Reaping what we sow

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

The furor over a plan to allow a company partly owned by the Dubai government to operate six U.S. port terminals proves the truth of a Bible passage. As St. Paul noted, we reap what we sow (Gal 6:7).

The battle had been escalating since it was learned last month that the Bush administration had approved letting Dubai Ports World manage East Coast port facilities.

Finally, last Thursday, the company, in the face of mounting bi-partisan opposition in Congress and public outcries, said it would transfer operations to an unspecified American "entity."

The original deal to allow Dubai Ports World to manage the ports had been approved by a federal committee whose members include representatives of the Pentagon, Homeland Security department and FBI; it was backed by the president. Many port experts agreed that there was no security risk.

But critics noted that the United Arab Emirates - a part owner of Dubai Ports World - once backed the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, is hostile toward Israel and was the home to two Sept. 11 hijackers.

After more than four years of listening to terrorist warnings from the Bush administration that should come as no surprise. Such terrorist warnings were used to justify the Patriot Act, warrantless wiretaps, the war in Iraq and the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. The public carefully nurtured these seeds. The furor over the ports deal is the resulting harvest.