Mar 09 2006
Neck Deep In Chicken Hawk Droppings
** Major Update Below **
Dubai Ports World did what they had to in order to retain the maxium value of their business acquisition – they turned their backs on the US as partners, gave up on us a confident people of honor in the world, and sold off the problem terminal operations to a company which will probably be listed on a lot of congressman’s political donations listings.
The Chicken Hawks are all out strutting in clucking that they defeated their demeons. What they did was expose a part of America most of us thought long dead and gone. We are no longer the shining city on the hill, the city has collapsed in a pile of putrid fear.
Update: As expected The UAE, after taking a lot of risks for us in the Middle East – where all the REAL danger is, is not happy with our spinless republican Chicken Hawks:
Dubai is threatening retaliation against American strategic and commercial interests if Washington blocks its $6.8 billion takeover of operations at several U.S. ports.
As the House Appropriations Committee yesterday marked up legislation to kill Dubai Ports World’s acquisition of Britain’s Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O), the emirate let it be known that it is preparing to hit back hard if necessary.
A source close to the deal said members of Dubai’s royal family are furious at the hostility both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have shown toward the deal.
“They’re saying, ‘All we’ve done for you guys, all our purchases, we’ll stop it, we’ll just yank it,’” the source said.
Retaliation from the emirate could come against lucrative deals with aircraft maker Boeing and by curtailing the docking of hundreds of American ships, including U.S. Navy ships, each year at its port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the source added.
Can anyone wipe the Chicken Hawk droppings off America’s face? Where the votes this fall worth losing our reputation and credibility that was so hard fought for going on over 200+ years?
End update
I now predict a mass exodus of people from both political parties. Those of us in the middle who want calm, reasoned, mature debate to our pressing issues are totally fed up with wingnuts from both sides. I see lots of people leaving the reps and going independent. I am glad I delayed my decision one more year to join the reps. Now I know I will be much happier here in the middle away from the fear mongers. I’ll let The Anchoress represent the thinking of the moderate middle, but check out the comments on the previous post for lots and lots of links coming from the newly disenfranchised.
We were better than this, we should be better than this. And we will be better than this. Americans are ready to eject a lot of noisy flotsam. We have the leftwing nuts drooling mad at Bush calling for impeachment, and we now have the rightwing nuts drooling mad at Ayrabs and calling for us to close up our part of the planet.
So, I stand here and ex-democrat, independent conservative who wants to let those fed up with left and right know that living in the middle is just fine. We are not moderate – because we are not complacent. We simply are not extreme and we do not run on out of control emotion. I do not need Michael Savage or Michael Moore – no one does.
The Chicken Hawks fouled the nest with their fear. They can keep their nest, we will build a new shining city on the Hill.
27 Responses to “Neck Deep In Chicken Hawk Droppings”
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Agreed. Agreed. The Anchoress link – 100% agreed. I’ve left the left and right nutjobs to their irrational rants. I’m getting older, I have no patience for those that pontificate about how much better they are than others because they don’t hate-speak. Or they don’t profile. Or they love all. Only to have them do exactly that. And claim they aren’t doing it. Ring-around -the-nutjob has become boring.
We needed the UAE in our corner. We did not need to send them packing and we will now pay the price.
I’m all for voting out every moron that voted down this job to get them re-elected. For once in my lifetime I would like to see that tactic backfire in a big way.
I agree with all that Cooper said with one addition. I have dropped from my reading list the blogs which write hysterically or from only their point of view. The politicians do a fine job telling us what we should think, I don’t want to waste my time with others who have no respect for difference of opinion. Thanks AJ for standing apart from the few fear mongering bloggers.
I was for this deal. I suspect they will do what Ledeen proposed long ago–set up a wholly owned US subsidiary separately controlled from the owners. We do this all the time with foreign military suppliers.
I think we apologized to the UAE and promised to make this up to them. It was a wrongheaded move by Congress. The WH bears some responsibility for being unable to get out front with the facts.
In the end, wrongheaded as this is, I do not think the consequences will be as awful as you suggest. At least I hope it won’t. UAE is more interested in its own security and business opportunities–in otherwords more pragmatic–than the nitwits who opposed this.
(I think though this is a proxy for the immigration issue on which there is growing anger at BOTH parties and a reflection that the coverage of the cartoon riots and terrorism in Iraq are making people very angry with the Arabs.)
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ought to be grateful to Michelle Malkin, Frank Gaffney, and Ann Coulter for the way they have angered an American ally.
With friends like Malkin, Gaffney, and Coulter, does the United States really need enemies?
I am with you A.J.
I am not a republican any longer, just a very big and loyal Bush supporter.
I want someone like him for ‘08. He has the courage of his convictions. And man, does he have a lot on his plate. Please hold good thoughts for him.
Does Dubai recognize Israel? Are they part of the boycott of Danish goods?…
Having at one point backed the deal for UAE to run the ports I have to say that I was happy to see the House of Representatives put the kibosh on the deal. At the risk of being called names let me give you some reasons….
Pierre,
All good points, but they (a) have nothing to do with the port deal and (b) how much chance of changing the UAE’s positions on these do we have now that we dissed them publically?
I do not include you as a chicken hawk, mainly because you are not opposed to the deal simply because these folks are Ayrabs. You are not running on fear. So obviously my comments would not apply to you.
AJStrata
Ahhhh, but what about the misleading (at best) media in all this? They again have done what they’ve always done-lied, spun, misrepresented this story all along.
When folks get really serious about truth and principle I’ll know it because they’ll stop funding the lying media through their cable TV bills, political magazine subscriptions, and such. I shut down cable TV in my house 18 months ago, simply refused to continue funding the lying anti-Americanism.
Moderates huh??? What does that really mean when the rubber meets the road in the voting booth? How many Democrats will you guys actually, really vote for?
I’m just sayin’…
So you ready to start a moderate/independent/center blog coalition yet?
I am looking forward to the President finding a way to gut those spineless rep bastards———-But I suspect he’s above it. I will vote this fall, but I will vote against anyone that is currently an incumbant. It’s time to clean the nest out and start over.
Actually AJ they have alot to do with the port deal. Our law states that the US Government may not do business with any company that is boycotting Israel. UAE is boycotting Israel. .
Furthermore our President made a clear distinction of either you are with us or you are with the Terrorists. We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regimeFunding the terrorists is not with us. UAE funds terrorists. They are funding Hamas and they are funding PIJ, that is specifically against the President’s stated policy, he has gone wobbly but I have not. I still remember clearly the day I spent searching for my sister who was supposed to have gone to work in one of the towers. Anyone who funds terrorists can rot in hell before I will agree to them doing business in the US.
If we allowed the Port deal to go through we would be spitting in the eye’s of those who have stood by us regardless of the weather…to attempt to get closer to a “friend” whose only goal is to play both sides.
I appreciate that you are not calling me names but I think that while we all get angry from time to time, calling those who don’t agree with you names is very much beneath you. For instance it is infuriating to me to have someone refuse to debate me regarding, for instance whether Islam is compatible with Democracy, by merely throwing out names like bigot and such…hoping to silence me. Attack the ideas not the messenger.
Whether we can change them or not is not for me to care. If they cannot see what we have to offer on their own without me spitting into our allies eyes I don’t need them. If they cannot see themselves NOT funding terrorists without me bending a knee towards them then they can kiss my ass. We have spent far too long feeling others pain, so long that they don’t understand the main reason one should not fund terror or cause terror or applaud terror against us….because we can cause pain you haven’t imagined.
It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both…
Made sense back in Machiavelli’s day and it makes even more sense now dealing with our new enemy.
Pierre Legrand
In my opinion, the only thing the Chickenhawks and Non-Chickenhaws can do any more is have lunch with a lobbyist and insert an “earmark” in the budget. Other than spending money this crew on both sides of the aisle appear to be the biggest bunch of “rum-dums” that have ever appeared on C-Span. Most of them can’t string two coherent sentences together. The best quote of the day I’ve seen is: “When Democrats go to Washington they lose their minds, and when Republicans go to Washington they lose their spine”.
“Anyone who funds terrorists can rot in hell before I will agree to them doing business in the US.”
This is a ridiculously emotional statement. The US economy will tank if ALL countries with ties to terrorism are barred from doing business in the US.
I presume you want the US to stop doing business with these countries abroad as well?
Or is it JUST those companies that are in – The Middle East that should be barred from doing business in the US?
An “American entity” has been created that will run the port operations for the UAE company.
I don’t think it is such a big deal. They’ve worked out some face-saving formula for everyone.
Notice Bush didn’t really bother to defend the UAE company.
It turns out that this company has been servicing our ships in the ME. I think they would have been fine, but now they will have some “American entity” running the port operations for the UAE.
This is a ridiculously emotional statement. The US economy will tank if ALL countries with ties to terrorism are barred from doing business in the US.
So you think that we should do business with governments that fund the very terrorists that murder us? And I am emotional? Exactly who won’t you do business with? Do you sell the murderer of your family the bullets?
So then I take it that no one disagrees that the UAE funds these terrorists? If so then I am sorry I ever said ok to the deal.
Pierre Legrand
“So you think that we should do business with governments that fund the very terrorists that murder us? And I am emotional? Exactly who won’t you do business with? ”
The U.S. already does business with governments that fund terrorists that murder EVERYONE – not just US. If you want to stop them ALL from doing business in the U.S. then I expect you are prepared for the outcome of that? Because I can guarantee you that very few people in the U.S. are prepared for the financial collapse that would result.
“Do you sell the murderer of your family the bullets?”
If I work at a gunshop and a killer passed all U.S laws to purchase a gun and bullets from me, and then pumped my kid full of lead, I should close my shop and let the murderer win? And never sell another gun because all gun buyers look or think or act the same? Or is it only CERTAIN gun buyers? Should I just stop doing business with ANYONE that MIGHT be a MURDERER? Is that the same as stop selling Big Macs to grossly obese people because they MIGHT get FATTER?
I hope you don’t believe that taking this deal from the UAE and giving it to a U.S company is going to STOP something from happening?
United Airlines, American Airlines – they LET something happen – should they have closed up shop and gone away?
Pierre, why not read my piece at Strategypage before you go off on the UAE?
Cooper your gun buyer did not pass all the US laws to buy bullets. He failed because he violated the law against doing business with the US Government if you boycott Israel.
Furthermore which part of the President’s speech didnt you understand? We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest.
And in addition Cooper I am not against the deal because I want to stop anything from happening but because I took the President at his word. And yes there should be consequences for those who fund terror…especially terror that kills US Citizens.
Harold all you have to do is say that UAE does not boycott Israel, does not boycott Denmark and does not fund Hamas and PIJ. Your article on Strategypage carefully avoided those issues.
Pierre Legrand
Controversy, Crap and Confusion…
The Strata-sphere lays it all on the line….
Pierre, does the word “loyalty” mean anything to you? That sort of thing matters to me. Big time. They stepped up to the plate, and put their troops in Afghanistan – where ours are still facing combat and dying today.
Your strawman arguments don’t carry any water with me. As far as I am concerned, people like you, Michelle Malkin, and Frank Gaffney did Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (the nascent Hitler over in Tehran) a great favor by placing America’s replationship with the UAE at risk. People like you have damaged our national security in my book. The UAE wasn’t perfect, but they were a darn good ally.
Thanks for nothin’.
AJ, how can those in the Terrorism camp trust those in the Globalization camp when a globalization guru says something like this (Thomas PM Barnett)?
“Where is the history of states acquiring the bomb and then using it irrationally? History has consistently proven just the opposite, even with Islamist regimes like Pakistan and quasi-theocracies like Israel. This is just another example of the sad American tendency to demonize all potential foes as irrational. You take down a country on either side of Iran and they reach for the bomb: who’s being irrational or naive on that one?”
(See also Mark Safranski’s response)
Yes, connectedness is the key to defeating political Islam, but when a globalization big-thinker advocates nukes for Iran, can you really blame the Terrorism camp for its protectionist posture?
Many are missing a few points on the sunken DPW deal.
The CFIUS committee and the Administration was precluded by law from consulting with Congress until they had completed their review. Furthermore, as to tone-deafness, Dubai and Saudi owned companies have been operating both marine and airPORT terminals in the US for many years. As an indirect investor in P&O, I’ve been aware of this story since early November. I consider myself politically sensitive but, as I knew the majority of terminal operations were in the hands of foreign operators including Ayrabs, I had no clue of the coming firestorm. Obviously the entire Administration, at the Asst Secretary level, didn’t either. For gods’ sake, we’ve been selling the UAE F-16s for over 9 years. We’re supposed to be worried about a flocking stevedoring company with absentee falconeers as coupon-clippers?
The argument that access to port security and disaster recovery plans by DPW endangers national security is hollow. DPW is a global stevedoring company (aka marine terminal operator). They manage terminal operations world wide.
I have several close friends who have spent their careers in global inter-modal transportation. They tell me there is virtually no difference in port security and disaster recovery plans worldwide. If you know one you know them all.
What companies like DPW or the ocean carriers don’t have is access to our cargo tracking, intelligence, and risk assessment systems which are used to evaluate high risk cargo containers as well as bulk and break-bulk cargo.
This whole fiasco has little to do with national security. It did have an awful lot to do with the hubristic howling and cackling of Chicken Little’s cousins the chickenhawks and the cowardly collectivist clutch. Both flocks were running in circles in fear of falconeering camel jockeys. They still are.
A truly sad day for America and our attempt to defeat totalitarianism and construct a peaceful pluralistic planet. I believe this will be marked as a significant and possibly catastrophic setback in The Long War, Ver. 2.0. Only time will truly tell but I believe our chicken-herder-in-chief and his clutch had this one right.
Both chicken flocks flocked this one up. An avian pox on both their coops.
I’ve linked from UAE firm to transfer port operations to "U.S. entity".The more time I have to think about what happened the angrier I get. Iran has been at war with the U.S. since 1979 and we’re going to have to admit sometime soon that it’s time to start fighting back. When that time comes, we are going to *need* access to the ports and airbases the UAE has, up to this time, been allowing us to use. I hope if we no longer have access to them all of the "strong on security" types will be extremely proud of themselves.
Good points all folks, and it is nice to know those of us unhappy with this mess are not small in number.
River Rat – thanks for the background. The more we learn the sadder this mess is.
Rober Stevens – the idiot who cannot discern Israel or India with a nuke and some mad mullah from Iran is no excuse for us to not be able to discern The UAW from Iran. To put it simple: just because Johnny has a labatomy does that mean you have to have one as well? (just kidding – I like to twist old sayings). The fact is we needed The UAE on our side and vague fear took over. We whimped out and it is ugly.
Pierre,
The things you site are marginal imperfections that are not important in the over deal. We do business with The UAE – we have for years. QED your points are irrelevant. And I am labeling those who reacted out of irrational fear what they are. Notice that you have had to backed the troops dying in Iraq and then cowered when THEIR ally was all of a sudden in the news doing business here (as they have already).
What is terrible about what happened on the right is Chicken Hawk is the perfect label. These people are all full of bluster and bravado telling our soldiers to work side by side the Muslim Arabs and risk their lives, but we cannot handle a stock buy out because we are scared?
Pierre – the label hurts because we all know I am right. And there is no amount of rationalization that will change that. Your points were of a different nature, albeit I still disagree with them. But I do not see you as the type who would send someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself if possible.
The troops are looking at this country and wondering what in the world did they all that fighting and dying for. And that is more important than any labels I use.
Marginal imperfections? Funding HAMAS is a marginal imperfection? Funding Palestinian Islamic Jihad a marginal imperfection? Boycotting the most reliable ally we have in the ME a marginal imperfection? Exactly where did all of those supplies we gathered up prior to March 2003 get stored? In the UAE or in Israel?
I pride myself on not using names…my arguments suffice.
Pierre Legrand
Pierre,
Your prideful moral absolutism in admirable. Let me remind you of Soviet Lend/Lease in WW2. There is pretty good evidence that had not Roosevelt and Churchill been more pragmatic than you we’d all be speaking German or Japanese.
Taken to it’s logical conclusion, your moral absolutism would require our foregoing all Gulf and Venezulan oil. I suspect the result of such a decision would be extremely painful for you and your family as well as 300 million other Americans.
To paraphrase a great leader; tell them where we stand, where we want them to go, how far we’ll go to help them progress, and then we’ll offer some trust but we’ll verify.
You may want to consider how well those two decisions worked out. Seems to me won WW2 and the Long (lukewarm) War, Ver. 1.o by the judicious application of a little pragmatism.