Mr Leonard:

Oh, where to start with your pure knee-jerk anti-protectionism?

"Of course, if PSA had won the bidding for P&O, there would be no current uproar from Republicans and Democrats lambasting George W. Bush for letting Arabs have their way with the U.S. ports system."

If it had been an Asian buyer we wouldn't have had your brand of lofty opposition to anti-Arabism to serve as a smokescreen, and the Bush administration might have to address the legitimate question of why they claimed to have vetted the new owner when they had not, as they are required to do by law.

"You could even make the argument that having a Dubai company run logistics at those terminals would make them safer. If you were a terrorist trying to sneak an atomic bomb into New Jersey, would you choose to do so on a container set to be unloaded at a Dubai-run terminal, where scrutiny would most likely be highest? Or would you look for the Singaporean or Korean or Japanese terminal, where no one was paying attention?"

The claim that an Arab owner would make the ports more secure because it would be under greater scrutiny than a Korean or Singaporan is proved false by the very lack of oversight people from all political persuasions are complaining about. The issue is that this purchase was not subject to review before being approved. You assure us that globalisation isn't a security threat because we have rigourous oversight mechanisms, and then insult us with charges of racism when those mechanisms are scorned.

"But how does it help anyone's security to deny a company that is playing by the same rules as everyone elsl the same opportunities as everyone else?"

The theory that America will suffer the wrath of world opinion if we're not nice to the Dubai company that plays by the rules doesn't even need to be addressed, because the Dubai company doesn't play be the rules. This is a company both from and owned by a country that restricts foreigners from owning any property, and requires majority domestic ownership of all companies in the area.

But, just for the sake of argument, our reputation on the world stage has bigger problems than tests of the purity of our devotion to freetrade ideology. Please do go ahead and hazard a guess at the effect giving DPW a free pass would have on our approval ratings in the Arab world. That should be entertaining.

Mr Leonard:

Oh, where to start with your knee-jerk anti-protectionism?

"Of course, if PSA had won the bidding for P&O, there would be no current uproar from Republicans and Democrats lambasting George W. Bush for letting Arabs have their way with the U.S. ports system."

If it had been an Asian buyer we wouldn't have had your brand of lofty opposition to anti-Arabism to serve as a smokescreen, and the Bush administration might have to address the legitimate question of why they claimed to have vetted the new owner when they had not, as they are required to do by law.

"You could even make the argument that having a Dubai company run logistics at those terminals would make them safer. If you were a terrorist trying to sneak an atomic bomb into New Jersey, would you choose to do so on a container set to be unloaded at a Dubai-run terminal, where scrutiny would most likely be highest? Or would you look for the Singaporean or Korean or Japanese terminal, where no one was paying attention?"

The claim that an Arab owner would make the ports more secure because it would be under greater scrutiny than a Korean or Singaporan is proved false by the very lack of scrutiny people from all political persuasions are complaining about. The issue is that this purchase was not subject to appropriate review before being approved. You assure us that globalisation isn't a security threat because we have rigourous oversight mechanisms, and then insult us with charges of racism when those mechanisms are scorned.

"But how does it help anyone's security to deny a company that is playing by the same rules as everyone elsl the same opportunities as everyone else?"

The theory that America will suffer the wrath of world opinion if we're not nice to the Dubai company that plays by the rules doesn't even need to be addressed, because the Dubai company doesn't play be the rules. This is a company both from and owned by a country that restricts foreigners from owning any property, and requires majority domestic ownership of all companies in the area.

But, just for the sake of argument, our reputation on the world stage has bigger problems than tests of the purity of our devotion to freetrade ideology. Please do go ahead and hazard a guess at the effect giving DPW a free pass would have on our approval ratings in the Arab world. That should be entertaining.

While Mr. Leonard makes many good points about

ports, he's not as through when it comes to the

United Arab Emirates. For one thing, the

significant Shia minority. For another, the

fact that the UAE is a British client state.

The UAE may not be as stable as it looks. And

we must not forget that Britain and America are

economic competitors.

Globalization has its downside, not the lest of

which is that things become terribly complicated.

John MacLachlan Gray

I doubt there would be an uproar if Kuwait, an Arab country, were to take over port management. They are seen as an ally and have not sent bombers to the US to attack our cities, unlike another certain country.

11 million containers enter this country every year. 5% or less are given anything resembling a real inspection. That leaves 10 MILLION+ uninspected containers entering every year. 10 MILLION!!!! The entire idea of port securtiy is a farce.

Dubai, ports, security, none of it matters.

What matters is President Fredo is finally, publicly ensnared in the racism and corrupt cronyism that is the hallmark of his administration. That's the FUN part, when the public-at-large,whipped into an anti-Arab frenzy for five years, is forced to finally recognize the Bush crime family treats our government, and our military, and our foreign policy, as their personal little corporate sub division.

Ugly little scene, isn't it? Go Neal!!!