Rep. Peter King (R-NY) became one of the early critics of the Dubai Ports deal. "This can't be treated in a pre-9/11 way," he told the media. "There was a tone deafness here that indicates they didn't show the level of concern that it warranted." Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) cast aspersions on the deal, on the Bush Administration, and on Arab [deals] in general. He noted that the 9-11 attacks were financed in part by money that had passed through banks in the United Arab Emirates [which includes Dubai].
While that may have been true, the issue here is that, in an atmosphere of intense politics, Schumer's protest struck a sensitive nerve and ultimately killed the deal. Schumer had beaten the administration at its own game of using national security as a political weapon.
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The above quotations are from The Test of our Times: America Under Siege...And How We Can Be Safe Again, by Gov. Tom Ridge. Click here for other excerpts from The Test of our Times: America Under Siege...And How We Can Be Safe Again, by Gov. Tom Ridge. Click here for other excerpts by Peter King. Click here for a profile of Peter King.
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