Wednesday, March 01, 2006
The Berkshire Eagle has a reader that gets it.
The Berkshire Eagle is an ultra liberal Western Massachusetts newspaper and often you can find editorials or letters to the editor that would make moveon.org seem conservative, but every once in a while it gets to be too much for even their readership.
The Berkshire Eagle is a sister publication to the North Adams Transcript where Jay Bookman got his start.
Tuesday, February 28
To the Editor of THE EAGLE:-
Unsurprisingly, the Feb. 24 letters to the editor regarding the proposed sale of the commercial operations of six major U.S. ports missed the boat entirely, pun intended.
Dubai Ports World is a business owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates. It is attempting to purchase the commercial operations at six ports on the eastern seaboard. The commercial interests at the six ports are currently owned by a private British firm. The purchase in no way changes the security situation at the ports which have been and will continue to be guarded by a variety of federal agencies including the Customs Service, Coast Guard and Navy.
I'm a Democrat, I voted for John Kerry in 2004, but claiming that President Bush et al. have committed some egregious violation of national security is foolish. It might be good politics to lump this issue with the administration's instances of incompetence and maliciousness, but such a perspective fails to see the larger issue.
If Dubai Ports World successfully gains control of the commercial interests at these ports, our national security will be improved. As a government-owned enterprise, Dubai Ports World will have an added incentive to make sure its minimal role in port security is executed flawlessly. Why? Because the political ramifications for the UAE would be extraordinary if it failed at this duty.
I don't like this administration very much, but ranting about every issue won't get us anywhere.
NATHANIEL DOWNING
The Berkshire Eagle is a sister publication to the North Adams Transcript where Jay Bookman got his start.
