West Palm Beach, FL – February 22, 2006 – In response to the recent port sale controversy, 2008 US Presidential Contender Daniel Imperato reminded us that the real argument is not whether the United Arab Emirates (UAE) should run our ports, but rather whether any foreign company or foreign government should do so.
“First of all, I would like to take the time to explain to the citizens of the USA the deal pertaining to the US ports being taken over by the UAE government owned company. It is very disturbing not because it’s the UAE or the Dubai based company but because America is selling out,” stated Imperato.
The issue at hand is the $5.8 billion sale of the London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company – a private firm which had run commercial operations at six key U.S. ports – to the government-owned Dubai Ports World.
Imperato felt that our government was not taking responsibility for our ports, and lacked fiscal responsibility.
“Our country is in so much debt, both publicly and foreign, and our deficit is so high that our government is nearly bankrupt. Our administration continues to spend money like drunken sailors. Our leadership in this country has gone from organized, protective, with pride and privilege, to hog-wild spending, confusion, mixed signals, and inappropriate governance pertaining to the security of the United States and the people in it,” explained Imperato.
Many congressmen in the US House and Senate have been opposed to the deal on the grounds that the UAE has involvement with terrorism.
Imperato strongly disagreed with those who are misinformed and who fail to realize that the UAE is an important country to the stability of the Middle East region and has been one of our best allies against terror.
“First of all, the UAE is one of the finest countries and governments in the world. They support their people. They give government housing. The ruling family of the country is supportive of all. The country is growing leaps and bounds and the government is stronger than most. The leadership of the UAE pertaining to the region is remarkable and the region should take note of their success.”
“The port issue should not be misconstrued again as our administration has been misconstruing it. The Democrats and Republicans continue to throw stones and label countries and religions, constantly mixing the two. Once again I am highly offended at the administration’s actions and the Democrats and Republicans’ rhetoric.”
The real issue at hand for Imperato was that the United States of America was ‘selling out’.
“The USA and its people should clearly understand that the port deal has nothing to do with whether the UAE is safe and secure. It has to do with the fact that no US port should be operated by any foreign government or foreign company. The United States of America is selling out because it doesn’t have the money or the resources to expand its government interests around the world as others do,” asserted Imperato.
Another sign that the US is running out of money is the fact that it has not properly funded port security.
Earlier this month, the president of the American Association of Port Authorities complained that the $708 million allotted for maritime security over the past four years amounted to only one-fifth of what the port authorities had identified as needed to properly secure the ports.
This has lead to improper, under-funded, port security that causes cargo to go unchecked when entering our nation, a major security breach.
“While the British P&O company controls our ports that are in disaster, our friend Lou Dobbs says on the CNN reports along with some of the senators state that our ports are very vulnerable and that a large percentage of cargo goes unchecked,” stated Imperato.
“We should continue to tell the world that we are at risk. We should continue to allow other governments to reinvest their money and their capital in the energy sector and the shipping sector while America continues to spend its money digging holes that they can’t get out of, making recommendations of leadership in countries which we have no control over, and allowing the world to get ahead of us,” explained Imperato.
Imperato went on to state that if the UAE didn’t buy the ports, another government would have.
“The fact remains that if it wasn’t the UAE and the Dubai based company, it would have been a Chinese based company or a Singapore based company who would have been buying all of the ports. If you look at the history, the ports around the world have been up for sale and have been operated by other organizations and foreign companies for a long period of time,” said Imperato.
According to Imperato, it was time for American companies to step up and take a real interest and ownership in America.
“The USA is vulnerable not because of the UAE, but because our own country and our own companies are not even interested in protecting our homeland and putting up the capital necessary to make our homeland the most secure homeland in the world. No. Our companies and the leadership in those companies are more interested in shipping jobs offshore, hiring immigrant labor, and allowing their companies and their visions of their companies to sell out America,” stated Imperato.
Doing business with the UAE was not the problem in Imperato’s view, in fact, it was a good idea. The real problem is that we neglected our homeland security and have lacked on diplomatic relations around the world.
“The leadership of our country George W. Bush, is half wrong and half right. The UAE is a strong supporter against the war on terrorism and has a lot to protect in their own backyard particularly in the ports of Yemen. What is most important is that George W. Bush and our administration should not be in a position of weakness and our own companies should not be in a position of weakness. We the government of the USA and the companies of the USA should be operating our ports and our security, employing our American people, and not giving jobs away to any country or any government. We should stop throwing stones at other countries for security when our own country’s security was breached on 9/11. This is an outrage.”
“Our president ought to take serious note of the damage that he is causing around the world. We have got Venezuela, and threats from Venezuela to shut off the energy and oil supply. We have got problems with Russia becoming the watchdog for Iran. We have India upset because America is bullying them into the Iran nuclear situation. We’ve got China upset because our administration is forceful and demanding and not peaceful and diplomatic.”
Imperato called for the American people to take a more proactive role.
“We the American people must stand up. We the companies of the USA must stand tall. Our leadership and our president George W. Bush must pay attention to the destruction of our global relationships through the means of our Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice making statements threats, and demands on other countries and our Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld doing the same.”
The United States needed to focus, according to Imperato, less on the UAE and more on itself.
“The mission of the USA should be aimed at peace and the leadership of the country should a light to the world. I am sorry and sad to say that we are not. I am also ashamed to say that our government, the Democrats and Republicans, are throwing stones and creating rhetoric over the shipping ports and putting a label on one of the finest countries in the world, the UAE.”
Imperato then concluded his statement with the following remarks, “Instead of stating the fact that no foreign government or no foreign company should operate our ports, such as P&O and the British who have controlled these ports and have huge security breaches already, our government has waffled. Not to mention, I do believe that the UAE will probably increase the security mechanisms at our ports. But that’s not the issue. The issue is America must first find out is how it must beef up its security internally, and the companies of the United States of America must start owning back America.”
About Daniel Imperato (www.daniel2008.com)
Daniel was born in Boston, Mass (1958), and began his business career in 1977 transforming the manufacturing facilities in Israel through adapting them to the global marketplace along with bringing financing to the factories for global expansion. He also operated a trading company in Singapore and owned a manufacturing company in Belgium. Daniel brings over thirty years of experience in global business planning and development and has personal relationships at high levels around the world. Daniel has consulted for Fortune 500 corporations, with a mix of product lines, consisting of telecommunications products and services, telecommunications equipment including v-sat terminals and handheld mobile satellite telephones, along with passport and identification cards services and secure documents for foreign governments around the world. He is currently a Papal Knight with honors from the Vatican, and a board member for the African Center Foundation, a United Nations NGO, and the founder of Imperiali Organization (www.imperiali.org). Presently, he has organized a Presidential Committee in order to organize support for a run at the White House in 2008.
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This release was published on openPR.
