WASHINGTON, 11 March 2006 — Now that Dubai Ports World has offered George W. Bush a graceful exit from what became a mess, the president said yesterday he was worried that the forced withdrawal of the company from controlling six US ports would send the wrong message to important allies in the Middle East.
“I’m concerned about a broader message this issue could send to our friends and allies around the world, particularly in the Middle East,” Bush said in remarks to the National Newspaper Association.
“In order to win the war on terror, we have got to strengthen our relationships and friendships with moderate, Arab countries in the Middle East. The UAE is a committed ally in the war on terror, they are a key partner for our military in a critical region,” the president said.
While the potentially explosive showdown between Bush and Congress over the ports deal has been mostly defused, there now are lingering concerns over the ramifications of the deal beyond the issue of port security in the United States.
As a case in point, talks on a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Arab Emirates were postponed yesterday. The talks, which were supposed to begin Monday, were shelved because both sides need more time to prepare, according to the office of US Trade Representative Rob Portman. A USTR spokeswoman would not say whether the postponement was related to the ports deal.
Some business leaders are warning lawmakers not to take any hasty action that may threaten the often tense relationship the United States has with some countries in the Middle East or may put a damper on global trade.
“While the security of the American people and our critical infrastructure must always be a top priority, implementing the laws that could harm the health of our economy in the name of national security would be a grave mistake,” Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, told the media. “All parties involved must strive to find a balance that keeps us safe while at the same time allows our economy to continue to flourish.”
Indeed, the aftereffects are likely to be felt in boardrooms across America as well as on Capitol Hill and in Arab capitals. “Our members are very concerned about what the failure of this deal means,” Bill Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a Washington trade association that represents large US multinationals, told journalists. “They don’t want to be visible but they’re very concerned about the signals the US is sending out.”
And with Boeing hoping to land a major order for its new 787 Dreamliner with Dubai-based airline Emirates down the road, the stakes are high. Elsewhere in the region, the UAE’s Etihad Airways has already ordered more than $1 billion worth of 777s, and EgyptAir and Royal Jordanian are longtime Boeing buyers.
The biggest loser in the short term, according to Reinsch, is the Bush administration, which has been trying to create a Middle East free trade zone modeled on NAFTA.
