Here's a nice quote from Chertoff on the deal described in the link below:

''We have to balance the paramount urgency of security against the fact that we still want to have a robust global trading system.''

Balancing port security against some hackneyed ideal of global free trade, misapplied to the situation and looking as shadowy and weird as it sounds?

come on@!!!


articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060218210909990001&ncid=NWS00010000000001

Well US ports should be run by US companies regardless.

Quoted: Well US ports should be run by US companies regardless.

dang straight.  why is it so obvious to us and not to chertoff?

I could care less about global trade.  I don't want terrorists in charge of our ports!

Brit company runs them right now IIRC and that's not good either.

Wow, so much to say:

Come on folks: economic inter-dependence = extreme reluctance to shoot yourself in the foot--or in the wallet as it were.

Screwing with American commerce? There's no money to be made in stopping it!

And to answer some questions ahead of time, no, the folks from the UAE are not the kind to want to hurt America out of ideology. They are mostly to busy getting rich. And besides which, all the rest of the natives want to keep things copasetic because the gravy train is still rolling from those on top.

Now if the country collapses, maybe we'd have a problem. But we don't want that either, because there's no money in that either--stability will be ensured one way or another.

All these type companies should be American owned? I can't fathom the number of companies with suppliers, subsidiaries and whatnot in foreign countries. Tracing the lines of ownership across national lines between major international companies would look like a bowl of spaghetti. Good luck.

Want to try and turn the clock back on 50 years of international economic development? I'm not saying it's all good--but it is what it is. Anyways, there are some people who would turn back the clock--to the 7th century say. But they aren't very popular, here or anywhere.

Quoted: Want to try and turn the clock back on 50 years of international economic development? I'm not saying it's all good--but it is what it is. Anyways, there are some people who would turn back the clock--to the 7th century say. But they aren't very popular, here or anywhere.

No one is suggesting protectionism, isolationism or some reactionary regression to 1955.  These are critical ports we're talking about, and one of the most dangerous security situations of all.  I'm sure we could find an American owned, Amercian based company to do this.  Do you think the Israelis would contract airport security to some nice, semi neutral country like kuwait?

I doubt it.  Wonder why.