Reaction to Arab ports’ deal a gratuitous insult – A lesson for Bush: You reap what you sow
Published in Toronto Star, February 27, 2006
Letters to the Editor
The Toronto Star
One Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
Re: A lesson for Bush: You reap what you sow (Feb. 25, 2006)
Opinion, Feb. 26.
Thomas Walkom hits the nail squarely on the head. President George W. Bush and the neo-cons have so successfully brainwashed Americans that even they can’t understand the extent of the hate and suspicion now.
Opponents of the proposed deal by Dubai Ports World (DPW) to takeover operations of six American ports claim that Arab management will increase the chances of “terror” attacks.
At best, the logic is flawed and at worst, it is racist. Security and maritime experts tell us that DPW is being unfairly targeted — racial profiling and guilt by association at its best.
Indeed, we heard no such concerns when the British ran the operations despite the fact that a number of terrorists have held British passports and London-based financial institutions have been used extensively in funnelling funds to terrorists.
The facts that DPW will be doing little more than handling baggage and transferring cargo on and off ships using American employees and that security will remain firmly in the hands of Americans are being conveniently ignored by many.
The lies trotted out by the administration over the years to advance its new American century have real consequences not only for the thousands of innocents on the receiving end of operation “democracy” and “freedom,” but also on the lifeblood of the American empire — international capital and trade.
The public reaction says a lot about how much Americans have bought into Bush’s own characterization of “them.” They can’t trust any of “them” now.
The extremists in both the Islamic and Western camps — both itching to ignite the world into a clash of extremisms — have yet to fully realize their polemics could have deadly consequences.
This is just one more gratuitous insult to Muslims and Arabs the world over.
Faisal Kutty, General Counsel, Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association, Toronto
Tags: Bush, Dubai Ports World, Thomas Walkom
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