I've watched with interest the debate over the deal that would sell several ports in the United States to the United Arab Emirates from a British company. Although I must admit the deal had several alarm bells ringing in my head when it was first announced, I am starting to believe that this deal should, in fact, go through.

While it is true that several terrorists have hailed from the UAE, it is irresponsible to consider that as reflective of the mood of the nation. Just as Lynndie England is not representative of OUR government, so these terrorists, no matter how horrible, are not representative of the government of the UAE. The UAE has, in fact, officially stood as an ally in our efforts to bring terror suspects to justice, at personal risk from some of their Muslim allies who may feel differently. Their willingness to stand on their own as an ally in a personal conflict as unpopular as the Iraq war is internationally shows that they should be regarded in a better light than we regard them. This is not a war against Islam, but against Islam extremism.

But more to the point is the fact that this is a private business deal. If we did not want foreign governments controlling our ports, we should have spoken out with equal fervor when the control was given to the British company. It is highly ironic when you consider that many of these ports were the front lines in our revolution from Great Britain over two centuries ago, but that doesn't change the fact that that is exactly what happened. The UAE should be put on an equal diplomatic standing with Britain because they have proved themselves worthy of that standing.

Finally, we must consider our response to Islam in our approach to this port deal. If we refuse the deal simply on the basis that this is a Muslim community involved in the deal, we send the message that we have, in fact, declared war on Islam and not just its violent factions. We effectively communicate the message that moderate Islam will not be tolerated, and that there is no way to diplomatically deal with our nation. By doing so we will strengthen the cause of those who seek to do us harm, and indeed, may have much to fear from the estimated one million Muslims already within and citizens of our country. The best scenario would be to welcome the UAE port controllers with open arms to show the Muslim world that we want to help their nations by embracing them as co members of a business community. If you take away the ability of an individual or nation to make money through legitimate means, it only stands to reason that they will turn to illegitimate means (this is, in my opinion, why crime flourishes in times of economic depression).

When considering the UAE ports deal, we SHOULD give it scrutiny, just as we would give scrutiny to any other business deal involving border security. We SHOULD oversee and regulate the actions of this company, as regulation of interstate and international commerce is a power expressly given the US Congress in the Constitution. But we should NOT ascribe motives to this government based simply on our prejudices against their predominant faith. They have earned our trust as an ally, and certain considerations should be given them in light of that simnple fact.