Transfer of U.S. ports to Dubai firm: To be or not to be? ... Certainly not!

There is a very old maxim that says "all that glitter is not gold". In the face of the persistent and imminent danger of Islamic terrorism facing America, and the sheer lethality of one terrorist act in a free society, globalization may hold more peril than profit for America in a circumstance such as this.

Clearly, the issue is not so much with Dubai as a nation as it is with the fact that two of the 9/11 terrorists came from Dubai and the money to finance the operation was laundered through Dubai. Moreover, one cannot ignore the fact that Dubai is an Islamic nation, and one of only three countries that recognized the oppressive Taliban regime in Afganistan, where the 9/11 terrorists and others alike were trained and equiped for their dastardly deeds against America. In spite of its corporation in the war against terrorism, Dubai is a country where Islamists that seek to harm or destroy America, and those that support them abound.

One cannot be too careful in the face of a certain danger posed by a certain enemy, especially an enemy within - America or Dubai. Think of the difficulties the coalition forces are facing in Iraq, where terrorists infiltrate the police force and the military to gain information to aid them in terrorist plots and to carryout those plots. Everyone knows how destructive that has been to Iraq, in the number of lives that have been destroyed and how it has virtually crippled the reconstruction process.

America is already struggling with securing her ports and everyone knows the enormous challenges involved with adequately securing those ports. There are inherent and persistent risk factors associated with these ports, those risk factors will undoubtedly increase if this deal is allowed to go through. For one thing, Americans will feel less secure, even if it is only perceptively. And worry has its costs.

It is unwise to walk into a dangerous situation, just because your friend says it is OK. In the least, our leaders will do well to hearken to Ben Franklin's admonition, “Love your neighbor; yet don’t pull down your hedge."