Another race-card smear, this time from Mansoor Ijaz

by Aussiegirl

Hmmm -- I think Ijaz would have made a more effective argument that this is not such a bad deal and that we could trust Dubai, if he had not started his argument with an ad hominem smear against anyone who disagrees with or has questions about the deal. To smear all opponents with the bomb-throwing "racist" card is standard lib operating procedure. So anyone who has concerns has their hackles immediately raised by being unfairly accused of having only the basest motives for questions.

We can ask a question -- if the Dubai government still recognizes the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, we can assume it views the present regime of Karzai as illegitimate. As such, is it actively supporting the Taliban insurgents who are currently fighting our allies there and spilling the blood of American soldiers? Are these the actions of a newfound ally in the war on terror?

Mansoor Ijaz on Port Security on National Review Online

Islamophobia, not national security, is at the heart of the raging controversy on Capitol Hill over a United Arab Emirates-based company, Dubai Ports World, assuming ownership and management responsibilities at six major seaports in the United States. U.S. lawmakers might bristle at the thought of letting the UAE own and operate U.S. ports. After all, it was a citizen of the UAE, Marwan al Shehhi, who piloted United Airlines Flight 175 into the second World Trade Center tower, and it was through the banks of this country that the 9/11 attacks were partially financed. But their fiery rhetoric and threats of congressional action mask an increasingly patronizing racism fueled by illogical paranoia rooted in past events. Let's deal with what the UAE is now.

Simply put, the reaction to the Dubai deal is un-American.

[...] It is understandable that American politicians would want to seek clarifications, safeguards, and accountability on the DP World deal in honor of all those who were mercilessly murdered on that tragic September morning. But the best way to honor their memories is to use the Dubai deal as a model to build effective bridges to the Arab and Muslim world — as we did in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan — instead of erecting barriers that reveal America's paranoia and fear about some Islamist doomsday scenario no one can predict, all the while alienating the very people we need to help raise up the Muslim world's disaffected so they are not so desperate to tear us down.