CaptMCBruceRet
03-03-2006, 05:07 AM
SARASOTA, FL (NS/AP) -
If only the British Run and 'used to be' owned Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P&O) had of remained under British ownership, the American Sea Port Administrative takeover would have been no news at all...
But instead Dubai Ports World (DPW), a United Arab Emerates owned Company, who purchased the British P&O Co. has made the American Ports issue a firestorm of Political activity on both sides of the aisle and for 'good reason'...
Some are calling this "Media madness" and others are saying the facts are being 'distorted'. What this has shown the American people is that the 'system' needs to change the 'business as usual' mentality at our Nation's Seaport's...
There are long standing problems there, some have been addressed and some have not. Our Seaport's in many cases still remain vulnerable because of the 'business as usual' attitude that prevails...
Somewhere along the way, DPW has got to raise between $6.5 billion and $6.8 billion on the capital markets to finance the American Seaport deal. When investors put up that kind of money, there's bound to be some quid 'pro quo'. Likely included, for instance, would be a demand to have more involvement in the affairs of the company. Where exactly is this money going to be coming from --Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, The UAE? When you factor this in, it compounds an already worrisome potential...
And then after all of this, the U.S. Coast Guard has come out and said there are vital 'Intel gaps' in the Dubai Ports World $6.8 BILLION deal to take over the Administrative Operations at 6 U.S. Seaport's...
Could this be because of the 'track record' going back past 4 years that the UAE has supporting Terrorist's and in particular the Taliban and al-Qaeda?
The next problem is it's in fact not 6 Ports mentioned that are involved. It will become a total of '21' Ports that will be taken over and run eventually by DPW. This is because the P&O Co. is currently involved in Port Operations in '21' American Seaports across America from the Northwest to the West Coast, across the Gulf of Mexico and up the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard...
And let's not forget that with the UAE still not recognizing Israel's right to exist, also giving an estimated $15 MILLION per month to HAMAS and the UAE's past 'track record' of supporting Terrorism and Terrorist's which include al-Qaeda, this entire deal STILL remains 'highly suspect' to say the least...
This is the WRONG thing to do for the United States of America, and the wrong time to do it...
There is NO way that ANY of our Nation's Seaport's should be operated or run by ANY Foreign Country!
Especially one that just 5 years ago WAS in bed with the very Terrorist Network, "al-Qaeda," that is sworn to our Nation's destruction...
Let's not forget that there are 'unconfirmed' reports and there have been numerous articles written about al-Qaeda having already having infilitrated the UAE's Government. If ANY of this is true, what's to stop those UAE DPW Port Representative's traveling under 'Diplomatic Immunity' from initiating some sort of attack on 'us'http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif
The recent announcement disclosing a Company owned by a Nation with links to Terrorism, the United Arab Emerates (UAE), was going to take over 6 of our Nation's Seaport's with the United Kingdom (UK) run Port Administrative and Management Company has met a strong challenge against just this happening...
With less than 8% of our Imported Containers and Crates actually being inspected on a 'good day', how can anyone think this could make our Nation's Seaport's safer???
I have been in and out of Seaport's all along the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Waters for over 30 years and I can tell you we STILL have security issues in our Seaport's...
The Mayor's of all 6 of these Seaport's have come out against the Port takeover by the UAE owned Company. In addition, 2 Republican Governor's have now come out and said they are NOT in favor of this action in their State's...
These two Republican governors are threatening legal action to block the UAE company from taking over operations in major U.S. ports and some GOP lawmakers say the deal should be "closely examined."
In the uneasy climate after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, the Bush administration decision to allow the transaction has now developed into a major 'political headache' for the White House...
Some Polls show as much as 69% of the Country do NOT want this UAE run Company to operate our Nation's Seaports...
New York Gov. George Pataki and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich have voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been running six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates...
The British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., runs major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia...
Both governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states because of the DP World takeover...
The arrangement brought protests from both political parties in Congress and a lawsuit in Florida from a company affected by the takeover...
Public fears that the nation's ports are not properly protected, combined with the news of an Arab country's takeover of six major ports, proved a combustible mix...
Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said on Fox News that the administration approval was "unbelievably tone deaf politically." GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia said on ABC, "It's a tough one to explain, but we're in a global economy. ... I think we need to take a very close look at it."
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey said that he and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of port operations to foreign governments. As of this report, new legislation has now made it into the U.S. Senate...
At least one Senate oversight hearing has been planned, and Congressional Representatives in these State's are talking about doing the same thing...
Critics have noted that some of the 9/11 hijackers used the UAE as an operational and financial base. In addition, they contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist...
The Bush administration has gotten support from former President Carter, a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration...
"My presumption is, and my belief is, that the president and his Secretary of State and the Defense Department and others have adequately cleared the Dubai government organization to manage these ports," Carter told CNN. "I don't think there's any particular threat to our security."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made the rounds on the talk shows, asserting that the administration made certain the company agreed to certain conditions to ensure national security. He said details of those agreements were secret. However, Chertoff also said he did not know about the Ports deal until AFTER it was announced...
Now I would invite all of YOU to go take a look and see what PAC's are busy stuffing $money$ into our Politician's pockets to try to make this Port Takeover happen. You can be SURE there's a $money$ trail 'somewhere' associated with all of this...
This is ALL about the $money$ and we are talking about BILLIONS going to the United States and the Country who will run these 6 Seaport's, now know to be '21' total...
Wouldn't it make more 'sense' for an American owned Company to make this money and give it to Americans working in the Ports???
I also ventured to 'guess' that somewhere along the way was an 'open spigot' of crude OIL associated with all of this Port activity with the UAE...
That 'open oil spigot' was indeed confirmed and announced when the U.S. Navy said the UAE was providing an 'unlimited supply of oil' and a Base to operate out of for our Navy Ships that were operating in the Indian Ocean...
Granted the UK run and UAE owned Company will only be responsible for Administrative and Management activities at those 6 Seaport's and we have been told they will not be responsible for Security, BUT when it comes to the paperwork and shipping papers, that IS part of 'security'...
The main problem is STILL the cargo inside the crates and containers, and the 'paper trail' that is NOT being checked thoroughly. If a shipping bill says the cargo contained inside of a crate or container is children's toys or baby bibs, it might in fact be something 'else' because the paperwork did not reveal the TRUE nature of the contents...
If the cargo is not inspected you have NO way of knowing whether what it say on the shipping papers is correct or not...
How can this be SAFER? This happens all the time with Ocean and Air Foreign cargo. I have even picked up cargo when I was on the road in my Truck which was marked WRONG and the contents inside were something totally different. Of course in MY case, I took the container back to the Seaport, but I wonder how many other's have not???
Who even knew what was inside some of those containers? Do we know now, not hardly, at least not 100% of the time and that IS the problem...
Unless you thoroughly check what's inside and x-ray everything coming into the USA, you can NOT be sure of the contents of the crate or container...
WHY is it this doesn't happen, *TIME*. Yes 'time', because it would slow down the loading and unloading process and stack up our Nation's Seaport Docks. Remember all the Oil Tankers sitting off the United State's east coast a few years ago when there was no place to put their crude oil cargo???
This is what THE main problem is that we ALL face because of only checking less than 10% of what comes IN to our Country. Maybe we should just take our time and be CERTAIN of what comes into our Country???
We can NOT allow the UAE to take over Administrative control of 6 of our largest Seaport's and leave us more VULNERABLE to Terrorist's attacks. This is not about infringing on the rights of an Arab Country, this IS about protecting America...
Don't forget the UAE is the Country which has previously laundered $money$ for Terrorist's and with whom '2' of the 9/11 Hijackers came from...
Here's something else to 'ponder' about this Port issue and the UAE...
I can also tell you there are 'some' areas designated "Foreign Trade Zones" in these Ports where the area you walk into is actually the Sovereign soil of the Country who is doing business there...
Examples are in the State's of Alabama - Mercedes Benz (Germany), South Carolina - BMW(Germany), Tennessee - Nissan (France), Indiana - Toyota (Japan), Miami International Air Cargo facilities and so on...
My entire point for writing this article was to point out the FACT that we are NOT checking enough containers and crates nor the cargo inside them that are coming into our Seaports. We can NOT definitively say that our Ports are "SAFER"...
Having been in the Trucking Business over 30 years and going in and out of Nations Seaports on a regular basis, I am deeply concerned about cargo that is merely checked, 'in some cases', by merely reading the shipping documents or bills of lading, and not opened up and inspected for what's INSIDE...
It is not X-rayed 100% of the time, it is not opened up and the contents are NOT inspected 100% of the time...
In 'many' cases, what it says on the paperwork 'is not necessarily' what's inside the crate or container. And this is what the Inspector looks at in making up their mind whether or not to actually open up and inspect the contents inside. This IS absolutely wrong and it most certainly IS a threat to our security!
I don't care how long it takes or by what means it takes to do so, we MUST better check and inspect MORE of the cargo coming into our Country...
This IS an extremely dangerous situation that has NOT gotten any better, for the 'most part', over the years I've been doing business in our Seaports...
We actually have 'some' PRIVATE small Seaports in smaller Cities in Florida, like Riviera Beach, that are owned by Steamship Lines. The City, County & State do not run them, the Steamship Line does and security there is provided by a private company like Wakenhut, just to name one...
At this point I would suggest to all of you that we open up the bidding process so American Co's like FEDEX and UPS can become involved in the Port process. I would feel much safer knowing that one of these Comoanies was in charge running our Nation's Seaports...
Our Seaports 'should be' operated and run 100% by Americans and NOT 'farmed out' to ANY Foreign Country. At this point I have more confidence in THEIR ability to do the job RIGHT...
Wake Up America! Wake Up President Bush & The Maritime Commission!
It can no longer be 'business as usual' when it comes to one of our most vulnerable places, our Nation's Seaport's...
From what I have seen and heard, the American oeople ARE upset over this issue and it has NOTHING to do with Arabs, and EVERYTHING to do with basic 'common sense' and doing the RIGHT thing for America...
You don't go putting the FOX, COYOTE or WOLF into the Hen House unless you don't want any Chickens left!
This is NOT a Democrat or Republican issue we're talking about here, it's an AMERICAN issue. AMERICANS need to be operating our Seaports...
If YOU have an opinion or want this Seaport takeover more thoroughly investigated, YOU need to call the numbers below and 'say so'. If YOU don't, shame on YOU...
The phone numbers to call to voice YOUR opinion in Washington, DC are 202-456-1414 for The White House and 202-224-3121 for the U.S. House & Senate Switchboard...
God Bless America & Those Who Protect & Defend HER!
For Now, That's Just 'OUR' Opinion...
Matt Bruce
Managing Editor
News Saraota
http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/flag17.gif My Webpage (http://)
If only the British Run and 'used to be' owned Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P&O) had of remained under British ownership, the American Sea Port Administrative takeover would have been no news at all...
But instead Dubai Ports World (DPW), a United Arab Emerates owned Company, who purchased the British P&O Co. has made the American Ports issue a firestorm of Political activity on both sides of the aisle and for 'good reason'...
Some are calling this "Media madness" and others are saying the facts are being 'distorted'. What this has shown the American people is that the 'system' needs to change the 'business as usual' mentality at our Nation's Seaport's...
There are long standing problems there, some have been addressed and some have not. Our Seaport's in many cases still remain vulnerable because of the 'business as usual' attitude that prevails...
Somewhere along the way, DPW has got to raise between $6.5 billion and $6.8 billion on the capital markets to finance the American Seaport deal. When investors put up that kind of money, there's bound to be some quid 'pro quo'. Likely included, for instance, would be a demand to have more involvement in the affairs of the company. Where exactly is this money going to be coming from --Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, The UAE? When you factor this in, it compounds an already worrisome potential...
And then after all of this, the U.S. Coast Guard has come out and said there are vital 'Intel gaps' in the Dubai Ports World $6.8 BILLION deal to take over the Administrative Operations at 6 U.S. Seaport's...
Could this be because of the 'track record' going back past 4 years that the UAE has supporting Terrorist's and in particular the Taliban and al-Qaeda?
The next problem is it's in fact not 6 Ports mentioned that are involved. It will become a total of '21' Ports that will be taken over and run eventually by DPW. This is because the P&O Co. is currently involved in Port Operations in '21' American Seaports across America from the Northwest to the West Coast, across the Gulf of Mexico and up the Eastern Atlantic Seaboard...
And let's not forget that with the UAE still not recognizing Israel's right to exist, also giving an estimated $15 MILLION per month to HAMAS and the UAE's past 'track record' of supporting Terrorism and Terrorist's which include al-Qaeda, this entire deal STILL remains 'highly suspect' to say the least...
This is the WRONG thing to do for the United States of America, and the wrong time to do it...
There is NO way that ANY of our Nation's Seaport's should be operated or run by ANY Foreign Country!
Especially one that just 5 years ago WAS in bed with the very Terrorist Network, "al-Qaeda," that is sworn to our Nation's destruction...
Let's not forget that there are 'unconfirmed' reports and there have been numerous articles written about al-Qaeda having already having infilitrated the UAE's Government. If ANY of this is true, what's to stop those UAE DPW Port Representative's traveling under 'Diplomatic Immunity' from initiating some sort of attack on 'us'http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif
The recent announcement disclosing a Company owned by a Nation with links to Terrorism, the United Arab Emerates (UAE), was going to take over 6 of our Nation's Seaport's with the United Kingdom (UK) run Port Administrative and Management Company has met a strong challenge against just this happening...
With less than 8% of our Imported Containers and Crates actually being inspected on a 'good day', how can anyone think this could make our Nation's Seaport's safer???
I have been in and out of Seaport's all along the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf Waters for over 30 years and I can tell you we STILL have security issues in our Seaport's...
The Mayor's of all 6 of these Seaport's have come out against the Port takeover by the UAE owned Company. In addition, 2 Republican Governor's have now come out and said they are NOT in favor of this action in their State's...
These two Republican governors are threatening legal action to block the UAE company from taking over operations in major U.S. ports and some GOP lawmakers say the deal should be "closely examined."
In the uneasy climate after the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, the Bush administration decision to allow the transaction has now developed into a major 'political headache' for the White House...
Some Polls show as much as 69% of the Country do NOT want this UAE run Company to operate our Nation's Seaports...
New York Gov. George Pataki and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich have voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been running six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates...
The British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., runs major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia...
Both governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states because of the DP World takeover...
The arrangement brought protests from both political parties in Congress and a lawsuit in Florida from a company affected by the takeover...
Public fears that the nation's ports are not properly protected, combined with the news of an Arab country's takeover of six major ports, proved a combustible mix...
Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said on Fox News that the administration approval was "unbelievably tone deaf politically." GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia said on ABC, "It's a tough one to explain, but we're in a global economy. ... I think we need to take a very close look at it."
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey said that he and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of port operations to foreign governments. As of this report, new legislation has now made it into the U.S. Senate...
At least one Senate oversight hearing has been planned, and Congressional Representatives in these State's are talking about doing the same thing...
Critics have noted that some of the 9/11 hijackers used the UAE as an operational and financial base. In addition, they contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist...
The Bush administration has gotten support from former President Carter, a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration...
"My presumption is, and my belief is, that the president and his Secretary of State and the Defense Department and others have adequately cleared the Dubai government organization to manage these ports," Carter told CNN. "I don't think there's any particular threat to our security."
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made the rounds on the talk shows, asserting that the administration made certain the company agreed to certain conditions to ensure national security. He said details of those agreements were secret. However, Chertoff also said he did not know about the Ports deal until AFTER it was announced...
Now I would invite all of YOU to go take a look and see what PAC's are busy stuffing $money$ into our Politician's pockets to try to make this Port Takeover happen. You can be SURE there's a $money$ trail 'somewhere' associated with all of this...
This is ALL about the $money$ and we are talking about BILLIONS going to the United States and the Country who will run these 6 Seaport's, now know to be '21' total...
Wouldn't it make more 'sense' for an American owned Company to make this money and give it to Americans working in the Ports???
I also ventured to 'guess' that somewhere along the way was an 'open spigot' of crude OIL associated with all of this Port activity with the UAE...
That 'open oil spigot' was indeed confirmed and announced when the U.S. Navy said the UAE was providing an 'unlimited supply of oil' and a Base to operate out of for our Navy Ships that were operating in the Indian Ocean...
Granted the UK run and UAE owned Company will only be responsible for Administrative and Management activities at those 6 Seaport's and we have been told they will not be responsible for Security, BUT when it comes to the paperwork and shipping papers, that IS part of 'security'...
The main problem is STILL the cargo inside the crates and containers, and the 'paper trail' that is NOT being checked thoroughly. If a shipping bill says the cargo contained inside of a crate or container is children's toys or baby bibs, it might in fact be something 'else' because the paperwork did not reveal the TRUE nature of the contents...
If the cargo is not inspected you have NO way of knowing whether what it say on the shipping papers is correct or not...
How can this be SAFER? This happens all the time with Ocean and Air Foreign cargo. I have even picked up cargo when I was on the road in my Truck which was marked WRONG and the contents inside were something totally different. Of course in MY case, I took the container back to the Seaport, but I wonder how many other's have not???
Who even knew what was inside some of those containers? Do we know now, not hardly, at least not 100% of the time and that IS the problem...
Unless you thoroughly check what's inside and x-ray everything coming into the USA, you can NOT be sure of the contents of the crate or container...
WHY is it this doesn't happen, *TIME*. Yes 'time', because it would slow down the loading and unloading process and stack up our Nation's Seaport Docks. Remember all the Oil Tankers sitting off the United State's east coast a few years ago when there was no place to put their crude oil cargo???
This is what THE main problem is that we ALL face because of only checking less than 10% of what comes IN to our Country. Maybe we should just take our time and be CERTAIN of what comes into our Country???
We can NOT allow the UAE to take over Administrative control of 6 of our largest Seaport's and leave us more VULNERABLE to Terrorist's attacks. This is not about infringing on the rights of an Arab Country, this IS about protecting America...
Don't forget the UAE is the Country which has previously laundered $money$ for Terrorist's and with whom '2' of the 9/11 Hijackers came from...
Here's something else to 'ponder' about this Port issue and the UAE...
I can also tell you there are 'some' areas designated "Foreign Trade Zones" in these Ports where the area you walk into is actually the Sovereign soil of the Country who is doing business there...
Examples are in the State's of Alabama - Mercedes Benz (Germany), South Carolina - BMW(Germany), Tennessee - Nissan (France), Indiana - Toyota (Japan), Miami International Air Cargo facilities and so on...
My entire point for writing this article was to point out the FACT that we are NOT checking enough containers and crates nor the cargo inside them that are coming into our Seaports. We can NOT definitively say that our Ports are "SAFER"...
Having been in the Trucking Business over 30 years and going in and out of Nations Seaports on a regular basis, I am deeply concerned about cargo that is merely checked, 'in some cases', by merely reading the shipping documents or bills of lading, and not opened up and inspected for what's INSIDE...
It is not X-rayed 100% of the time, it is not opened up and the contents are NOT inspected 100% of the time...
In 'many' cases, what it says on the paperwork 'is not necessarily' what's inside the crate or container. And this is what the Inspector looks at in making up their mind whether or not to actually open up and inspect the contents inside. This IS absolutely wrong and it most certainly IS a threat to our security!
I don't care how long it takes or by what means it takes to do so, we MUST better check and inspect MORE of the cargo coming into our Country...
This IS an extremely dangerous situation that has NOT gotten any better, for the 'most part', over the years I've been doing business in our Seaports...
We actually have 'some' PRIVATE small Seaports in smaller Cities in Florida, like Riviera Beach, that are owned by Steamship Lines. The City, County & State do not run them, the Steamship Line does and security there is provided by a private company like Wakenhut, just to name one...
At this point I would suggest to all of you that we open up the bidding process so American Co's like FEDEX and UPS can become involved in the Port process. I would feel much safer knowing that one of these Comoanies was in charge running our Nation's Seaports...
Our Seaports 'should be' operated and run 100% by Americans and NOT 'farmed out' to ANY Foreign Country. At this point I have more confidence in THEIR ability to do the job RIGHT...
Wake Up America! Wake Up President Bush & The Maritime Commission!
It can no longer be 'business as usual' when it comes to one of our most vulnerable places, our Nation's Seaport's...
From what I have seen and heard, the American oeople ARE upset over this issue and it has NOTHING to do with Arabs, and EVERYTHING to do with basic 'common sense' and doing the RIGHT thing for America...
You don't go putting the FOX, COYOTE or WOLF into the Hen House unless you don't want any Chickens left!
This is NOT a Democrat or Republican issue we're talking about here, it's an AMERICAN issue. AMERICANS need to be operating our Seaports...
If YOU have an opinion or want this Seaport takeover more thoroughly investigated, YOU need to call the numbers below and 'say so'. If YOU don't, shame on YOU...
The phone numbers to call to voice YOUR opinion in Washington, DC are 202-456-1414 for The White House and 202-224-3121 for the U.S. House & Senate Switchboard...
God Bless America & Those Who Protect & Defend HER!
For Now, That's Just 'OUR' Opinion...
Matt Bruce
Managing Editor
News Saraota
http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/flag17.gif My Webpage (http://)