Junto Boys

PORTS

If Bush would say something like the quote below, I would agree with him. Instead he says nothing. He is very big on saying nothing. But I guess there is some benefit in letting your opponents do all the talking, since they can't help but expose themselves as hypocrites who will try anything for political gain. After all their crying that not all Muslims are terrorists, they don't want this deal because (i) all Muslims are terrorists, and (ii) by stating their opposition and making Bush pull out his first veto pen, if they get the port-enabled terrorist attack they've been hoping for, it can be because Bush handed over national security to Arabs. Never mind that not all Muslims are Arabs and not all Arabs are Muslims-- you're missing the point, that everything bad that has happened or could happen is Bush's fault.

The Dubai port deal could also serve to increase the depth and breadth of people-to-people contacts between America and important Muslim countries in the Reaganesque "trust but verify" mold. It is useful in this regard to remember the example of the U.S. International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, which for decades has trained foreign armies in unstable countries to stay out of politics and improved U.S. understanding of complex societies. It seems patently hypocritical that America wants democracy in the Middle East, champions capitalism and global integration, pushes for reform, transparency, and anti-corruption practices in business, and then turns around and tells those who are practicing what America preaches, Sorry, we think you folks are a bunch of terrorists, so we don't want you on our shores and don't trust you running our ports.

It is understandable that American politicians would want to seek clarifications, safeguards, and accountability on the DP World deal in honor of all those who were mercilessly murdered on that tragic September morning. But the best way to honor their memories is to use the Dubai deal as a model to build effective bridges to the Arab and Muslim world — as we did in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan — instead of erecting barriers that reveal America's paranoia and fear about some Islamist doomsday scenario no one can predict, all the while alienating the very people we need to help raise up the Muslim world's disaffected so they are not so desperate to tear us down.