A Reality Check on Port Security

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

By Andrea Mitchell, NBC Nightly News

March 7, 2006

Transcript

Intro: NBC News In Depth tonight—a reality check on the United Arab Emirates, which we’ve been hearing so much about in connection with that controversial deal to take over operations at several U.S. ports. The question, is the UAE America’s friend or foe? NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell takes a closer look at the UAE and one of its centers- Dubai.

Andrea Mitchell: This is modern Dubai: host to world-class golf, champion tennis, the world’s richest horse race, and a giant indoor ski resort. But this also Dubai; for years a center of terror financing including most of the money transferred to the 9/11 hijackers.

Brian Jenkins: (RAND Corp., Terrorism Expert) This is a tiny country, in a very rough neighborhood, and so its ability to fly in the face of a lot of things that are going on in that area is somewhat limited.

Andrea Mitchell: According to the 9/11 Commission, Dubai did little to address the problem of money laundering and was home to two of the terrorists who flew into the two towers.

Tim Roemer: We should be concerned that they had a woefully inadequate tracking system on terrorism prior to 9/11.

Andrea Mitchell: But since 9/11, U.S. officials and outside experts say that Dubai has cracked down, and provides a critical military base for the U.S.

Lee Hamilton: (Former 9/11 Commission Chair) They have become quite a strong ally of the United States in terms of the war on terrorism.

Andrea Mitchell: But another problem; rampant smuggling through Dubai’s port. In this criminal complaint obtained by NBC News, the U.S. contends that the country’s director of customs would not allow a U.S. special agent to detain a shipment of nuclear equipment heading to Pakistan in 2003, and is still permitting nuclear equipment to get to Iran.

Gary Milhollin: (Nuclear Expert) Unless Dubai is willing to impose restrictions on what Iran can buy; there is no hope of stopping the Iranian bomb program.

Andrea Mitchell: Most recently the Coast Guard raised concerns in December that the U.S. still has intelligence gaps about Dubai. The Coast Guard says that’s been resolved. U.S. officials concede that Dubai has had a mixed record since 2001, but say its government may not have known about the smuggling. If so, critics say, that raises new questions about Dubai’s control over its own territory, and whether it should be trusted to run American Ports. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington.

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