PORT STUPIDITY
NEW YORK POST
Editorial
February 21, 2006
Gov. Pataki last night hinted broadly that he would seek to extract the Port of New York and New Jersey from the federal contract that hands control of six U.S. harbors to a firm based in the United Arab Emirates. It remains to be seen whether he has the power to kill the deal, but he certainly needs to try.
Pataki and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich both expressed grave doubts on the deal; Eherlich suggested he'd try to exempt the Port of Baltimore from the new pact, too.
Let's be clear: It's an unnecessary, and exceedingly dumb, deal.
The UAE capital, Dubai, is a breeding ground for Mideast terrorism — and was where the 9/11 hijackers planned most of the World Trade Center attacks.
For that reason alone, turning U.S. ports over to Dubai Ports World — following its $6.8 billion purchase of the British-owned Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. — is insane.
Beyond New York/New Jersey and Baltimore, ports at Miami, New Orleans and Philadelphia are at issue.
Still hospitalized after emergency surgery, Pataki issued a news release to say, "Ensuring the security of New York's port operations is paramount and I am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam by Dubai Ports World."
"I have directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to explore all legal options that may be available to them," he added.
Meanwhile, Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is similarly perplexed: "It puts the New York ports at risk when you have a company coming out of a country where al Qaeda has such a strong presence."
He added, quite accurately: "The ports are always going to be the weakest part of our homeland security. You have to ask yourself, if something does happen, how could you explain to a 9/11[-like] commission that we just let it happen?"
Good question.
King also notes that Dubai Ports World wasn't exactly fastidious when it comes to security in its home port — through which weapons flowed to Iran.
The Bush administration's tone-deafness on this issue is inexplicable. The idea has been met with bipartisan opposition on Capitol Hill; Democratic Sens. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who are readying legislation to block foreign firms from running U.S. ports.
Its only defender seems to be Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who claims that a background inquiry "cleared" the deal.
No disrespect to Chertoff, but nuts to that.
America's ports are critical strategic assets. As it is, security at the facilities is at best problematic. Introducing yet another element of operational risk makes no sense whatsoever.
Maybe the Port Authority doesn't have the legal standing to pull out of the pact. But we bet Congress not only has the horsepower to get the job, it won't hesitate to use it.
The White House would be wise to check which way the wind is blowing, and to cut its losses.
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