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Chertoff U.S. would have been safer with Dubai company at ports DAVID B. CARUSO / Associated Press | March 24 2006 NEW YORK -- The U.S. missed an opportunity to make its shores safer when it drove away a Dubai-based company poised to operate cargo terminals at several American seaports, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Thursday. In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Chertoff said the international shipping firm Dubai Ports World had a good track record with U.S. authorities and had long been trusted to help move materiel and personnel for the U.S. military. Because of its global reach, DP World also could have helped implement stronger security at many ports where the U.S. now has limited influence, Chertoff said. "We could (have) actually built in some additional assurances, which would have given us more security in the wake of the deal than we had before the deal," Chertoff said. "The oddity of this, the irony of this, is that had the deal gone forward we would have had greater ability to impose a security regime worldwide on the company than we have now." DP World, the world's third-largest ports company, caved to pressure from Congress this month and said it would sell its U.S. businesses to an American buyer. The company got a role in loading and unloading cargo from ships in at least 20 U.S. ports when it purchased the British company Peninsular & Oriental. American operations are just a fraction of the company's worldwide business. The decision followed a month of attacks by critics who said they didn't trust a government-owned company from the Arabian Peninsula to be given a sensitive role handling cargo at U.S. ports. DP World is owned by the Emirate of Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates. Chertoff is about to embark on a trip to China, Japan and Singapore, where part of his mission will be to discuss air and sea port security. --------------------------------------------------- Please help our fight against the New World Order by giving a donation. As bandwidth costs increase, the only way we can stay online and expand is with your support. Please consider giving a monthly or one-off donation for whatever you can afford. You can pay securely by either credit card or Paypal. Click here to donate. |
