Dolts!

That's a cargo container radiation-checker over there on the left. Nifty machines, they're driven over a container and can find radiation that might be emitted by a bomb or similarly nasty cargo.

Trigger it, and alarms go off at customs offices on the dock and in the U.S.

A cool device that helps protect our security -- so why would we put the operation of it in the hands of a Hong Kong company, Hutchinson Wampoa, with close ties to China? And why would we do the deal with no bids, and with no provision for U.S. oversight of the operations?

That's the Bush-Hutchinson Wampoa deal for the Bahamas. There are plenty of justifications and safeguards and most likely no risk, but is there anyone in the White House who is not an insensitive dolt when it comes to image?

So soon after Dubai Ports, a deal that puts Chinese interests close to our port security should have been vetted very carefully and structured to reassure Americans that (1) the Bush Administration understands that our security is paramount and (2) we heard you last time. For cryin' out loud, at least put a U.S. Customs official on the dock!

Look at the door this opens for the Dems, as published on The Democratic Daily:

Here we have just another big F.U. from the Bush administration when it comes to the security of our ports. It was not so long ago that Bush “reassured Congress that foreigners would not manage security at U.S. ports,” however AP News reports “the Hutchison deal in the Bahamas illustrates how the administration is relying on foreign companies at overseas ports to safeguard cargo headed to the United States.”

0 for 2. Unbelievable.

hat-tip: AP via memeorandum
Tags: Ports, Port security, Dubai, Hutchinson Wompoa