As the debate rages on about the UAE ports deal, I have found a very interesting fact as I have listened to where various pundits fall on the issue. Oddly enough, opinions on the ports deal are NOT falling along party lines. This is probably the first area of politics I have found where Michael Medved, George Bush, and Jimmy Carter can all be found on the same side.
I will be the first to admit, when I first heard about the ports deal, I had a bad feeling about it. VERY bad. And, in fact, had JU been up and running I am sure I would have blogged pretty heavily to that effect. But the truth is, my gut instinct, spidey sense that it usually is, failed me that day. It was probably not actually a gut instinct but rather the three pepper enchilada I ate the night before.
I am sure that the debate will rage on about the UAE ports deal for some time to come. Even after the issue is resolved. If the sale goes through, doomsayers will make a lot of money by reminding us our ports are controlled by Ay-Rabs (don't believe me? Then you must not be old enough to remember the doomsday scenarios that centered around the deal that returned the Panama Canal to the control of its namesake country). We'll probably see an increase in anthrax scares from paranoid longshoremen who are equally suspicious, and we'll thrive on the paranoia. Whole careers will be born as talk show hosts and bloggers rant on (whoops--I gave away my game plan!) about the destruction of our society.
If the port deal does not go through, however, I'm afraid the results may be more severe. I believe that if the opponents of the port deal win, we will begin a long road to a destructive isolationist mindset in which American citizens who practice the Muslim faith will find themselves ostracized from a society that fears them for what they do not understand. While I am personally not a fan of the Muslim faith, I know and acknowledge that there are many good, honest, and noble practitioners of that faith that do not deserve the stereotyping that is quickly becoming a legitimate concern.
On paper, it is in my opinion a bad idea to sell an interest with such potential security issues as a port to a foreign nation whose interests are not the same as our own. But it is a far worse idea to pick and choose which ally nations are and are not acceptable buyers for a port we've already sold.
To those who will point out that 2 of the 9/11 hijackers were from Dubai, I must again insist that those two are no more representative of their nation than Lynndie England is of ours.