#TBT from 2006 - UAE Remains an Important Ally in War on Terror. Right @SenatorMenendez?

Originally Posted on Wednesday March 1, 2006

Arabs Need Not Apply

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Princeton, NJ - Consider for a moment how you might 
react if a man or woman was not offered a job, or a 
seat on the bus, simply based on the color of his or 
her skin?  You'd be right to be outraged and call it for 
what it is...racial prejudice.

Unfortunately, fear and ignorance have completely 
overtaken the facts surrounding the United Arab 
Emirates effort to obtain American port management 
contracts.  It's disturbing to see some of the names 
associated with this hysteria and prejudice.

One of them is Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ).  You 
might think that as a Hispanic American he would 
understand how ignorance and fear can lead to 
prejudice and discrimination.  He's certainly been an 
advocate for racial equality in the past.  I guess 
now, as a candidate for statewide office, he finds his 
convictions inconvenient.  His ambition may be too 
great to pass up the opportunity to take advantage 
of the President's abysmal poll numbers, despite the 
facts.

Others include Republican leaders like Speaker Dennis 
Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.  That 
they chose initially to follow poll numbers instead of 
presenting the facts was not only disappointing, it 
was incredibly irresponsible.  The failure of our 
elected leaders to educate the electorate by 
presenting the facts shows a lack of courage and 
integrity.

First of all, the job of securing a port is not the 
charge or responsibility of the terminal operators.  In 
fact, it's the United States Coast Guard, U.S. 
Customs and in the case of New Jersey and New 
York, the NJ/NY Port Authority.  Intelligence agencies 
weighed in before the deal was approved and 
concluded that the threat was low.  There were "no 
red flags" according to John Negroponte, the national 
director of intelligence.

Secondly, as we now know, China is a major 
contractor with U.S. ports, managing two of the six 
terminals at Port Elizabeth in New Jersey.  In the mid 
1990s, members of the Chinese communist 
government spoke publicly about using nuclear 
weapons capable of hitting Los Angeles if the U.S. 
ever confronted them over Taiwan.  Then there was 
the Chinese espionage scandal and the attempts to 
infiltrate the Los Alamos National Laboratory.  In 
2003, Chinese hackers launched operation 'Titan 
Rain', a massive cyber attack on American Military 
networks.  Despite these hostile actions, none of the 
vocal critics have mentioned the need to reconsider 
China's contracts with American ports.

Lastly, the U.A.E. is one of America's strongest allies 
in the War on Terror. U.S. military naval vessels 
refuel and re-supply out of U.A.E. ports hundreds of 
times each year. We operate out of six military bases 
in the U.A.E. The U.A.E allowed us to use their 
territory to launch Desert Storm and Desert Shield 
against Iraq in the 1990s.  After the 9/11 attacks, 
the U.A.E. allowed our military to launch operations 
against the Taliban.  At this very moment, American 
customs agents are operating inside the U.A.E. to 
ensure that nothing can be smuggled into the United 
States through their country.

Their strong support for America is costly for them. 
They too have to worry about Al Qaeda attacks.  
Can you imagine the leaders in the U.A.E. scratching 
their heads in genuine disbelief over this issue?  They 
must be asking each other, "How could America do 
this to us?  After all we've done for them?" And what 
is the American political response to her 
friend?  "Arabs need not apply."

Our treatment of our friend is not only wrong, it's 
disgraceful. The media and popular backlash is based 
in part by a misrepresentation of the facts by many 
elected leaders.  Fear, ignorance and ambition are 
driving the debate at the expense of a rare alliance 
in a dangerous time for Americans.  We won't win 
this war alone.  Eradicating terrorism will take the 
support and trust of friends around the globe.  We 
had better start making them.