There has been a lot of information pouring out of the radio and television, and over the internet, about this issue, including numerous discussions, both reasonable and mouth-frothing. Having listened to much of this and learning a lot more about it, it becomes obvious that it's very easy to get lost in the immense pile of goat feathers surrounding this issue.

When I initially spoke out in opposition to this deal, someone accused me of being a bigot, presumably bigoted against Arabs (an ironic charge indeed, coming from this particular individual). In fact, there seems to be a lot of this going around, accusing people of prejudice, bigotry, and, of course, "racism." That is not the issue here. My concern is not with Arabs. Along with Muslim Arabs, there are Jewish Arabs, Christian Arabs, and Arabs of religious beliefs we have not even hard of, not to mention Arabs who hold no particular sectarian beliefs. My concern is with the particular brand of criminally inclined religious fanatics that the Bush administration has chosen to label "enemy combatants in the War on Terrorism." The problem is not Arabs per se. The question is, how easy is it for the Dubai company to be infiltrated by someone who might manage to get a dirty bomb or a chemical or biological agent smuggled into a cargo container? Point:   two of the 9/11 hijackers were from Dubai.

I've heard several Right-Wing commentators accuse liberals and Democrats (not necessarily the same thing) of using racist arguments to attack the Bush administration about the Dubai deal. But let it be noted that there are a lot of Republicans who are howling about turning American ports over to a Middle Eastern government-owned company, too. Just a few minutes ago, I heard Phyllis Schlafly (not exactly someone you could call a "flaming liberal") having an absolute hissy-fit over turning American ports over to an "Arab company."

It's a damned shame that the issue has come up in the first place, but it seems that somewhere around 26% of American sea ports are operated by foreign companies. When we're out-sourcing just about everything else, why not this as well?

What the hell, let's sell the whole friggin' country and retire to an island in the Caribbean.

Don Firth