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Sunday, March 05, 2006

My Letter to the Editor in Sunday's Savh Morning News

Even when I'm out of town, I still get my opinion out there. Here's my Letter to the Editor that was published in Sunday's Savannah Morning News.

"Don't criticize ports deal until you have the facts"
Feb. 25 must have been another Bush-bashing day in the Letters to the Editor. There were four letters devoted to misinformation and distortions regarding the DP World buyout of P&O Shipping.
Contrary to what the letter writers believe, the UAE is not taking over control of the ports. DP World is actually buying the leases for terminal use at six U.S. ports. They have no control over security. Security is still in the hands of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and the various ports authorities. The union workers will remain in the positions they currently occupy and continue doing the same job they performed under DP World. No American jobs are being outsourced. On the contrary, the success of DP World may actually lead to more jobs at the U.S. ports.
Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, the UAE did have terrorist ties. Two of the 9/11 hijackers were from the UAE. Some of the terrorist money was funneled through banks in the UAE. To use that as an argument for stopping the ports deal would mean that we should ban any firms in Florida from operating businesses in the U.S. Many of the terrorists lived in Florida and used flight schools in Florida for training. Since Sept. 11, the UAE has fully cooperated with terrorist prevention and investigation.
It is extremely important for people to research information before spouting off an opinion about an issue. Based on the letters from Feb. 25, little or no research was done by the writers. They simply used liberal talking points culled from the media and DNC to engage in more Bush bashing.Even some of the Republicans that were screaming "the sky is falling" are backtracking on their claims now. As an anonymous pundit once said, "I went searching for the truth and found facts instead. Darn, I hate that."

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