Port deal dies in a storm

[cal04]

(snip)
"From what we know, the Dubai Ports deal is over," said King, who, along with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), has spearheaded efforts to spike the deal. "But we haven't seen any details yet." The decision by DP World followed a morning briefing at the White House in which House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) told Bush their members wouldn't stand for any version of the deal. On Wednesday, the GOP-dominated House Appropriations Committee voted 62-2 to scuttle the agreement, and a similar Senate measure cleared a key procedural hurdle yesterday.

(snip)
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said DP World's offer "does provide a way forward resolve the matter," but leading Democrats, including Schumer, were skeptical that the transfer might involve creation of a U.S.-based company that still had ties to Dubai."We now smell the scent of victory ... but the devil is in the details," said Schumer. "We need to make sure that all U.S. operations are totally removed from the United Arab Emirates and Dubai Ports World control." DP World officials told Warner, who had been trying to negotiate a last-minute compromise to save the deal, they were pulling out late yesterday morning, according to Warner.

The decision came directly from UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, who realized the depth of opposition after yesterday's White House meeting, according to Senate sources. DP World doesn't have a U.S. buyer in mind and may issue a request for proposals, a company source told Newsday. "The funny thing is that Halliburton may be the one American company with the capacity to do this," said one congressional Republican, speaking earlier this week on condition of anonymity. "Problem is that the Democrats would probably complain that the Dubai deal was a big ruse to get Halliburton the contract." Vice President Dick Cheney used to run Halliburton.

The company's decision came as the Senate moved a step closer to passing its own anti-DP World bill. The Senate defeated, 51-47, a Republican attempt to kill a Schumer-sponsored amendment to vote on the deal; Frist has no plans to allow Schumer's measure to come for a vote anytime soon. Still, some GOP senators seemed as eager as their Democratic counterparts to go on the record in opposition to the Dubai deal. Two 9/11 hijackers came from the UAE and the country's banks have been implicated in al-Qaida money-laundering schemes.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usport104656515mar10,0,6742305.story?track=rss

[complain jane]

1. And I would certainly hope the Democrats would remind

the American public of all of the investigations into fraud and bribery and corruption that we've had to open on Halliburton.

This deal stinks worse by the minute.

http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/shareholder2004.html

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=29636

[FloridaPat]

2. It's not over until the ports are in American hands or the people forget

about it and go back to reality tv shows. Whichever comes first.

[complain jane]

3. You mean "appear to be" in American hands