"You ain't doin' the US any favours, Pataki"

Two Republican US governors, including New York Governor George Pataki (who incidentally, has ambitions to be Republican presidential candidate for 2008), want to block the purchase of P&O Steam Navigation, a British firm that handles several US ports. Why? Because the buyer, Dubai Ports World, is a Middle Eastern company. According to their logic, something as vital as US ports are too vulnerable to be handled by a Middle Eastern firm - the assumption being that any Middle Eastern people are probably terrorists. What's next? Will Congress block a telecoms sale to Li Ka-Shing, the logic being that he's probably a Communist?

(You can read the story here: http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/02/21/news/ports.php)

UPDATE: Many many more US politicians, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg among them, are also criticising the deal... idiots.

This reminds me of CNOOC's failed acquisition of Unocal last year, largely due to Congressional interference. That incident really pissed me off.

What does all of this say? In both the CNOOC and the Dubai Ports World cases, certain very powerful players in the US have been giving America, and the West, an extremely bad impression: "We makes the rules, and if you don't like the rules, tough. But if WE don't like the rules, we'll just change the rules."

To be fair, and I hate myself for doing this, I must give the Bush administration credit for supporting the proposed sale. Let's hear Bush in his own words (or at least the words his handlers have fed him): "I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company. I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, 'We'll treat you fairly.'" On the other hand, the owners of Dubai Ports World are probably friends of his daddy, or Dick Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld.. boy, do I sound like Michael Moore or what?

In the Dubai Ports World case, I also think it's very stupid for the US to continue to alienate moderate Muslims any more than it already has. Dubai - which is trying to position itself as a tourist destination and regional transportation and financial hub - is as Western-friendly and anti-terrorist as any Arabic state can be (arguably second only to Kuwait), and you've got to be a real moron if you can ruin that kind of goodwill and potential.