President Bush told reporters on Friday that he was fearful that the public and Congressional opposition to the takeover of six major American ports by Dubai Ports World, a company run and owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates, would hurt relations between the United States and 'moderate' Arab countries.
The reason for the backlash and the fear, however, was ironically caused and exacerbated by the speeches and policies of President Bush and his chief political advisor, Karl Rove.
Since the September 11 attacks, the Bush/Rove team have used the fear of terrorism to justify almost everything they have set out to do. The key to Mr. Bush's re-election campaign strategy was to depict the Democrats as 'soft on terrorism' and to tell Americans that President Bush is the only one they can/should trust to protect them from imminent harm. The threat of terrorism has been used to justify the invasion of Iraq, the torture of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, domestic wiretapping without a court approved warrant and much more. It should come as no surprise then, that Americans were fearful of the ports deal and rose quickly to oppose it.
The president's 2002 State of the Union Address, contained the following:
'Thousands of dangerous killers, schooled in the methods of murder, often supported by outlaw regimes, are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs, set to go off without warning.'
Bush also said:
[T]ens of thousands of trained terrorists are still at large. These enemies view the entire world as a battlefield, and we must pursue them wherever they are. So long as training camps operate, so long as nations harbor terrorists, freedom is at risk.'
Bush has used this and similar rhetoric to justify wiretapping Americans without the use of a search warrant. While the FISA Act demands that the government eventually obtain the approval of the special FISA court in order to obtain a search warrant to wiretap Americans, On December 18, 2005, Bush said domestic wiretaps without a warrant were 'a necessary part of my job to protect' (the American people.)
Bush added that he would continue the program 'for so long as the nation faces the continuing threat of an enemy that wants to kill American citizens.'
According to Bush and his cabinet, the reason disclosure to the FISA court is a problem is that it might tip off the terrorists if we have to ask for a warrant. It may be too late by then. The attack, which could occur at any minute, may have already taken place. Even though FISA allows the wiretaps to be implemented before a warrant is obtained in emergency situations, the president and his advisors have argued that this is still not sufficient to keep Americans safe.
Vice President Cheney went so far as to say on December 19, 2005 that is the domestic spying program were in place prior to September 11, the attacks may never have taken place.
'If we had been able to do that before 9/11, we might have been able to pick up on two of the hijackers who were in San Diego in touch overseas with al-Qaeda,' Cheney claimed.
President Bush added, 'We know that a two-minute phone conversation between somebody linked to al-Qaeda here and an operative overseas could lead directly to the loss of thousands of lives. To save American lives, we must be able to act fast and to detect these conversations so we can prevent new attacks.'
The President has also said that the threat of terrorism justifies very rough treatment of detainees in places like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib that much of the international community have defined as torture. He claims that the threat of attack to the United States justifies ignoring the Geneva Conventions and denying detainees the right to due process given to even the most despicable serial killer in the United States.
The president even went so far as to threaten to veto legislation proposed by Senator McCain to end torture and degrading treatment of prisoners. Presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said the ban on torture “would limit the president's ability as commander-in-chief to effectively carry out the war on terrorism.”
A compromise on the torture bill was eventually reached. Regardless as to whether or not the president is correct on these issues, he has been spreading a culture of fear and saying that drastic measures are needed to protect the American people.
Karl Rove, in an attempt to differentiate to voters the difference between Democrats and Republicans, claimed, 'Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.'
In other words, only President Bush and the Republicans can keep America safe, so you better vote for us or face death.
Just a day after the September 11 attacks, President Bush told the American people that the United States would 'make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.'
Well, two of the September 11 terrorists were born in the United Arab Emirates. It was also later discovered that the U.A.E. was a major source of the money funneled to the terrorists who carried out the attacks. Prior to 9/11, there were definite ties between the dictators of the U.A.E. and Osama bin-Laden according to numerous published reports. The fact that the U.A.E. recognized the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan and still refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist only adds to the suspicions Americans had of the deal.
President Bush has said that since September 11, the government of the U.A.E. has been an ally in the war on terror. They have allowed the United States to use their airspace and helped us in other ways. It is also clear that prior to September 11, there were clear ties between al-Qaeda leaders and some of the leaders of the U.A.E.
Suddenly, Mr. Bush was making a distinction between terrorists and those who harbor, assist or support them. After creating and reinforcing this culture of fear for more than five years, how can the president expect Americans to not question this proposed ports deal?
Racism had very little to do with it. There were and are serious and honest questions that need to be answered before allowing a Dubai-based, government owned company from administering our ports.
President Bush has used the politics of fear to his advantage for the past five years to justify everything from domestic wiretapping to invading a foreign country. Radical Islam, we are told, is the enemy. The U.A.E. has had ties with radical Islam in the recent past. These could not be ignored.
The bottom line is this, the reaction of the American people and Congress to the proposed Dubai port deal should not be surprising to President Bush at all. He simply reaped what he has sewn.
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