Has Bush got his tail in a crack this time?  His now familiar bull-headed stubborn stance this time has to do with national security concerns versus his buddies in Arabia.

Dubai Ports World's pending acquisition of US port operations from British Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), the current British port operator, had gained center stage on Tuesday as more Washington lawmakers climbed on the bipartisan bandwagon of outrage:

  • Senate majority leader Bill Frist said "the decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter."
  • New York Senator Charles Schumer (D) and Representative Peter King (R) introduced emergency legislation Tuesday to "suspend the handover" of certain port operations.
  • Rick Santorum (R) sent a letter to President Bush concerning Dubai Ports World’s pending acquisition of P&O, which currently provides port services at six major eastern ports, including Philadelphia.

Senator Schumer said in a statement Tuesday that "Approving this contract in the dark of night and ignoring all of the many questions asked about this takeover is an affront to anybody who cares about our nation's security."

Bush responded immediately that he had no intention of reversing the deal:  "After careful review by our government, I believe the transaction ought to go forward," Bush said. He added that if the U.S. Congress passed a law to stop the deal, "I'll deal with it with a veto."

At a level closer to a potential ground zero, others with a dog in the fight weighed in:

  • Mayor Michael Bloomberg talked of canceling New York's contract with the company.
  • Gary LaGrange, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans, said he didn't "feel real warm and fuzzy about it."
  • On Monday, the governors of both New York and Maryland threatened legal action to try to stop the deal.

British P&O, while foreign, is a privately held company.  Dubai Ports World on the other hand is owned by a foreign government, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  This would be the first time American seaports would be managed by a foreign government.

But it doesn’t stop there.  The UAE is one of only three countries to have recognized the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan.  According to a bipartisan congressional letter of protest sent to the Bush administration Feb. 16, money for the Sept. 11 hijackers was routed primarily through the UAE banking system, and the UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran and North Korea.

And this also shines the spotlight on another dark secretive group in our government that makes decisions without oversight or in the light of public scrutiny.  This is not the first time that this interagency panel — called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) — has made an astounding call about the transfer of control of strategically sensitive U.S. assets to questionable purchasers.  For example: 

  • The attempted purchase of Unocal by China was sanctioned by CFIUS and was scotched only after the transaction floated up to public view to be bathed in subsequent Congressional outrage.
  • India in the late 90s was allowed to purchase the fiber optic undersea cable stretched from North America to the Eurasian content at great expense.  This cable carries critical and strategic data globally, and it is in the hands of a foreign power.

In fact, as of last summer, CFIUS had, since its creation in 1988, formally rejected only one of 1,530 transactions submitted for its review.   Bush of course is stubbornly defending this latest action by CFIUS.

Looks like Bush’s secretive dealings with his braintrust of Arab Potentates has put him at odds with national security, and his arrogance has caught his tail in a crack.  And it looks like he may have to chew his tail off to get out of this one because the outrage is growing and bi-partisan.