Bush: Ports Deal Nothing to Worry About

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Thursday said Americans shouldn't fret over the controversial ports deal involving a United Arab Emirates-owned company that has taken Washington and state lawmakers by storm.
"People don't need to worry about security," Bush said after meeting with his Cabinet about a White House report issued Thursday regarding the national response to Hurricane Katrina.
"We wouldn't go forward if we were concerned about the security of the United States of America," the president added.
The president's comments come on the heels of a firestorm of criticism over a deal that would allow the UAE-owned Dubai Ports World to take over operations at six U.S. ports. The deal has lawmakers from both sides of the aisle screaming for a more thorough review of the deal and arguing that the deal with threaten port security in the United States that already is lacking. Bush has vowed to veto any bill aimed at halting the commercial transaction.
"The more people learn about the transaction that has been scrutinized and improved by my government, the more they'll be comforted that our ports will be secure," Bush said, adding that port security will still be run by U.S. Customs and the Coast Guard. "The UAE has been a valuable partner in fighting the War on Terror. A lot of goods are shipped from ports to the United States managed by this company."

Noting that British companies already manage the ports in question, Bush added: "I also want to remind folks that it's really important we not send mixed messages to friends and allies around the world as we combine, put together, a coalition to fight this War on Terror. So we'll continue to talk to people in Congress and explain clearly why the decision was made."
Speaking to FOX News Radio, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove called Dubai a "great military asset" and "vital to our security." Rove said as far as Dubai's cooperating with Customs and Border Protection and the Container Security Initiative, the UAE is one of the "best and eager partners in safety."
Rove said that briefings were going on with both Republican and Democratic staffers to inform them on the deal. Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday was holding a hearing on the deal as lawmakers questioned why the administration didn't give a more thorough scrutiny to the deal. They're calling for more time to probe the transaction before it goes through.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and chairman of the committee, emphasized UAE's cooperation in the War on Terror, and echoed the Department of Homeland Security's notation that DP World provides support for U.S. Navy ships that dock in Jebel Ali and Fujairah, both in the UAE and managed by DP World, and for the U.S. Air Force at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE
Warner said the UAE is a "valuable ally" and he has seen nothing to indicate the administration didn't do a "careful and thorough job."
That was a claim reinforced by Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt at the briefing.
"We're not aware of a single national security concern raised recently that was not part of" the multiagency, three-month review of the deal, Kimmitt.
Added Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England: "This review definitely was not cursory and it definitely was not casual. Rather, it was in-depth and comprehensive."
But opponents of the plan were not appeased. Committee Ranking Member Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., repeated charges raised in the Sept. 11 commission report that the UAE backed the Taliban and allowed financial support for Al Qaeda.
"America's port security is too critical to be subjected to this kind of casual approach," said Sen. Carl Levin, adding the administration has taken a too lax approach to this in dealing with a country with "an uneven record with combating terrorism."
He asked how many members of the briefing had discussed the deal with the Sept. 11 commission. None raised a hand.
"The events of 9/11 demonstrate America is entitled to total confidence that a country allowed to acquire assets key to our security is as committed as we are to combating terrorism," added the Michigan Democrat.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has co-sponsored legislation with Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., to deny foreign governments permission to run port operations. At the briefing, she called the approval process "a failure of judgment" because officials "did not alert the president, the secretary of the treasury and the secretary of defense" that several of our critical ports would be turned over to foreign country.
She and Levin also argued that the statute that defines the job of the panel that reviews the acquisition requires a 45-day review. Warner said he would ask Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for an official interpretation of the statute.
England echoed Bush's comments about how in order to be successful and united in the global War on Terror, the United States cannot discriminate when it comes to who it partners with.
"In this war, this very long war, it is very important we strengthen the bonds of friendship and security with our friends and allies around the world, particularly in the Arab world," England said, adding that it's the terrorists' goal to help sever U.S. ties with other countries and to create more friction. "My view is, we can't allow this to happen, it has to be the opposite," he said.
Whereas White House spokesman Scott McClellan said this week that Bush didn't know about the deal until a few days ago — after it was completed. But Rove said Thursday that Bush did in fact know about it "before the preff kerfuffle."