US Coast Guard Warns About DPW Port Deal

Paper: Coast Guard Has Port Co. Intel Gaps

Citing broad gaps in U.S. intelligence, the Coast Guard cautioned the Bush administration weeks ago that it could not determine whether a United Arab Emirates-based company seeking a stake in some U.S. port operations might support terrorist operations.

The disclosure came during a hearing Monday on Dubai-owned DP World's plans to take over significant operations at six leading U.S. ports.

The Bush administration said the Coast Guard's concerns were raised during its review of the deal, which it approved Jan. 17, and that all those questions were resolved.

The port operations are now handled by London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co.

"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 unclassified Coast Guard intelligence assessment said.

"The breadth of the intelligence gaps also infer potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities," the assessment said.

The Coast Guard said the concerns reflected in the document ultimately were addressed. In a statement, the Coast Guard said other U.S. intelligence agencies were able to provide answers to the questions it raised.

"The Coast Guard, the intelligence community and the entire CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States) panel believed this transaction received the proper review, and national security concerns were, in fact, addressed," the Coast Guard said.

Some admiral got his butt reamed for producing this paper and promptly did an about face as ordered. What else can we expect from career officers that are ordered to speak "the truth" as told to them by someone in the chain of command. The original document was probably right on the money, produced in earnest by a staff officer that had nothing but the mission in mind, and cannot speak up for fear of reprisal. The Bush agenda wins again... and how would we know if it didn't? The record thus far tells us that the Bush Gang will manipulate the press, the policy and our actions axccording to a pre-set agenda no matter what the intel says.