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Originally Posted by politicophile
Indeed, I believe we can all cheer the Republicans for taking the moral high road and realizing that xenophobia has no place in governmental policy-making. Irrational fear of companies based in other nations was wrong under Clinton and remains wrong in the post-9/11 world. Hats off to the Senate Republicans for getting it right the second time.
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politicophile, consider, along side your own comments, what this ranking republican House committee chairman said about Hutchinson Whampoa, the same company that has been awarded a "no-bid" contract to become the first foreign company to operate, without the presence American Customs officers, the most advanced and sensitive U.S. shipping container screening technology:
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http://www.house.gov/saxton/bio.htm
Congressman Jim Saxton has served in the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey's Third Congressional District since 1984.
Rising Seniority in House Committees
Mr. Saxton, 62, has risen in seniority. In January 2005 the Speaker of the House appointed him to become Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) of the House and U.S. Senate (He was also Chairman 1997- 1998, 2001-2002). <b>In 2005, he was also reappointed as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee</b>
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http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=6
Issue Date: June 20, 2005
Fair Comment
Sale of Telecom Firm to China Poses Espionage Threat
By Rep. Jim Saxton
......How would this acquisition put clandestine U.S. global communications at risk of being intercepted by the Chinese? <b>The chairman of Hutchison-Whampoa, Chinese billionaire Li Ka-shing, has been closely linked to former Chinese military intelligence director, Gen. Ji Shengde. Li Ka-shing also sits on a board of a company tied to the Chinese People's Liberation Army that allegedly has sold arms to Iran and Pakistan.</b> Additionally, the deal struck between Panama and Hutchison-Whampoa for control of ports at both ends of the Panama Canal - one of the most critical naval points in the Western Hemisphere - was believed to be underhanded at best.
Even if Li Ka-shing is not acting at the behest of the Chinese government, it does not mean Hutchison-Whampoa's role in operating Global Crossing's assets couldn't be compromised later. After all, its home base in Hong Kong now is part of China, and maintaining a close relationship with the Beijing government is essential to running a healthy enterprise there.
One does not have to be completely paranoid to see the connection here. Fear that Chinese intelligence operatives could exploit Hutchison's ownership of Global Crossing's undersea cables to listen in on sensitive U.S. communication is not far-fetched.
In fact, it brings up a broader question of whether we should permit foreign firms to purchase the rights to maintain a portion of U.S. infrastructure - in this case, complete access to our sensitive communications around the globe. Should we allow foreign entities the right to own resources that directly affect our national security?........
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Considering that only members of Mr. Cheney's political party have made the decisions to approve the contract to manage 21 U.S. ports to a subsidiary of the government of Dubai, and to award a "no-bid" contract to Hutchinson Whampoa to screen cargo bound for the U.S. mainland, for nuclear material, coupled with the description above of the owner of Whampoa, by the republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, can you make a convincing case that the republican officials who have total charge of the government and thus, the "war on terror", are indicating, by the consistancy of their decisions and their speeches, in this "time of war", that they described and declared, are acting in a sincere and straightforward, non-hypocritical, way...when it comes to homeland security policy?
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,189068,00.html
Cheney Blasts Democrats for Calling Bush 'Dangerously Incompetent'
Friday, March 24, 2006
Cheney, speaking Friday at a campaign event for Rep. Ric Keller in Orlando, said Democrats have a "sorry record" on national security.
"With that sorry record, the leaders of the Democratic Party have decided to run on the theme of competence. If they're competent to fight this war, then I ought to be singing on American Idol," Cheney said.
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These are the folks who tell us that we are at war against threats so serious that the POTUS must assume extra-constitutional authority, secretly, as he "sees fit" to protect America. Cheney and Bush tells us that 9/11 "changed everything", and that, compared to democrats, they are exclusively qualified to keep us from "getting hit, again". Do you believe them? How? Why" I don't, because they have to earn my trust, and they haven't....not even close.
I invite you to make the opposite argument, if they have earned your trust, tell us how they've inspired your confidence.