WTF? I’m not going to pretend to know any of the details of the Arab company taking over the port contracts, but one thing is clear: Jimmy Carter is a dipshit. I’ve never really had anything against him, but this quote is just too much:
"My presumption is, and my belief is, that the president and his secretary of state and the Defense Department and others have adequately cleared the Dubai government organization to manage these ports," Carter told CNN. "I don't think there's any particular threat to our security."
He presumes what?? What the hell administration has he been watching for the past five years? Not only do they screw up in general terms, but they’ve done little to suggest that they even care about protecting our nation. Rather than trying to secure our borders, they’ve gone for the one-size-fits-all War Option, and eschew most other kinds of security. Because they want us cowering in our houses like scared little bunnies, and they’re not going to get that if they make us all feel safe. Overall, we’ve seen little evidence to suggest that “National Security” isn’t just a scam they keep pulling for political gain.
And for the record: No, I don’t feel better about this simply because they agreed to “certain conditions to ensure our national security;” which, as always, will remain secret. If this is all part of a secret conservative plot to get Americans to stop trusting government, they’ve succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
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To be fair, Carter has gone further in critisizing Bush than would be normally acceptable of a former President in their chummy "pretend we all get along" game.
Also, to provide an alternate interpretation of the statement, Carter is opening the door to critisize Bush precisely because he knows the UAE company was in no way adequately screened. By saying "I assume they investigated thorougly" he is setting up the pins for a strike when it becomes clear no such investigation has taken place.
It becomes veiled criticism, by qualifying his surety that the deal is good.
Though, of course, I would agree that a company directly controlled by a government sympathetic to terrorists would really never be acceptable running ports regardless of how their processes work, or how thoroughly they screen their employees today. Just because they might be clean today, doesn't mean the govt of UAE won't use this foot in the door for mischief later.
I agree with Dan. It seems like a dipshitted statement on the surface, but like Publius explains, it's actually brilliant politics. How better to drive the wedge further between Bush and his conservative base than to have Carter -- widely reviled among conservatives, and known for opposing conservative policies -- openly defending this policy? And to do so in such a way that leaves him an "out" (e.g., if his "assumption" of proper screening turns out to be false) is just brilliant.
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