Thread: Ba-ba-ba Ba-ba-Bahrain

http://www.agweb.com/get_article.asp?pa ... &src=agcmt

Ba-ba-ba Ba-ba-Bahrain
09/22/2005

Dean Kleckner



The enemies of free trade weren't pleased when Congress approved the Central American Free Trade Agreement in July. Yet they consoled themselves with the knowledge that the vote in the House of Representatives couldn't get much closer: 217 in favor, 215 against.

"The next battle will be much harder fought than this one," proclaimed one activist website. "Hopefully, CAFTA will be the last Free Trade Agreement ever passed in the U.S."

As it turns out, reports of the death of free trade are greatly exaggerated. CAFTA won't be America's final free-trade agreement. There are plenty more in the pipeline, including pacts with the Andean nations of South America, as well as Oman, Panama, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates. Any of these could win approval as early as next year. Deals with Egypt, Malaysia, South Korea, and Switzerland aren't far behind.

But our very next trade agreement is likely to come this fall, right on the heels of CAFTA. It will be with Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf that is home to nearly 700,000 people. That's fewer than the number of residents living in the metropolitan area of Columbus, Ohio, which means that Bahrain won't ever become one of America's major trade partners. But it's still a worthwhile compact that will generate economic opportunity here in the United States, and it offers hard proof that free trade remains alive and kicking.

In a competitive global environment, we can't afford to overlook any country, no matter how small. Two years ago, the United States exported products worth more than $500 million to Bahrain. That may sound like peanuts in the grand scheme of things--less than the cost of a Space Shuttle flight--but there are plenty of Americans whose jobs depend on this traffic. If we can improve our trade with Bahrain, we'll create more employment. Maybe some of this new work will even be in New Orleans, where a lot of goods bound for foreign markets disembark and where our fellow citizens are going to need every little boost they can get.

The deal with Bahrain, which was signed last year and will go before Congress in the coming weeks, is a piece of common sense. It immediately eliminates most of the tariffs between our two countries. The biggest beneficiaries probably will be American manufacturers. Farmers will make gains as well because the agreement forces Bahrain to remove tariffs on 98 percent of our agricultural exports right away, and to phase out the rest over a ten-year period. It will also expand the financial-services sector and strengthen intellectual property rights.

Although the vote for CAFTA was close, the deal with Bahrain appears to enjoy strong bipartisan support in Washington. Nobody is expecting a rehash of the hardball politics we saw this summer, in a debate that had more to do with emotions and partisanship than rational self-interest. By contrast, the vote for Bahrain should be a level-headed rerun of recent congressional decisions to approve trade agreements with Jordan and Morocco.

Despite all the chaos in Gaza and Iraq, free trade is a bright spot in today's Middle East. Some of the world's most autocratic governments are coming to understand the importance of economic policies our own country has been pushing for decades. Even Saudi Arabia is trying to implement reforms that will allow it to join the World Trade Organization. These trends will help make it possible to realize President Bush's call for a Middle East Free Trade Area by 2013.

More than economics is at stake. "By expanding trade, we spread hope and opportunity to the corners of the world, and we strike a blow against the terrorists who feed on anger and resentment," said Bush, speaking at the United Nations of September 14.

Bahrain may be a tiny county, but by helping us create jobs at home and spread freedom around the planet, it's also an important part of a grand strategy.

Dean Kleckner is an Iowa farmer and past president of the American Farm Bureau. He chairs Truth About Trade and Technology (www.truthabouttrade.org) a national non-profit based in Des Moines, IA, formed and led by farmers in support of freer trade and advancements in biotechnology.

Why sure. One big Socialist World Government control of the World by just a few. This World Gov't will control your medicine, healthcare, food supply, your internet usage time.....and even when you go to the bathroom........

This is the real life Matrix similar in context to the Keanu Reeves movie.

It was a couple months ago at an OAS (Organization of American States) conference that our great State Dept. Condoleeza Rice said, "We must do as much free trade as possible."


Condoleeza Rice - just another puppet of Cheney-Bush-G???????? Admin.

(Organization of American States - another organization of slithering hidden Elitists that should be doing something better with their time rather than sitting around thinking up ways to enslave and abuse People with their fabulous laws)

Yep, I wonder iof the author of this article is another globalist whore....

Oh Bahrain is a country. I thought you were talking about a city in Iran. That gave me the idea for a new trade agreement:

AEFTA


Axis of Evil Free Trade Agreement.

You see, to create a brave new world of equal trade opportunity, we must allow thousands of Iranians to access our markets PERSONALLY.

Sleep tight, knowing Julie Myers will be at ready , to spot any potential threats.




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