Thread: Dubai Threatens to Hit Back

Dubai threat to hit back
By Roxana Tiron

Dubai is threatening retaliation against American strategic and commercial interests if Washington blocks its $6.8 billion takeover of operations at several U.S. ports.

As the House Appropriations Committee yesterday marked up legislation to kill Dubai Ports World’s acquisition of Britain’s Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O), the emirate let it be known that it is preparing to hit back hard if necessary.

A source close to the deal said members of Dubai’s royal family are furious at the hostility both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have shown toward the deal.

“They’re saying, ‘All we’ve done for you guys, all our purchases, we’ll stop it, we’ll just yank it,’” the source said.

Retaliation from the emirate could come against lucrative deals with aircraft maker Boeing and by curtailing the docking of hundreds of American ships, including U.S. Navy ships, each year at its port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the source added.

It is not clear how much of Dubai’s behind-the-scenes anger would be followed up by action, but Boeing has been made aware of the threat and is already reportedly lobbying to save the ports deal.

The Emirates Group airline will decide later this year whether it will buy Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner or its competitor, Airbus A350. The airline last fall placed an order worth $9.7 billion for 42 Boeing 777 aircraft, making Dubai Boeing’s largest 777 customer.

Dubai in mid-February also established the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, a $15 billion investment to create a company that will lease planes, develop airports and make aircraft parts to tap into growing demand for air travel in the Middle East and Asia.

The family-ruled sheikhdom may buy as many as 50 wide-body aircraft from Boeing and Airbus during the next four years, according to Aerospace Enterprise officials.

The UAE military also bought Boeing’s Apache helicopters. Meanwhile, Boeing has been in talks with the emirates to try to sell its AWACS planes.

An industry official with knowledge of Boeing’s contracts with Dubai said that the company has been involved in the emirate and that it would take a lot “to knock” those relationships.

“Nothing about the [ports] controversy diminishes our commitment to the region,” said John Dern, Boeing’s corporate spokesman. He added that at this point the company has no indication that there is or will be an impact on the company.

Any repercussion to Boeing could put House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in a delicate position. Boeing’s decision to move its headquarters to Chicago has been seen as calculated to facilitate a close relationship with Hastert. He is against the ports deal, and his office did not return calls by press time.

Several businesses have expressed concern that the controversy over the $6.8 billion ports deal could damage trade with the UAE. Dubai is one of the seven emirates. The United States and the UAE are meeting next week for a fourth round of talks to sign a free-trade agreement. The American Business Group of Abu Dhabi, which has no affiliation with the U.S. government, said that Arabs may hesitate to invest into the United States, according to a report by Reuters.

A Republican trade lobbyist said that because the ports deal is a national-security issue blocking it would not be in violation of World Trade Agreement rules.

“In terms of them retaliating legally against the U.S. … I don’t think there are many options there,” the lobbyist said.

But when it comes to the emirates’ cooperation in the war on terrorism and in intelligence gathering, there is concern that some help may be pulled.

“If we reject the company in terms of doing the [ports] work, they are going to lose a lot of face. In the Arab culture, losing face is a big deal,” a former government official said. “We risk losing that help. It is not an empty threat.”

Dubai is a critical logistics hub for the U.S. Navy and a popular relaxation destination for troops fighting in the Middle East. On many occasions since the ports story erupted, the Pentagon has stressed the importance of the U.S-UAE relationship.

Last year, the U.S. Navy docked 590 supply vessels in Dubai, plus 56 warships, Gordon England, deputy secretary of defense, said in a Senate hearing last month. About 77,000 military personnel went on leave in the UAE last year, he added.

During the hearing, he warned about the implications of a negative decision on the ports deal: “So obviously it would have some effect on us, and I’d not care to quantify that, because I don’t have the facts to quantify it. It would certainly have an effect on us.”

Although owned by the Dubai government, the company at the heart of this controversy, Dubai Ports World, is trying to distance itself from any kinds of threats, said a lobbyist closely tracking the deal.

Another lobbyist monitoring the controversy said K Street still believes there will be a compromise that allows the Dubai deal to go through while meeting congressional security concerns, even though a bill aimed at that result, put forward by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.), was widely repudiated amongst lawmakers Tuesday.

Senate leaders have indicated that they would wait to take action until the new 45-day Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review is completed.

Meanwhile, in London, DP World cleared the last hurdle for its take over of P&O. The Court of Appeal in London refused Miami-based Eller & Co., which opposed the deal, permission to appeal against clearances for the legal and financial measures necessary to implement the takeover.

P&O said it expects to file the requisite court orders, making the takeover terms binding on DP World, according to the Financial Times.

Literally millions of dollars in contracts made between Dubai and US companies are in the works in Dubai. I'm sure the infamous Halliburton has contracts there.

Dubai in mid-February also established the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, a $15 billion investment to create a company that will lease planes, develop airports and make aircraft parts to tap into growing demand for air travel in the Middle East and Asia.

I imagine it will be that Asian slave labor that will be making those aircraft parts.

Kill this deal NOW! I'm sick of these arrogant SOB's thinking they are entitled to what is rightfully ours.

dman--it's a dead deal as of this afternoon. This is the retaliation--throwing our businessmen out of Dubai/UAE.

This is this afternoon's Washington Post Article:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/09/ ... index.html


It was all over the news this evening on the networks.

Interesting article, JJ. WE BETTER GET OUR ACT TOGETHER IN THIS COUNTRY !!

I'm going to post your article over in Discussions, because it points out OUR BORDERS. What do you think ?

Greenfield is an ass.

YES we feel safer, Jeff Greenfield.

YES we are safer, Jeff Greenfield.

YES we will blame whoever violates our borders, violates our ports, violates laws, violates our national security, Jeff Greenfield.

And Boeing is going to the dogs if they are choosing crucial headquarters locations based upon who is in the United States Congress..because this can change every 2 to 6 years and hopefully they plant occupy their new Chicago Headquarters for longer than that.

I just have to wonder...what was wrong with Seattle, the town that made the company?

In any event, these airplanes don't have anything to do with our ports; they don't have anything to do with our national security.......but hey wait...I seem to recall...yes...Boeing....made the planes that were used to fly into the WTC and Pentagon and crash into a field in Pennsylvania on 9/11 and kill almost 3,000 people.

Boeing and the UAE...how interesting....2 of the 9/11 hijackers were from the UAE...how interesting.....$250,000 virtually all the funds used to underwrite that plane event were wired from UAE Banks....so that's how they could have gotten lots of plane designs; operating manuals; all the important details concerning a Boeing 767 a hijacker might want or need to know....from marketing materials from Boeing selling the UAE on new planes.

Well, well...and the plot thickens.

What a small world and what a wicked web.

Dubai threat to hit back

No, this can't be.

Not out great friend, gallant ally, and epitome of all that's good and wonderful in the Arab world (except for that child slavery thing they do, of course) is threatening us?

This must be a mistake. Our Great Leader would never have agreed to allow such a bunch of treacherous SOBs manage our ports if this was true.

YES!! CountFloyd, you know SOBS like to "hang" together...it's takes one to know one, they rub each other's backs, they know each other's intimate business proprietary info, they swear oaths to each other and spill blood, drip drip drip on the dollars they worship and are sucking out of this country...in fact...really when you think about it, they operate just like a gang....in fact....that what they are....the SOB GANG...selling us out and surrounding us.

GRRRRRR!!

Well, we've cut them off at the ports, I wonder what they are "eye-balling" next.

Can we have no relief?

I really don't think ANYONE expected that Sheik to react while they were putzing around. I'm telling you, all hell's gonna break loose in a few days and it ain't gonna be pretty.

I agree, JJ. Don't like the reaction they gave. It actually proved to me that the American people were right. VIGILANCE, MAJOR VIGILANCE.