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Opinion

Politics aside, DPW poses threat

Josh Vinci
Guest Columnist

The first issue of business with the Dubai Ports World controversy is the number of ports included in the deal, which, in most media outlets, has been wrongly reported (perhaps purposefully so). The United Arab Emirates-based company will not operate six or even eight U.S. ports; according to United Press International and several other sources, the total number is 21 ports, mainly along the east and Gulf Coast. Two of these ports include Beaumont and Corpus Christi, which are also responsible for a large number of U.S. military shipments. 

The second order of affairs deals with playing the race card and implying that those who oppose DPW's takeover are racist against Arabs. The fact of the matter is when people like Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York come out against such a move, it should raise eyebrows of concern with all Americans; a liberal Democrat and those like him tend to be motivated by the stigma that may arise from being labeled a racist. 

Schumer, whose job as a lawmaker and representative is not to write editorials but to make decisions based on the facts, is voicing his concern because he is seeing the same thing that most Americans are now seeing --this is a matter of national security, and to treat this as "politics as usual" would be to the detriment of our country.

Emerati ownership of these ports would pose legitimate safety concerns. DPW, as port manager, will be given detailed knowledge of security operations and procedures for each port. In addition, DPW has direct oversight to who is hired both in UAE and in America and will be allowed American work visas for foreign workers; it is has been reported that little or no background check is done for the average dock-worker. 

Furthermore, while the general population of UAE may be good and pro-West (or at least not anti-American), the government itself was, for one, widely known to be one of the only nations in the world to acknowledge the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan. It is also an issue, including being documented in the 9/11 Commission Report, that the UAE government knowingly held ties to terrorist organizations. 

Is it then unreasonable to assume that terrorists may immediately and secretly begin infiltrating DPW from the UAE side and have sleeper-cells here in America posing as (unchecked) dock-workers -- those who deal directly with the contents of each shipment? You do not have to be a political pundit to see the red flags or to realize the possibility of a nuclear device being detonated in a port city.

Currency, production and infrastructure are paramount to a nation's sovereignty and its ability to support itself. Our manufacturing sector is virtually gone, mainly because of unfair trade policies, and our infrastructure is being auctioned off. The privatization and internationalization of public assets should be of concern to all Americans, which is why this port deal needs to be stopped, and legislation must be passed to prevent any foreign entity from controlling our strategic ports and infrastructure. 

What will you do when you wake up and find that Americans no longer own America?

Vinci, a guest columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at joshuavinci@yahoo.com.