Decision ‘08

The Death of the Ports Deal

It’s over…of course, it was a foregone conclusion (even The Note knew it by now!). Some details:

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) announced on the Senate floor shortly before 2 p.m. that Dubai Ports World would “transfer fully the operations of U.S. ports to a U.S. entity.” Warner, who had been trying to broker a compromise on the issue, said DP World would divest itself of U.S. interests “in an orderly fashion” so as not to suffer “economic loss.”

It was not immediately clear how the divesture would be handled or what U.S. company would take over the operation.

I have no doubt Bush would have exercised the veto - and I have no doubt the veto would have been overriden. Apparently, Dubai Ports World knew it, too. I hope this debacle has not harmed our ability to get cooperation from Dubai; I feel certain it has damaged our already fragile reputation within the Arab world.

A sorry day, and a victory for jingoism…but what’s done is done…we move on…

5 Responses to “The Death of the Ports Deal”

1 A Blog For All Says:
March 9th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
DPW Deal On Horizon

So, the Dubai Ports World kerfuffle has been solved according to Dafydd’s proposal on February 21, 2006…
2 Ed Bremson Says:
March 9th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Well, that’s that, but I’m sure this will continue to be discussed for quite awhile.
3 Allan Says:
March 9th, 2006 at 10:43 pm
How ironic. The Bushitlerburton was done in by a load of nationalistic propaganda. Who really killed the DPW deal, though?
4 Mark Says:
March 10th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Well, DPW, right? But they were giving in to the inevitable…
5 All Things Beautiful Says:
March 10th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Dubai Ports, The Deal Is Dead

Bush Administration and their arrogant, cavalier attitude toward this deal does not install confidence, and to have threatened with a veto had to be the biggest ‘icing on the cake’ blunder of all. Karl Rove, who seems to have the instincts of a turtl…