A little-noticed quote buried in a Washington Times story last week shows that if Bush proceeds with his deal to lease ports to the United Arab Emirates, it will be the UAE that recommends what kind of security measures the port will be regulated under.
The February 22 article called "Bush Vows Port Deal Will Stand; Threatens to Veto Any Bill Killing It" contained a quote from Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Carter. Carter told the Times that port security is handled by the Coast Guard, which oversees security plans submitted by facility operators and conducts planned and surprise inspections throughout the year.
This means, if UAE is granted the contract, it will be issuing their own advisory the Coast Guard that is ultimately responsible for the port.
During upcoming hearings, senators would do well to explore this facet of the deal and question the UAE's ability to mandate tough security measures upon themselves and press the Coast Guard to thoroughly vet previous recommendations from UAE.
A special thanks for this item goes to an eagle-eyed Washington Times reader that alerted Human Events to this alarming detail.
