More Dubai Deal Facts leaking through

The attempt to silence or block information and details on this Dubai deal is gradually begining to break down. First it was just 6 Ports, now it's twenty one!. It may turn out that the (legally mandated) 45-day delay that Bushco has finally agreed too (imagine that, they agreed to abide by the law for once? yeah, but only if the deal is still sealed and delivered) will provide time for tons of truths about the Dubai Ports World deal to leak through.

First we have Lou Dobbs crying foul via Crooks and Liars.

Lou Dobbs reported today that "Dubai Ports World" officials have tried to silence him and get CNN to suppress his reports.

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Mark Dennis, spokesman for Dubai Ports World: " CNN won't shut up Lou Dobbs."

They are refusing to give any more interviews to CNN or allow them to video tape their operations overseas. To CNN's credit they have refused to comply with their demands.

Now Lou Dobb's has gained an incredibly hostile reputation when it comes to issues of immigration, and I could see how you could expect him to be equally hostile when a foreign government is about to take over control of U.S. ports -- but he's still a correspondent for CNN, and they are simply not going to silence him, period. But just the fact that they're trying to is very telling.

Next we have the revelation regarding the Coast Guard.

WASHINGTON - Citing broad gaps in U.S. intelligence, the Coast Guard cautioned the Bush administration that it was unable to determine whether a United Arab Emirates-owned company might support terrorist operations, a Senate panel said Monday.

The surprise disclosure came during a hearing on Dubai-owned DP World's plans to take over significant operations at six leading U.S. ports. The port operations are now handled by London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

"There are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludes an overall threat assessment of the potential" merger," an undated Coast Guard intelligence assessment says.

"The breadth of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities," the document says.

Lastly we have a report from Newsweek that shows just how out of touch the Bush Admin has been on this entire deal.

The GOP leadership on Capitol Hill did not want to get stuck trying to explain the sale to a public anxious after hearing how little had been done to protect U.S. ports. The White House, meanwhile, was slow to read the signs, write Wolffe and Bailey. Nobody had tracked the bidding war for the venerable British ports company called the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (known as P & O). And nobody noticed an Associated Press story-on the day of Cheney's hunting incident-that aired the security concerns of a small Miami port operator called Eller. A disgruntled partner of P & O, Eller feared that an Arab government takeover could trigger a political backlash that might jeopardize its business. Its lawyers approached the Feds but were brushed aside; the security review was long complete.

Rep. Peter King, the GOP chair of the House homeland security committee, called the White House to ask about the deal a few days after the AP story. A senior official told him not to worry, but conceded he didn't know about any investigation into the Dubai company. When King said he planned to go public, the White House official just shrugged and said, "Go ahead."

When the crisis came to a head, Bush ordered his staff to contact each cabinet secretary involved in reviewing the sale to make sure that everyone stood by the decision. Reassured, Bush called reporters to his conference room aboard Air Force One, where he suggested that critics were indulging in anti- Arab prejudice and promised to veto any legislation blocking the deal. Midweek, as he stepped off the plane in Ohio, the president was greeted by Rep. Steve Chabot. The congressman pressed into the president's hand a cartoon from that morning's Cincinnati Enquirer. It showed a grinning Arab emir spreading his arms over an American port. The caption read, "Relax, Homeland Security has everything under control."

This Presidency is a joke.

The more people learn about this deal, the more of obvious trainwreck it becomes. Now, I for one, am happily cheering the Bush adminstration along -- because the light at the end of their Dubai tunnel isn't the way out, it's the oncoming train of American Outrage and they are not about to stop or slowdown.

This is the gang that can't think straight. These guys have repeatedly shown their disregard for the American People and for real issues of safety and security. Be it local issues like the Sago Mine, or international like the location of bin Laden and al Zarqawi - they have failed.

With his approval ratings at an all time low of 34%, it appears Americans - both Democrats and Republicans alike - are finally waking from the fog of neo-war and coming to this realization.

I say "It's about damn time" -- and bring on the November Elections. Yeeehah!!!

Vyan