Bush under increasing pressure over controversial seaports sale
Defending the deal anew, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner about the transaction, which has triggered a major political backlash among both Republicans and Democrats.
On Tuesday Bush brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports. In a forceful defence of his administration’s earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.
Critics note some September 11 hijackers used the UAE as a base and that the country’s banking system has been used by groups connected to al-Qaida.
“If the United Arab Emirates decides they are clandestinely supporting terrorists, they could put pressure on personnel to look the other way on the containers,” said Warren Leback, who ran maritime administration under President George HW Bush.
Bush vigorously defended the deal: “The company will not manage port security. The security of our ports will continue to be managed by the Coast Guard and Customs,” he said.
“I really don't understand why it’s OK for a British company to operate our ports, but not a company from the Middle East,” Bush said on Air Force One, “when our experts are convinced that port security is not the issue”.
The administration signed off on the deal after it was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a closed interagency panel chaired by Treasury Secretary John Snow.
John Snow was the chairman of CSX, a Jacksonville-based rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, a year after Snow left to head Treasury.
Bush faces a rebellion from leaders of his own party, as well as from Democrats, about the deal that would put Dubai Ports in charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia.
