Sick of the Port Controversy - But Here Are My Two Cents

I flew out of state to attend a conference a few months ago. During the flight, I grabbed a soda when the beverage cart passed by (note to Michiganders - it is "soda", not "pop"). I cracked open the tab and poured the soda into the cheap see-through plastic cup they gave me and prepared to enjoy - but due to an unfortunate convergence of an air pocket and the airplane, the soda ended up all over me. I didn't have a change of clothes in my carry-on, so I had to endure it.

What does this have to do with the "Port Controversy"?

Because I have to sit and endure this news story until something else becomes the MSM flavor of the week - just like I had to sit 30,000 feet upstairs, uncomfortably enduring 7-Up all over me for what seemed like forever.

Just a quick comment to the Dems - foreign companies already run our ports. Every blogger has read this umpteen times, but it is still worth mentioning.

Also, let's not forget that our good buddies in the UAE hate Israel, hence an embargo and boycott of Israeli-made stuff.

"If a product contained even some components that were made in Israel, and you wanted to import it to Dubai, it would be a problem."
Muhammad Rashid a-Din
Dubai Customs Department
Office for the Boycott of Israel

So what?

For starters, a Dubai-run port wouldn't accept any Israeli product or component.

Just to make it interesting, it so happens that US law prohibits US companies from complying with requests to boycott Israel... or cooperating with attempts by Arab governments to boycott Israel. In fact, the US Commerce Department fined US companies at least three times last year because they "failed to report in a timely manner its receipts of requests from Dubai" to provide certification that their products had not been made in Israel. Chances are good this would grow into a major problem for domestic companies. Don't forget that Israel is a Top 25 trading partner of the United States.

Hopefully something new (but not bad) will happen soon and we won't have to hear or read about this thing any more.


Tags: National Security , Port Controversy , UAE