The company is owned by the United Arab Emirates, one of only three countries to have recognized the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of Afghanistan. According to a bipartisan congressional letter of protest sent to the Bush administration Feb. 16, money for the 9/11 hijackers was routed primarily through the UAE banking system, and the UAE has been a key transfer point for illegal shipments of nuclear components to Iran and North Korea. (The Bush administration says the UAE has proven itself a loyal ally in the war on terrorism.)
For these reasons, among others, conservatives fear that Bush's tough-on-terror profile - which the White House has intended to market, once again, for the '06 elections - might be at risk.
As John Kasich, a Fox News commentator and ex-GOP congressman, said Monday: "We're told nearly every day about the critical importance of the war on terror. . . . That's why it's inconceivable and defies common sense to outsource the operation of our ports."
It's rare (aside from the Miers affair) to find an issue that pits Bush against the likes of conservative commentators Cal Thomas, Hugh Hewitt and Michelle Malkin, plus neoconservative hawk Michael Ledeen, ex-Reagan strategist Ed Rollins, Newt Gingrich, the Washington Times editorial page, national-security hard-liner Frank Gaffney, at least two Republican governors, the Senate Republican leader, and (most important) the House Republican leaders and a growing list of GOP lawmakers.
more here:
philly.com |
