Monday, February 27, 2006

Sherwood has his marching orders; Carney says stop it

Ports divide Sherwood, Carney:

As U.S. Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Tunkhannock, called for patience and review in approving a deal that would allow an Arab-owned company to manage six American seaports, his Democratic opponent, Chris Carney, said it would take the United Arab Emirates years to build up enough trust for such a contract.


Sherwood thinks it's a good idea because the White House told him it is. Carney thinks it's a bad idea because common sense tells you it's not.

CARNEY: SHERWOOD HAS "PRE-9/11 MENTALITY" ON PORTS

"This is an example of a pre-9/11 mentality towards national security," said Chris Carney, who is running against Sherwood for U.S. Congress. "This is not a deal that needs to be 'tweaked.' It's a deal that needs to be stopped," said Carney. "The UAE has been the crossroads of international terrorists and the state-sponsors of terrorism for 20 years. Two of the 9/11 hijackers came from the UAE; the UAE made it hard to go after terrorist money after 9/11; and the UAE was one of three nations that recognized the Taliban in Afghanistan."

Not to mention it was a trans-shipment point for nuclear technology coming out of Pakistan, doesn't recognize Israel and almost never votes with us in the UN.

"We also have to remember that this is not just a corporate merger, the UAE owns and operates the company that is slated to take over our ports," said Carney. "What’s next? Handing over JFK Airport in New York to Iran? Handing over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport to North Korea? After 9/11 we cannot afford to play nice with terrorists."

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