Friday, March 10, 2006

Who Runs the Seaports and other Middle Eastern news

1)UAE seaport controversy

There has been all this controversy over a company from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) taking over the management of the seaports in New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, Miami and New Orleans.

Because UAE is an Arab country, people got hysterical about it! Too many people in the US assume that all Arab countries are run by anti-American Islamic fanatics.

However, the UAE is run by pro-American leaders have been helpful in the War on Terror!

If Iran, Sudan, Lybia or Syria wanted to take over US ports, I'd be against it.But the UAE, like Qatar, Bahrain and Jordan are run by pro-American Muslims. While those countries might have some anti-American Muslims, there is also a more pro-business, moderate Muslims who would love to invest in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the federal government screwed up by not informing Congress and the governors and mayors of the affected states/cities ahead of time. Which is what probably added to the hysteria!

Because of all this controversy, a lot of rich Arabs are thinking about investing their $$$ elsewhere. Our economy could miss out on an opportunity. The US and the Middle East could miss out an opportunity for some cultural exchanges as well.

Also, by investing in each other, there is a powerful economic incentive in avoiding the next war.

2) Lebanon

The nation of Lebanon, which was once a land of civil war in the 1980s and was occupied by Syrian fascists in the 1990s and early 2000's, is now a thriving nation which is liberal by Middle East standards.

It's capital, Beirut, now has the same type of nightclubs you can find in Europe and the U.S. In fact, many Europeans vacation there to get a taste of the Islamic Middle East without stepping into a nation run by theocratic Islamic Fascists. Beirut and Tel Aviv (in Israel) are the party cities of the Middle East!

Unfortunately, the Islamic terrorists still want to ruin the fun.