The Pendragon's Hall

The back channel deal by which the Bush administration plans to turn over control of six major US ports to the United Arab Emirates has been the subject of big news lately. I generally try to defend Bush, since he gets enough criticism from the rest of the world, and I figure me against them basically makes it even. But with Jimmy Carter coming on board, I'm now looking to jump ship. It's a good security strategy for the US--oppose anything Jimmy Carter supports. Besides which, do we really want to turn our ports over to an Islamic country right now? Doesn't seem like a great idea to me. UAE may well be an ally but the behavior of France and Germany in the prelude to the invasion of Iraq makes it clear that allies are highly overrated. I'm begging you, Mr. President: you showed great foresight and courage by declaring irrevocably that even our allies will not hinder the US in its quest to protect itself from terrorism. Don't put an ally in charge of our border security.