Oh no! The Arabs are taking over our ports!

This is just xenophobia at its best.

Dubai Ports will just be inheriting the contracts that P&O have had. Nothing will really be changed - the security protocols remain the same. Ultimately security rests with the Coast Guard and Customs, and the corporations comply with their requests. The company is managed by a amalgamation of Americans, UAE nationals and Indians. Nobody pays 6.8 billion dollars to let a couple of terrorists in - they're more concerned with rivaling Hutchinson Whampoa as the largest port operators. The Americans consider Dubai's ports safe enough to be the most frequently visited by US Navy ships, so its not about security. Foreign Operation of the port isn't particularly unusual - 80% of LA's port is managed by foreign companies - including China.

Besides, isn't the idea to reward moderate Arab states and increase ties with them? No, lets just act like all of them are terrorists, stop them from advancing their commercial interests, and then expect them to give their full co-operation in the War on Terror. Both parties, democrats and republicans need to be shot over this reaction, as this could a larger public relations disaster for Americans in the Middle Eats than Gitmo.

And to say that "Oh 2 of the hijackers were from the UAE (Abu Dhabi not Dubai) and money was wired through there" is a poor excuse. For that matter, P&O contracts should have been canceled right after 7/7, since the UK is a much larger base of terrorism and fundamentalism in general and all German purchases should be scrutinized since a lot of the 9/11 hijackers were based in Hamburg.

I'm particularly disgusted by the media. If you were watching CNN, you'd think that Hamas was being handed control.