thomas Kean, a former Republican governor of New Jersey who led the
bipartisan probe of the Sept. 11 attacks, said the deal was a big mistake
because of past connections between the 2001 hijackers and the UAE.
"It shouldn't have happened, it never should have happened," Kean said in a
telephone interview with The Associated Press.
The quicker the Bush administration can get out of the deal, the better, he
said. "There's no question that two of the 9/11 hijackers came from there and
money was laundered through there," Kean said.
Kean acknowledged the UAE is now being helpful by allowing the United States
to dock ships in its country's waters, and helping the US with intelligence.
"From our point of view, we don't want foreigners controlling our ports,"
Kean said. "From their point of view, this is a legitimate company that had a
legitimate bid and won, and here are all these congressmen saying all these
things about not wanting this company. It looks to them like it's anti-Arab."
"I think this deal is going to be killed," Kean said. "The question is how
much damage is this going to do to us before it's killed."
Kean's comments threatened to overshadow moves by the company and the White
House to appease critics by delaying the takeover.
"Governor Kean knows as much as anyone how risky it is to deal with the
United Arab Emirates," said Rep. Peter King (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y.,
chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and a leading opponent.
"This just proves that no real investigation was ever conducted, and it's
unfortunate that he and the other 9/11 commissioners were not contacted before
the government approved this."
The former head of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit joined in the criticism.
"The fact that you are putting a company in place that could already be
infiltrated by al-Qaida is a silly thing to do," said Mike Scheuer, who headed
the CIA unit until 1999.
The U.S. operations generating the protests represent about 10 percent of a
global $6.8 billion acquisition by the state-run company.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress have denounced the Bush administration
for approving the deal through a secretive review process designed to protect
national security in big corporate mergers.
Lawmakers led by King and Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record),
D-N.Y., plan to introduce legislation next week that would put the deal on hold
while the government conducts further investigation.
Hoping to forestall such legislation, Dubai Ports said Thursday night it
would postpone its action indefinitely to give Congress more time to look at the
deal.
Bush Press Secretary Scott McClellan said: "We believe once Congress has a
better understanding of the facts and the safeguards that are in place that they
will be more comfortable with the transaction moving forward. So, a slight delay
would be helpful in that regard."
The Bush administration continued to defend the deal Friday even as it
admitted mishandling the decision-making process.
"If there was a failure, we failed to recognize there might be a public
reaction," Treasury Secretary John Snow told reporters in Richmond, Va. "Over
time, we may recommend improvements in the process so Congress is better
informed about transactions."
Tony Fratto, Treasury's top spokesman, said this would not necessarily
involve changing the current law, which prohibits the review committee from
briefing members of Congress before a decision is reached.
Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., said much of the
criticism has an anti-Arab bias.
"We are at war against terrorists, not any religion or ethnicity. Some
politicians seem to have forgotten that. ... Such alarm, verging almost on
hysteria, harms our efforts to have the broadest coalition possible against
worldwide terrorism," Domenici said.
House GOP leaders plan to meet Tuesday to decide whether they will still
support immediate legislation to hold up the sale.
Rep. Thomas Reynolds (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y., a member of the
leadership, said he is "beginning to get what I want, which is to slow down this
process so we can take a look at it."
Lobbyists for Dubai Ports went to Capitol Hill Friday to brief staffers.
Lawmakers said the company's delay was a positive step, but not a solution.
"I think the onus still remains with the company and for those who approved
it, to justify how this is consistent with our national security concerns," said
Rep. Vito Fossella (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y.
In New Jersey, the agency in charge of area ports sued to try to block Dubai
Ports from taking over operations there.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey argued in court papers that
Dubai Ports World was violating its lease by not getting consent for its pending
acquisition of the current port operator, London-based Peninsular & Oriental
Steam Navigation Co.
New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, who is also suing over the sale, urged other
governors to join the case.
Governors of Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania have expressed concerns
about the takeover; Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has said he trusts his brother the
president on such security issues.
|