OH PLEASE....Bush, Rummy, Pace- unaware of port deal until after approval

[kpete]

Bush unaware of port deal until after approval
White House: President only learned recently of handover to Arab firm


Updated: 10:43 a.m. ET Feb. 22, 2006
WASHINGTON - President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday.

Defending the deal anew, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner about the transaction, which has triggered a major political backlash among both Republicans and Democrats.

Bush on Tuesday brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports. In a forceful defense of his administration’s earlier approval of the deal, he pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11494815/


Rumsfeld and Pace Not Consulted On Transfer Of Port Operations To UAE
In a press briefing today, Secretary Rumsfeld revealed that he was not consulted about the decision to transfer operations of six key U.S. ports to the United Arab Emirates, a country with troubling ties to international terrorism.

QUESTION: Are you confident that any problems with security — from what you know, are you confident that any problems with security would not be greater with a UAE company running this than an American company?

RUMSFELD: I am reluctant to make judgments based on the minimal amount of information I have because I just heard about this over the weekend.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/21/rumsfeld-not-consulted/

[txindy]

1. If they want to trumpet his ignorance, who are we to get in their way?

If he knew, it's not good for the cabal's image.

If he didn't know, it's not good for the cabal's image.

Works for me.

[tabasco]

10. Yeah but republicans think he'd be great to have a beer with.

Maybe they will have a beer with him after Baltimore gets nuked.

[murray hill farm]

12. duh!

If you managed a taco stand and didnt know when one of your employees made a business arrangement to buy or sell parts of your establishment, then i guess you would be a really piss poor manager...and would really, really need to be fired asap.

[kurth]

18. Not if you're a corporate Harvard MBA CEO

The more you lose company money, the bigger your compensation package.

[liveoaktx]

14. VIDEO of Rumsfeld, from yesterday, saying he wasn't aware of the

deal until this weekend

[babylonsister]

2. So if no one knew about this, who was running this show?

I don't buy this for a second!

[Beetwasher]

3. This Says To Me They Were Totally Unprepared for the Backlash

First Chimpy is resolute in vetoing it, saying it's a good deal, now, he just found out about it? :rofl:

I think they totally thought the deal would just slip under the radar without much notice and they got wholloped and were unprepared.

What a bunch of fucking morons.

[Norquist Nemesis]

13. And if anything goes wrong, they can blame the 'intelligence community'

all over again!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2124788&mesg_id=2124788

[Binka]

21. Totally Unprepared Is Right Arrogant ShitHeads

I mean come on now, these fucksticks have spent the last 4.5 years demonizing the entire region to make the war palatable to the freeptards and frightened normal folks. They went so far as to make Osama=Saddam so they could continue their murdering ways. The average person doesn't know the geography of the ME it is one giant ARABVILLE.

But these jerkholes thought the American people would be able to make the distinction between the "Bad Brown People" & "The Good Brown People." Because Bush says so. They are the stupidest and most arrogant group of assholes ever. Malignant narcissist are not known for their introspection.

[KittyWampus]

22. UAE already secured rights in Britain's ports, where it went unnoticed

[Beetwasher]

23. Right

They thought people and the media would yawn at this "boring" business deal and it would fly right under the radar. They were caught totally off guard and it's awesome!

Rove's a jeenyus. :rofl:

[scarface2004]

4. maybe it was brownie!

doing his usual heck of a job!

[savemefromdumbya]

8. aaargh!

[savemefromdumbya]

5. According to Tom Ridge many agencies within the government were

approving the port deal (and Ridge was involved)

[indie_voter]

6. This is just idiotic

Nobody but the beyond saving deluded will buy this.

[JHB]

7. So this was just another part of their jobs they didn't do?

Thanks for clarifying, oh simian ones!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. so who in the administration did approve it?

[EFerrari]

11. We passed ridiculous months ago. n/t

[land of the free]

15. cross-posted on DU

seems kpete hit the post button just before I did.
I'll work on typing faster ;)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x489772

I put a link to this thread in the other thread, too. Dunno if the mods can fold my thread into this.

[kenny blankenship]

16. "No one could have foreseen..."

"...that our ports would be a sensitive national security asset, control over which might be regarded by some as a vital national security interest."

"who could have foreseen that water might breach the levees and flood New Orleans?"

"who could have foreseen that we would not be exactly welcomed by all in Iraq as liberators and that factions within that country would destabilize our control or a puppet government by an insurgency from within?"

"No one could foresee terrorists using civilian planes as missiles against buildings."

[donkeyotay]

24. Who, who, WHO? could have possible seen this clusterfuck coming?

I don't know the man... uhm, if I do, I only met him briefly. I was out of the loop. It wasn't in our circles. I don't know about x,y or z, but when you point it out to me, I can't comment on an ongoing investigation.

Let me connect the dots for you, Merca. You have been sold out. Completely and utterly sold out. The pretzeldunce works for the Haves and the Have Mores and it matters not if they are Israeli, Arab, Chinese or Martian. This is the same old war of the ruling elite rich against the working and poor, which is why the world's superpower can't afford to run a shool, let alone a port. If it's profitable to run a port, why can't the cities run them? If it's not profitable for an American company, why is it profitable for a foreign one? The bottom line is that if the whole world is for sale, then your country doesn't matter anyway. Might as well just go for the global police state and get it over with.

[Marr]

17. He's willing to use his first veto ever to secure a deal he didn't even

know about?

The problem is, the Bush Administration thinks the entire world is as stupid as they are.

[spindrifter]

19. Good. They have

gotten themselves so far off message no one knows what the message is. Another feather in the incompetence cap.

[npincus]

20. there's nobody driving the bus