Revisiting the Dubai Ports World controversy

[tangaroa]

Remember from several years ago when there was a freakout in Congress about an Arab company attempting to buy a US port, and it seemed like we were not getting the whole story? Here is some more of the story: The company was wholly owned by the Dubai monarchy whose newly appointed king at that time, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was a friend of Osama bin Laden. The two went hunting together in Afghanistan as late as February 1999, obviously after the 1998 embassy attacks made bin Laden a pariah, and there's an allegation that he brought along money and supplies for AQ on his trips out there. So, to put him in charge of US port security? There was a good reason to oppose it.