Port Whine

Even though the facts are not all in -- and are not likely to be fully disclosed anytime soon -- there seems to be something for everyone to be dissatisfied with in the Dubai Ports World deal.

The ragheads in the UAE are whining because the deal is going south. The President is whining because someone finally woke up and realized what he was doing and called him on it. The Republicans are whining because the President has made them look bad. And the Democrats are whining because.... well, because they whine about everything when there's a Republican in the White House.

Turning port "security" (which is tenuous at best) over to a foreign entity is always dubious. In this particular case, it's downright idiotic.

The whole problem with the Middle East is that no one there believes in the rule of law. It's pretty much "every man for himself" and the Devil take the hindmost. There is a saying in the Middle East: "Me and my brother against my cousin; me and my cousin against a stranger". A worse case of "us versus them" could hardly be found, especially since the "us" and "them" change so quickly and unpredictably.

Where the President got the ridiculous notion that the UAE is our "ally" in the "Global War On Terror" is beyond our comprehension. Of all the cobbled-together "nations" in the region, only Israel even comes close to being an ally. In his book The Art Of War, Sun-Tsu reminds us that the first law of warfare is to know your adversary. It would also help to know one's allies, if there be any.