Coast Guard? What Coast Guard?

by Steve

Uh oh. With John Warner sitting next to her with a “WTF” look on his face, GOP Senator Susan Collins sent a fastball at the Bush Administration today on the Dubai ports deal. The Coast Guard had its reservations about the Dubai Ports World deal, and yet those concerns were buried.

Scottie McClellan today:

This was a transaction that was closely scrutinized by national security experts who are involved in these decisions and by our intelligence community. The intelligence community provided an assessment. The Department of Homeland Security also worked to make sure any national security concerns were addressed, by entering into an agreement with the company and requiring some additional security assurances before it moved forward. But this was a consensus of all the relevant departments and agencies — there are some 12 altogether — that are part of that Committee on Foreign Investment.

The truth, according to the Coast Guard, which apparently is outside of the government:

There are many intelligence gaps, concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations, that precludes an overall threat assessment of the potential merger. … The breadth of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities.

Senator Susan Collins today at a hearing:

On the face of it, these unclassified questions and the use of the word “intelligence gaps” that proclude an overall threat assessment of the potential merger and that it involves “potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities.” That language is very troubling to me.

And how did the Bush Administration react to Collins’ concerns today?

"In this case, the concerns that you're citing were addressed and resolved," Clay Lowry, the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for international affairs, told lawmakers.

Really? How? By blowing through the legally-required 45-day review period and doing an assessment in half that time that none of the Cabinet secretaries knew anything about?

Exactly who is making money from this deal Mr. President, besides your dad, your family, James Baker, your Treasury Secretary, and God knows who else in the rotten GOP?

Hat tip to ThinkProgress for the link and image