UPDATE:

I need to give credit were credit is due. I borrowed the term “Ayrabs” from Jack Kelly’s recent post. I don’t want him to think I was lifting it without credit. It is an off-color jab at some uncomfortable and unfortunate commentary going on right now. I know it carries some sting with it. It is meant to.
END UPDATE

When Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin are on the same side as Crooks and Liars and Firedog Lake you know something is wrong. And with regards to Michelle this is very hard to say. But digging in the heals and refusing to consider all the information that puts UAE and the DPW deal in the same category as dealing with the UK or Germany is simply putting distance between you and the rest of the middle of the country.

Terrorists ties. More terrorists coalesced in Hamburg Germany than every did in the UAE. And Britain has an outspoken MP named Galloway who touts the radical Islamic tune and was dealing with Saddam for money. And the second worst attack on this country was done by Timothy McVeigh. So get over the terrorist ties.

We are not lilly white and The UAE is not an arm of Al Qaeda. If any of you have information on an INDIVIDUAL who is a terror threat get it out there. America does not target groups – no matter how much people run around in a panic.

As for possible exposure for a WMD to be smuggled into this country – when did you wake up? We are at risk now. DPW ‘operates’ many, many ports right now which provide them the opportunity to ship something here under the guise of something innocent. Everyone who KNOWS this business says you all are on the wrong path. The question is when will people realize a computer and an ISP doesn’t make someone an expert in all things.

You know what I cannot stand about the ancient media? The way they spend a few minutes researching a topic, and then they put together an easy (and inaccurate) hit piece pretending to themselves and everyone else they grasp what some people spend a lifetime becoming experts in. Too many on this subject insta-experts. And trust me, it shows. But now some in the ancient media are demonstrating self control while the blogosphere takes the low road.
The liberals are laughing at the moderates for crying ‘wolf’ about terrorism all these years and now not being ‘serious on ports’. The far right reactionaries are demonstrating that their guts are all they need to make a decision – and they have jelly in the belly they are scared of Ayrabs running a UK company. Who knows what could happen?

I tried this once before, and I am absolutely sick of this subject. Thankfully the acquisition will go through soon and this will be a moot point. But we face two paths and it is time to select our paths. One is forward to a bright future for the world, and the other is into a dark time of recrimination and hate.

Path 1: The DPW deal represents what we said we stood for. We wanted to provide modernization and commerce to the Middle East so all the people there could succeed and build productive, peaceful lives. The UAE embodies this more than any other country. They have invested their oil revenues into diversification and trade with the West. They do not have the same level of class inequalities as the problem countries in the region. And they are assisting us in our war on terror.

We use their ports, they provide places for troop training, they provide intelligence from all their commercial ties in the region. They are our eyes and ears. Because of this, they could have crippled us at any time: a false tip or a suppressed warning. But instead they were good to their word and they gave us critical support to win and take out Al Qaeda and Hussein. Do not forget Turkey’s and Frances response to Iraq – where getting fly-over permission for air space was debated.

The dark path lies in taking this premier opportunity to demonstrate our best intentions and hope for the region and throwing it away because some people are irrationally afraid of Ayrab companies loading ships on our docks. Even though they should know the same company now loads those ships overseas and are the ones helping to cover our exposure to weapons being smuggled.

So we let the fear grip us and we throw DPW and The UAE out. And they simply decide to go ‘by the book’/ No more extraordinary effort. Our shipments become more of a risk. Are troops and ships in the UAE are at a greater risk of threat because UAE security forces start listening to their guts and stop worrying so much about those arrogant Americans. Intel dries up like a lake in the desert as people realize there is no reason to risk life and limb telling Americans about possible attacks.
Back at home the one who have always wanted to pay back Ayrabs for 9-11 have their precedent. They can now start to weed the evil hordes out of all areas of society which pose a security risk. The UAE is the benchmark example. Being the best ally and most modern country, all others fail in comparison.

We throw Ayrabs out of the military, the airline industry, the medical industry, the food industry. Hell, we throw them out of our schools – we cannot risk our children! And individual person will never be able to demonstrate a better case than the country of The UAE.

Why is this possible? We are talking about a group. We assign to the group the worst aspects of any individual in that group. We tar that group with all the sins of the 9-11 highjackers. We do not look at individuals and what their life has demonstrated. We did not look at The UAE or the DPW and look at all the things they had demonstrated – we looked at the fact they were of the same culture as the highjackers and concluded they were as bad as them deep, down inside.

Path 2: We reject the slippery slope of lazy thinking. Instead of being ‘cautious’ and walling ourselves off from any risky contact with the Ayrabs, we decide we have the fortitude and courage to reach out and make bonds with moderates in the region who say they want what we want.

Normally this would be a no-brainer. After nearly 5 years of critical (and I do in a new way has been long over. After they protected our troops and ships in port, after they provided us access and resource our NATO partners refused, after they provided us intel and opportunity to shutdown Al Qaeda swiftly, we should be joyously celebrating the next stage in the path towards a great future.

But late comers to the game have jumped without out any knowledge or experience of the last five years of partnership and are crying ‘wolf’. It is a sad moment, because we all see there are still many who, even though they put on a brave face, fear another attack down to their soul. But we go forward anyway, hoping those who lacked the confidence to continue down the path of trust and partnership finally relax and see what lies down this path.

Because it is down this path we truly will eliminate the risk of attack. We will celebrate with our new found friends in the Middle East the purpled fingered elections that brought them out of the darkness and into the modern light. We will have rejected the very thing that caused the darkness and contention – fear and economic oppression.

We have a choice and now is the time. I made my choice. I always knew there would be a time when the some conservative voices would take a step to far. We are human, we make mistakes. I have stepped too far many times. But I know how to step back – some do not. They dig into a position and will not budge. This is a free country. We are all free to make our own decisions. Which, of course, means we are all free to make mistakes.

We need to pick our path. Fate and emotion has thrust this moment, this topic on us as our pivot point. Too very different futures lie ahead of us. This step does take courage. There is a risk (albeit tiny). I am not afraid for a simple reason – I couldn’t back out now after so many of our military have braved war and sacrificed to get us this far. Far be it for me to sit behind this computer screen and whimp out now.

Yes, there are risks in every act that moves forward, that tests new horizons and new relationships. Why do you think for so many years we tolerated the lousy status quoe that broght us 9-11. People were afraid of making a change.

BTW – Harold Hutchison has more details on what the UAE has done for us, including the capture of someone involved with the USS Cole bombing and handing that person over to us despite threats. That act alone puts The UAE above all the Ayrab doubters in my book. Actions still speak louder than words.

UPDATE:

While I am serious about this, there is a comical side to all this as well – Bugs Bunny Politicians. So, being serious, it is best not to look to the Congress for guidance on this.