Randall_S Loc: Big Apple

From WND:

Port of terror: Obama exposing U.S. to new threat?
Exclusive: Ellen Ratner examines company's 35-year contract to operate in Florida

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/port-of-terror-obama-exposing-u-s-to-new-threat/#YhupEL62B0vAxzJO.99

Those of us in the media aren’t necessarily well known for having the longest attention span. By our very nature, we may be captivated by a story one week and then suddenly find ourselves unable to recall its most basic details when a new, juicy headline comes along.

This may be how the game is played in Washington, but it’s frustrating, especially when you remember a moment of panic that everybody else seems to move on from.

In 2006, that concern was over port security and was centered on President George W. Bush approving a deal with Dubai Ports World to operate shipping operations in six major American cities.

The media and the political establishment went ballistic over the revelation. Nine years later, however, a similar announcement is being met with relative silence.

Last year, the Obama administration formally approved a 35-year contract with Gulftainer to operate out of Florida’s Port Canaveral, a location that’s alarmingly close to a U.S. Air Force base, a submarine base and NASA’s Kennedy Space center. This week, the terminal officially opened.

If you haven’t heard of Gulftainer, you’re not alone. It is a company located in the United Arab Emirates, a confederation of nations that critics have charged is the origin for much funding for terrorist groups.

Since Gulftainer is leasing the port and not purchasing the property, the company reportedly did not have to submit to a national security review. This may be the norm for how the federal government operates, but it is troubling. A quick Google search reveals that conservative blogs have suggested the company may have shipped weapons through its ports to terror groups in Iraq and may have help helped Iran ship weapons to Gaza.

Gulftainer has vehemently denied the allegations, but, baseless or not, the suggestions have been acknowledged by Florida Today, a media company owned by Gannet, and have prompted protests at the site of Gulftainer’s terminals.

Making the story all the more interesting is the suggestion from critics that there are lingering ties between Gulftainer’s executive brass and the Clintons and the fact that the deal was ultimately signed off on by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who served within the Clinton White House as chief of staff. This might be a large stretch, but it is out there.

Whether or not Gulftainer is cause for alarm is beyond my judgment, but there is nevertheless a stunning level of hypocrisy in Washington, D.C., over the issue. Neither the media nor most lawmakers have opted to discuss this openly, despite media and lawmakers leading the charge against Dubai Ports World and the Bush administration in 2006.

The vitriol surrounding the 2006 controversy was one that had major consequences for Bush. It came shortly after he both failed to receive congressional approval for both his Supreme Court nominee and Social Security reform and, in many ways, seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back and cemented his status at the time as a lame-duck president.

Many of the bipartisan collection of lawmakers who lead the charge on the initial Dubai deal are still politically active today, including a former New York senator who pushed for a 45-day review to look into security concerns. That senator was Hillary Clinton, and like so many others in Washington, she seems to have forgotten something that was once a very, very big deal. Where are they now? When are they going to speak about this, and when is the press going to report it, too?

JMHO Loc: Utah

Ellen Ratner???!!! Now, there is a biased left winger if I ever I saw one. As soon as I saw who wrote it, I quit reading it, because it will be nothing but left-wing B.S..

Randall_S Loc: Big Apple

May be true, but she's right about this deal.

JMHO Loc: Utah

In your biased left wing feeble mind, maybe.

Randall_S Loc: Big Apple

Uhh, I suggest the following:

1) Look at my posting history.
2) Read the article.

Then you can call me whatever you like.

But I don't think it would be involve the word "liberal."

JMHO Loc: Utah

Well, when some one starts touting anything written by such a left-wing radical like Ellen Ratner, sure doesn't make you a conservative, pal. Just sayin'

Randall_S Loc: Big Apple

Well this isn't some political hygiene exercise. I posted the article because it is coverage on the LEFT on what has become of our national security under Obama.

As someone close to the story, I think it makes sense to get it as much attention as possible.

The company is now operating next to a nuclear sub base and NASA.

That's why this is important. Get over the author - in this case, she's unimportant. (I don't even know who she is.)

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

I guess you are unfamiliar with Randall_S.
He is far more "conservative" than even you.

You are jumping to unwarranted conclusions.

This is a serious issue that needs to be looked at immediately.

I don't like the leftist Elizabeth Warren, yet we are on the same side of being against the TPP. It happens now and then.

Lighten up and look at the serious issue of the story.
"They" will now be able to smuggle anything they want into our country now that they control one of the busiest ports on the east coast.

WAKE UP JMHO!!!

bdamage Loc: My Bunker

I started this thread when the news story first broke and it received the attention of crickets.

http://www.onepoliticalplaza.com/t-40723-1.html

JMHO Loc: Utah

More conservative than me? I seriously doubt it. I admit that I did not read the article, because I saw who the author was.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

This was seen as a way to bust longshoremen and other unions, to prevent ( like we've seen just recently ) strikes closing the ports. No consideration at all was given to security concerns, only "bottom lines" were considered and closed ports cost millions a day in lost revenue.

We all know that spending tax payer money is not a concern for politicians, but lost revenue for their owners - is. National security is NOT the concern of the companies doing business through these ports, making maximum profits ARE - so security will always take a back seat - if it's in the car at all.

trucksterbud

I don't suppose anyone knows that Maersk Shipping is the property of George Soros. And he holds the golden key to the democrat party. Maersk Shipping has been around a long time, and since all they do is transport, they don't have a clearance - as if Soros really needed one. He would doctor the necessary documents and POOF...! Its all good.

Hello JMHO, I see you're on your usual putdown platform. As usual, no real and intelligent response, just putdowns. Hey, go ahead and pull your shit again, you call them bodyslams, I call them grains of sand on my shoulder. No big deal, so go ahead, its what we all expect of you. By the way, what happened to your SQUIRREL avatar..?? It suited you sooo much better.

Randall_S Loc: Big Apple

Is this really a 'my conservatism is bigger than yours' kind of a discussion?

Count me out. And find yourself a life while you're at it.

trucksterbud

Don't let him get to you Randall. Its his modus operandi. Putdowns, sarcasm, name calling. He's been here a long time and quite strangely, never has an educated rebuttal.

trucksterbud

Don't let him get to you Randall. Its his modus operandi. Putdowns, sarcasm, name calling. He's been here a long time and quite strangely, never has an educated rebuttal.