Dubai Ports

This week, a deal in which a foreign corporation is selling their management of several domestic sea ports caught significant attention. And well it should. It is a political year.

What is really going on here? That's a great question. There really hasn't been that much information released about who this company is, nor what they will really do. What we do know, however, is that security won't change. That is controlled by the Coast Guard and ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement). We know that the employees won't change. The longshoreman aren't willing to cut out any of their overpaid employees. So what does change? The only thing I can figure out is who signs the paychecks.

But because this is an election year, certain politicians are trying to gather votes, so they are playing to two of people's worst emotions: fear of security and xenophobia. A longshoreman from Baltimore summed it up when he said, "I don't trust them." Of course, he meant the Arabs. My guess is that if fighting an insurgency is about winning the hearts and minds, and the nations in which we are trying this are Arabic, then this fight is not helping. Although, in the short run, it may help in the polls.