Top > Business > 2006 > February > 2006-02-15

Big Business Wins Out Over Politics

One would think that business and politics have quite a bit in common, but this does not seem to be the case in the United States. The entire country is in constant battle with terrorists since 9/11 and long before with the Gulf War. However, big business and money can buy everything including control of American owned ports to potential terrorists. Such is the case with a United Arab Emirates based company that may soon have control of American soil.

A company based in the United Arab Emirates, a country with known ties to the Sept. 11 hijackers, is part of a corporate sale that will give it control over operations of six American ports. The Bush administration considers the United Arab Emirates an ally in the war on terrorism and doesn`t object to the sale. The purchase of Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. by Dubai Ports World is expected to be finalized Monday.

The sale is worth $6.9 billion. It is expected to affect commercial ports in New York, New Jersey, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami and Philadelphia. Dubai Ports World said it got approval for the sale from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, a secretive government panel that weighs risks of foreign companies investing the U.S. market.