UAE port service deal update

A few days ago I said I was stepping back on the UAE port service deal because I needed to listen and learn a lot more about it.

John Hinderaker at Powerline is one of the people I've been listening to. Here's some of what he said yesterday:

I reserved judgment on the UAE port controversy for quite a while, but it seems increasingly clear that this is one more in a long series of news stories where decibel level far exceeds substance.

Much criticism of the "deal"--there actually isn't a deal, a company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates bought a British company that had contracts to administer facilities at six ports--consists of general criticisms of the UAE, as though companies headquartered in that country can only do business in America if the Emirates' record on terror-related issues is spotless.

That strikes me as a complete non sequitur. More confirmed terrorists have come from Great Britain than the Emirates, but no one raised any objection to British control over port terminals.

And no one seems to care that the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia already controls terminals at nine American ports. Or that China operates both ends of the Panama Canal.

I didn't know the Saudis served some of our terminals.

Later in his post, Hinderaker links to a Gateway Pundit post that’s worth a read. It's where I learned that China services both ends of the Panama Canal.

I’m far from certain where I’ll come out on the port question.

I’ll continue reading and listening to smart pundits and bloggers with a good track record, and politicians I think have a lot of integrity. And I’ll read some editorial pages.

The pundits include Glenn Reynolds, Michelle Malkin, Charles Krauthammer, and Michael Barone.

Politicians – Joe Lieberman and if you give me time I’ll think of a few more.

Editorial pages – The Wall Street Journal , Washington Post and Washington Times will top the list.

Opinion journals - The Economist, National Review, The New Republic, Weekly Standard

I’ll also be watching Hillary Clinton but that’s just to see how she thinks she can play the ports deal for political advantage.