Friday, March 10, 2006

Burning US allies -- and ourselves :: David Ignatius, Washington Post


To appreciate how cockeyed America's Dubai-phobia is, you have to spend a little time here, as I did this week. The truth is, this is one of the few places in the Arab world where things have been going in the right direction - away from terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism and toward an open, modern economy. That's why congressional opposition came as such a surprise here. People in the UAE think they're America's friends.

The ports deal was part of the UAE's embrace of things Western. Wednesday night, I traveled with the minister of higher education, Sheik Nahayan bin Mubarak, to the dusty city of Al Ain to attend a Mozart festival performed by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. And I visited the American University of Sharjah, created nine years ago as a beacon of liberal-arts education. On a wall next to the chancellor's office is a photo of the twin towers in New York, taken by one of the students on June 8, 2001. "There are no words strong enough to express how we feel today," reads a statement signed by UAE students.
I'm proud to be part of that "beacon of liberal-arts education."

UPDATE: A colleague writes, "The picture of the twin towers that was mentioned in this article was taken by one of the local students on the School of Business and Management study tour to New York. We had attended a seminar at one of the companies in the twin towers a short time before he took the photo. After 9/11 he had the pictures made and signed by other UAE students." By the way, even our business students get a liberal-arts education: it's the American way.
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Anonymous Anonymous said...

Too many US citizens were robbed by the top Enron Management. Those Enron Bosses could NOT claim "diplomatic immunity".

Much of the "American Street's" worry over the "Port Deal" is tied to ENRON & television. The ENRON collapse showed us that Management may be Crooks. Courts MUST be able to try CROOKS. U.S> Television, from "Barney Miller" to "Law & Order", has shown abuses of Diplomatic Immunity. Hollywood has conditioned TV viewers to believe "Foreign Diplomats & Royals" will use their "Immunity" at any Opportunity! Hollywood has shown "Immunity" as a VALID DEFENSE for crimes; from Double Parking to Slavery, Shop Lifting to Counterfeiting.

Is it any wonder that the "American Street" doesn't like "Diplomatic Ownwership"?
If a Treaty, pre-empting any abuse
of "diplomatic immunity" had preceded this Deal, It might have passed the "Street Test".

11:49 AM  

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