U.S. ports controversy continues

The controversy over the acquisition of the British company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O) by Dubai Ports (DP) World continues, with senators Hilary Clinton and Robert Menendez planning to introduce legislation which would prevent companies associated with foreign governments from owning a majority stake in U.S. port operations.

The $6.8 billion takeover of P&O would give DP World operational control over ports in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Miami. The Bush administration has already approved the deal, but has been criticised on the grounds that it would jeapordize national security.

In today's Financial Times, Gideon Rose, the managing editor of Foreign Affairs, writes that it is anti-Arab racism that has led to the furore over the ports deal. He points out that DP World has an impeccable record of operating ports across the world.

"The irony," says Rose, "is that...the Bush administration is reaping what it sowed, having previously played politics with homeland security and the war on terrorism [and] blurred distinctions in the Muslim world." However, "the crisis creates a perfect opportunity for the president to educate the Congress and the public on...how wrong it is to lump all Arabs, Muslims and Middle Easterners into a scary, undifferentiated mass."

Let's hope that President Bush doesn't himself lump all Arabs, Muslims and Middle Easterners into such a mass, and that he will take this opportunity to educate Congress and the public on the matter.