I'm not too sure why it matters if the business is government owned or not... Hey, with the corporatists in bed with governemnts all around the world these days, like ain't it kinda academic as to who owns the business??? In a way, I'd rather see the governemnt own it... I think they are slightly more transparent, or at the least accountable, than the corporations... The Bush governemnt, of course, being one exception...

But I just don't get the argument here that it would be better to have a company, perhaps with murky ties to bin Laden as many of his businesses are, working the ports than a company owned by the Saudi royal family... Or closer to home, I'd rather see the US governemnt hire folks and run the ports rather than turn them over to Halliburton...

Bobert