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Dubai company agrees to delay US ports takeover (Feb. 23, 06): Under the offer coordinated with the White House, Dubai Ports World said it will agree not to exercise control or influence the management over US ports ... A top White House aide has said an Arab company's controversial takeover of operations at six major US ports could be delayed, as US lawmakers continued to question the transaction.

Much is being made about the security of the ports, but this sale to Dubai Ports World is not about security or about port ownership. It's about operations in the ports. The announcement of DP World's bid for P&O was made back in November 2005, and the news was widely reported in the press and international financial trade publications. No one squawked then.

Nothing to do with security will change with this transaction. The role of the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other Federal agencies, will remain the same, regardless of whether the ports are operated by the London-Based Peninsular And Oriental (P&O) Steam Navigation Company or by Dubai Ports World. No difference.

The transaction is not about port security or even port ownership, but only about operations in the ports. DP World will not manage port security, nor will it own any ports. DP World would take on the functions now performed by the British firm P&O -- basically the off- and on-loading of cargo. Employees will still have to be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. No private companies are currently allowed to manage any U.S. port. Rather, private companies such as P&O and DP World simply manage and operate individual terminals within the ports.

Why Dubai is good for US business
Dubai Ports World is exactly the kind of bridge the US needs to the Muslim world.
By Mansoor Ijaz

Dubai is a glamorous showcase for global capitalism in the unlikeliest of places. And there is a fundamental commitment to fighting terrorism there that most Americans don't know about.

In the battle of hearts and minds that defines America's struggle to combat terrorism, the emotional eruption from US politicians in the past week over the proposed takeover of six key American ports by a Dubai company is a big step backward for US national security. It is a uniquely un-American reaction that assumes the worst of an important Arab ally, pronounces its guilt, and seeks to paint its companies as enemies without one shred of evidence.

Dubai's business environment is the Middle East's only meritocracy. Young men and women compete openly with ideas and ambitions to make their nation a model example for Muslim societies besieged by high unemployment, low literacy rates, bad trade policies, and authoritarian political structures. They run businesses transparently, with integrity and with an increasingly democratic and accountable corporate culture.

Known for innovative investing and one-of-a-kind megaprojects, Dubai should not be antagonized. Rather it should be encouraged, for example, to fund and deploy a revolutionary array of security initiatives at the US ports, such as neutron pulse scanners and smart chips for tracking containers. US technology already exists in prototype form to scan containers without opening them or materially affecting port management economics. The Department of Homeland Security should find a common investment and implementation basis with Dubai Ports World for the rapid development of such technologies.

True, the United Arab Emirates -- where Dubai stands out as a modern city-state on par with Singapore and Monaco -- was home to the man, Marwan al Shehhi, who piloted United Airlines Flight 175 into the second World Trade Center tower. But our key frontline ally in fighting terror today, Pakistan, was home to a lot worse. True, bad banking went on in the UAE, some of which funneled money to the 9/11 hijackers, but money laundering is not unique to Arab countries. True, Dubai was the distribution hub of rogue Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan's nuclear black market. But truer still is the cooperation Dubai's intelligence officials gave the US in helping unravel Dr. Khan's network.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, many nations have changed course in important ways to balance out such negative liabilities as the UAE carried in the pre-9/11 world.

In December 2004, Dubai was the first Middle East government to accept the US Container Security Initiative as policy to screen all containers for security hazards before heading to America. In May 2005, Dubai signed an agreement with the US Department of Energy to prevent nuclear materials from passing through its ports. It also installed radiation-detecting equipment -- evidence of a commitment to invest in technology. In October 2005, the UAE Central Bank directed banks and financial institutions in the country to tighten their internal systems and controls in their fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

posted by Hal 9:14 PM