White House Says Bush Didn't Know of Port Deal

Feb. 22, 2006 — -- President Bush did not know that an Arab-owned company was to take over operations at major American seaports until the deal was already completed, the White House admitted today.

"He became aware of it over the last several days," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

As Republicans and Democrats teamed up in growing opposition to the deal, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner.

A growing number of politicians have said they are determined to stop the pending sale of the shipping operations despite Bush's threat to veto congressional action to stop a state-run company in the United Arab Emirates from taking over some U.S. ports.

Last week, Dubai Ports World bought London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. When the deal is finalized, Dubai Ports World will take over Peninsular's stake in terminals at six major U.S. ports in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. The Arab company will control more than 40 million tons of cargo a year.

While the Bush administration says that preventing the deal will send a horrible signal to the United States' allies, Democratic and Republican critics say that the UAE is a country widely known for its ties to terrorism. Two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were from the UAE. In addition, the FBI has said that money for the strikes was transferred to the hijackers primarily through the country's banking system and that much of the operational planning for the attacks took place inside the UAE.

The Bush administration said that there was little criticism when the English company controlled the ports and that Arab companies should be given the same opportunities.

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the UAE had not yet proven to be a trustworthy ally, and that the Bush administration had not been reliable on port security.