Carter Kills UAE Ports Deal

I have no idea if the purchase of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a British company which runs a number of US ports, by Dubai Ports World, a company partially owned by the government of the UAE, is a security concern or not.  I haven't had a chance to read up on the specifics of the deal and what it involves, or whether a change of ownership to an Arab outfit alters the security situation.

But now that former President Carter has endorsed the deal, I think it must be a terrible idea, even without researching the facts.  I know that's irresponsible, but let's face reality, Mr. Carter's track record on battling terrorism over the years isn't all that great.  Here's a post on his efforts just this week to keep money flowing to the bombers of Hamas.

President Bush needs to get a clue on this one.  His guys blew it by not realizing the political firestorm this deal would ignite and getting out in front of it.  Now with Jimmy Carter on his side, the deal is doomed regardless of the merits.

I hope President Bush doesn't take as long to see reality this time as he did with Ms. Myers.

For more on this, check out Michelle Malkin, the Corner on NRO, Hugh Hewitt with an interview of Senator Bill Frist, and GayPatriot, who also invokes "Harriot Myers syndrome."

LATER (February 22, 2006 11:45a ET):  More details on this issue from Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. on NRO.  Mr. Gaffney suggests that the entire Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) process needs to be "overhauled."

Michelle Malkin has much more in a new post today, including some additional comments from Mr. Gaffney.  It's sounds like the CFIUS assessment process is superficial at best.