Neal was very upset to learn that virtually no one seemed to be very concerned about the Arab company taking over the operation of some of our ports, which was mentioned
HERE .
Then, when he heard about this, he practically flipped out:
Arab Company To Be Responsible For U.S. Airport SecurityU.S. Committee On Foreign Investment Secretly OK's MoveBy Neal Pulcawer
An Arab company, with possible ties to the terrorist group Al Qaeda, has been approved in secret meetings by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an arm of the Treasury Department, to take over security and passenger screening operations at several major U.S. Airports, it was announced today in Washington.
The company, Bin Ladin Security, is based in the Saudi Arabian city of Jidda, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the multi-billion dollar Bin Ladin Group, the largest construction company in the Arab world, said to have made its fortune in building projects for the Saudi royal family.
The move is the latest in what some see as a questionable series of policy changes regarding Homeland Security, most recently the one in which a deal was approved by the U.S. in which Dubai Ports World would purchase Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a London company that already runs commercial port operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami, and take over the operation of those ports themselves.
With the Bin Ladin Group set to begin operation at U.S. Airports sometime this summer, a Bush administration official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday "This is a good move all the way around. We figure that if they’re responsible for airport security, they’ll be too embarrassed to ever let anything happen.”
“Besides” he added “Everyone seems to agree these days that outsourcing certain jobs is definitely the way to go.”
Some foes of the Bush administration, however, expressed a different view.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), noted for his interest in issues involving geese and deer, made another analogy to the animal world, saying “This doesn’t seem like a very good move to me. It’s like putting the fox in charge of the hen house.”
U.S. airport security, which came under heavy fire and close scrutiny following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in which 19 Arab terrorist commandeered four airplanes, crashing one into the Pentagon in Washington and two others into the World Trade Center in New York, killing thousands, continues to be heavily criticized.
Osama bin Ladin, said to be the mastermind behind the attacks, is the 17th of 53 children of Muhammad Awad bin Ladin, who heads the Bin Ladin Group.
Some critics of U.S. Homeland Security policies have said that workers for firms responsible for security at airports and passenger screening are often paid the minimum wage or slightly above, and do not receive adequate training for their jobs.
“This move should take care of that problem” said an administration spokesperson. “The Bin Ladin Group is one of the richest companies in the world, and since they plan to import their own workers who won’t be U.S. citizens, we don’t have to worry about them being underpaid.”
“Besides” he added “Everyone knows that the Bin Ladins are very meticulous about planning, and almost fanatical about training their operatives. We’ve heard of cases where they train people for years before allowing them to go to work.”
Others remained critical of the move.
“It looks to me like the Bush administration is trying to sneak this one through while everyone’s attention is focused on the Vice President Cheney shooting incident and the Winter Olympics” said Democratic Party National Chairman Howard Dean.
) I don't want it to sound like I'm kissing ass here but that was brilliant as usual..
