U.S. Hiring (Hong Kong) Co. to Check Cargo for Nukes

Not Halliburton....

There's a company in CA that has the capacity to do this...


And dammit another no bid contract....what American official has ties to the company?
<snip>
without American customs agents present.
<snip>

They need to be tried for Treason....they are setting the US to get hit again....that's the only logical explanation...

Even after the Dubai debacle.....

I call more bullsh*t.

:grr:

http://www.williambowles.info/ini/ini-0141.html

Finally there’s Perle’s connection to Global Crossings, the bankrupt telecommunications company. Perle was hired by the Hong Kong-based company Hutchison Whampoa Ltd where he has a fat consulting deal, purportedly worth $750,000, to ‘smooth the way’ for its purchase. Global Crossings handles a lot of US military communications and Hutchison Whampoa is closely linked to the Chinese government and their military.

On edit: Here's more on Perle and that deal. It looks like this was what lost him his position as chairman of the Defense Policy Board:

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/courses/ed253a/richard_perle.html

3/27/03

Global Crossing's management, according to the grapevine, hired Perle to help "overcome national security concerns" within the Pentagon about the Hutchison takeover. And these are not small concerns for the Pentagon. They arise from long-standing links between Hutchison's billionaire owner Li Ka-Shing and the Communist Chinese government -- including its armed forces. The Defense Department is not exactly pleased to see a Chinese-connected firm take hold of Global's huge fiber-optic networks, which is used -- by the way -- by American military and defense agencies. . . .

Perle said, in an affidavit dated March 7, that his position as chairman of the Defense Policy Board gives him a "unique perspective" on and "intimate knowledge" of the national defense and security issues that will be raised by the US Committee on Foreign Investment, which has the power to block the deal. Global Crossing is paying Perle $750,000 for Perle's "perspective" -- and $600,000 of this fee is conditional on US government approval of the deal. . . .

In an odd exchange with New York Times reporter Stephen Labaton, Perle was firm: "I'm not using public office for private gain, because the Defense Policy Board has nothing to do with the CFIUS process." But when asked about his "unique perspective," Perle claimed the deal was drafted by lawyers and he had not noticed that phrase. Later, after realizing his blunder, he called Labaton back to elucidate, saying that the sticky phrase was "in an earlier draft," and that he had noticed it and crossed it out. Perle claims that someone put the phrase back in, and Perle then signed it without noticing.

As I recall, CFIUS is the same board that botched the Dubai Ports deal. Not exactly reassuring.

Thanks for the info.

they're thick as thieves ... seriously

The Blackstone Group was involved with Global Crossing
which went bankrupt and was bought by Hutchison Whampoa c.2002

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutchison_Whampoa_Ltd

that Pentagon Defense Policy Board - is it in reality a liaison/conduit to business profiteering?


imo, the Blackstone Group was set up as a mirror to The Carlyle Group by Poppy's BFEE. Peter G. Peterson heads Blackstone; Peterson is chair or has chaired the Council on Foreign Policy and the Federal Reserve Bank in NY; served in Nixon's admin as Commerce Secty; and, is a Board member at the Nixon Center. The Blackstone Group has been reported to have a strategic alliance with Kissinger-McLarty Associates and American International Group.
http://www.the-catbird-seat.net/BlackstoneGroup.htm
http://elitewatch.911review.org/Blackstone_Group.html


The Blackstone Group, L.P. and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP provided advice and counsel to Global Crossing regarding Hutchison Telecommunications and Singapore Technologies Telemedia Sign Agreement to Acquire a Majority Interest in Global Crossing
http://www.globalcrossing.com/xml/news/2002/august/09.xml


"Not all of the elder Bush’s work is voluntary. His single talk to the board of Global Crossing, the telecom start-up, earned him stock worth $13 million when the company went public. Global Crossing’s employees also kicked in another million for the younger Bush’s run. (We’ll meet Global Crossing again in Chapter 3.)" http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=207&row=4



http://www.hereinreality.com/news/axis.html


Mr. Li Ka-shing is the Chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited. Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited is the flagship of the Cheung Kong Group which has business operations in 54 countries around the world and employs around 220,000 staff. In Hong Kong alone, the Group includes nine listed companies with a combined market capitalization of approximately HK$720 billion (28th February, 2006). Hutchison Whampoa Limited is a Fortune Global 500 company.
http://www.ckh.com.hk/eng/about/about_chairman.htm


a tit-for-tat deal?

Carlyle likely to take over Xuzhou in US$300m deal


Friday, September 02, 2005

Buyout firm Carlyle Group of the United States could become the first foreign group to buy control of a large, state-owned mainland company, market sources said, in a deal that could pave the way for more such transactions.

Carlyle has agreed to pay as much as US$300 million (HK$2.34 billion) for an 85 percent stake in Xuzhou Construction Machinery, China's largest manufacturer of construction equipment, people familiar with the deal said.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=2&art_id=698&sid=4385082&con_type=1&d_str=20050902

Nation-state foreign policy must be as quaint as the Constitution and Geneva Conventions ... it seems to be just global business deals ... We, the People seem to be on our own.



"...this deal has taken 2 years to reach an agreement."


from:

Thoughts on China VC, Private Equity, and Tech

3-23-2006 20:41:50

Carlyle's Xugong deal - an eye for an eye?

"China's Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has refused to approve Carlyle's $375 million purchase of a 85% stake in Xugong Group Construction Machinery Co Ltd., according to Guangzhou's Southern Weekly. According to the story, the ministry believed, 'a foreign investor should not hold a controlling stake (in Xugong Group)'. Xugong is China's largest construction machinery manufacturer and distributor.

"This would be but the latest in a string of nationalistic leanings to come from China - perhaps in response to the US reaction last year to CNOOC's proposed purchase of Unocal."

~snip~

http://www.bubbler.net/lin


Hu is coming to Washington in April ... maybe things can be ironed out???


White House staffer: Hu is here.
George: Hu's here?
Staffer: That's right, Hu is here.
George; Are you mocking me? Hu? That's my question. I'm expecting some dude with instructions to grease palms and skids. Hu it is doesn't matter.
Staffer: I give up.


Chinese Leader To Visit Washington

February 17, 2006

By KOMO Staff & News Services

OLYMPIA - Chinese President Hu Jintao plans to visit Washington state in April, with stops at Boeing and Microsoft, the governor's office said Friday. ~snip~

http://www.komonews.com/news/story.asp?ID=41935

country from attack!!! You Mean there is NO FRICKIN AMERICAN company can do this job!@#$%^& ... this is getting obvious that Bush wants ports open for some of his shenanigans!!!

Will the Bush Administration never give up? Now they've done a no-bid contract to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere. They even acknowledge it's the 1st time a foreign company will be involved w/radiation detectors without US customs agents present. Why a "no-bid" contract? Another crony situation? Maybe with bids an American company might even get some business! God forbid.

Please help stop this nonsense. Thanks.


edited to add email I just sent to my 2 Senators:

Will the Bush Administration never give up? Now they've done a no-bid contract to a Hong Kong company to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere. They even acknowledge it's the 1st time a foreign company will be involved w/radiation detectors without US customs agents present.

Why a "no-bid" contract? Another crony situation? Maybe with bids an American company might even get some business and help keep jobs here instead of overseas.

I expect you to fight this immediately and get the contract killed. I'm getting really tired of this nonsense and fed up with Republicans in general.

.
.
.

Or another MIHOP, LIHOP in the wind?

Ah right!

Elections coming up down there

Another "attack" on the USA could keep the PNACers at the top of the heap

Y'all don't really believe that Bush and Gang are just going to fade into the scenery do ya?

Prescott Bush was learning tricks from the Nazis back in the 40's thru to to the 50's

Don't imagine for a minute that they are going to let go of their stranglehold on the World without unleashing some of their thousands of Nukes on the rest of us . . .

(sigh)

He's all business. No hidden agendas. He runs the world's largest port operator. There's no way he'd risk his empire by allowing anyone to use Hutchison to work against a country in which he does business.

The only argument they can come up with is that a low-paid foreign worker could learn how the machine operates, as if Chinese workers are going to be used for the job. Of course they will be American. This is such nonsense.

The right-wingers like Newsmax also point out that Li Ka Shing does business with China and the Chinese military. That's like the Chinese govt saying they should not buy planes from Boeing because they do business with the US military.

When Li Ka Shing started doing business in China, it was impossible without establishing a good relationship with the government. And at the time the Chinese military was involved in all aspects of the economy, so it was inevitable that he would have a joint venture with one part or another of the military. But that's not where he came from. It's what you had to do to do business in China.

Dealing with Richard Perle is the same. The guy had connections at the time, so Li used him. It doesn't mean he supported Perle's agenda in any way.

Li Ka Shing is 100% business. You don't become one of the ten richest men on earth by being anything else.

Edit: link that doesn't require registration:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Port_Security_Bahamas.html

<snip>
Like other right-wingers and consistent with his obsession with missile defence, Gaffney was most preoccupied with threats from states -- particularly China, North Korea, Iraq, and Syria -- until the Sep. 11 attacks. Indeed, in an odd echo of the Dubai controversy, he mounted a major campaign against the leasing by Hutchison-Whampoa of two port facilities at either end of the Panama Canal in the late 1990s. He argued that the lease was part of a Chinese plot to close the canal to U.S. warships in a future crisis.
<snip>

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32275

Running the ports, of course, is completely separate from running the canal, which is done by the government and people of Panama.

However it still leaves them in a position to close down the canal easily in a time of conflict.

The Panamanian government and 9000 Panamanian employees run the Canal. Hutchison, an international company based in Hong Kong runs the ports, but its workers are Panamanians. How could Hutchison possibly close down the Canal. The could close the port I suppose by telling their workers not to load or unload, but that would just void their contract with the Panamanian government and they would be replaced. In no way would that restrict the movement of ships through the Canal. This is Newsmax fearmongering.

I would guess that it could be done with conventional explosives and there could even be a level of deniability?

(just polishing the tin foil). :)

and have it done with?

Bush is hands down the worst president this nation has ever had.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/port_security_bahamas&printer=1;_ylt=AgTfRUDyicZM3zeT3BKfPjEGw_IE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

U.S. Hiring Hong Kong Co. to Scan Nukes

By TED BRIDIS and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers 15 minutes ago

In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.

The administration acknowledges the no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated U.S. radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.



. . .
"Li Ka-Shing is pretty close to a lot of senior leaders of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party," said Larry M. Wortzel, head of a U.S. government commission that studies China security and economic issues. But Wortzel said Hutchison operates independently from Beijing, and he described Li as "a very legitimate international businessman."

"One can conceive legitimate security concerns and would hope either the Homeland Security Department or the intelligence services of the United States work very hard to satisfy those concerns," Wortzel said.

"oops"
"Li Ka-Shing is pretty close to a lot of senior leaders of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party," said Larry M. Wortzel, head of a U.S. government commission that studies China security and economic issues.

Of course, they'll work hard - they have a LOT of $$$ invested in the US.

this is BIG news, another DUBAI style deal.

coming in to this country?

lord, if a Democrat was doing this, heads would literally roll

and the "ChiComs" have won

do this after the Dubai deal shows they just don't care about security.
Never have, never will.

he has lost his political bearings.

We can crush him with this.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-port24.html



Li Ka-Shing, associated with this company, has close ties to the Chinese military. These dudes were not allowed to buy Global Crossings for national security reasons just three years ago.

How dumb can these people get!!!!!


WASHINGTON -- In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.

The administration acknowledges the no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated U.S. radiation detector at an overseas port without U.S. Customs agents present.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/264158_port24.html

Dem.'s should hammer this mantra all the way home to November. :patriot:

So according the repukes, working and hiring a Communist nation is okay now?

Brain heating up...brain, rapidly vibrating...brain expanding exponentally...


Brain explodes.

We can't even go there for vacations because it's too DANGEROUS!

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/23/bloomberg/sxport.php


"Hutchison Whampoa, which owns the world's largest port operator, said Thursday that 2005 profit from managing container terminals rose 14 percent as cargo shipments increased..."

WTF? why couldn't this be handled through the PROPER aquisition process? how many more cronies are they going to enrich like this before SOMEONE in Congress and the media grows a set to call them to task on it.....

:grr:

Perhaps (perhaps) this is really no different than how things are done today.

In which case, it's still a bad idea.

Three years ago Bush banned them as a security risk and now they protect us from nukes!! Just who is their lobbyist - Is Jack Abramoff like the Mafia, and running the bribes to the GOP from his jail cell?

FACTOIDS: 1. A U.S. military intelligence report, once marked “secret,” cited Hutchison in 1999 as a potential risk for smuggling arms and other prohibited materials into the United States from the Bahamas.

..........2. Three years ago, the Bush administration effectively blocked a Hutchison subsidiary from buying part of a bankrupt U.S. telecommunications company, Global Crossing Ltd., on national security grounds.

..........3. There are no and will be no U.S. customs agents checking any cargo containers at the Hutchison port in Freeport.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11991755/

U.S. hiring foreign firm for nuclear tests at port
Hong Kong company would manage radiation devices in Bahamas

By Ted Bridis and John Solomon
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:03 a.m. ET March 24, 2006


WASHINGTON - One of Americans’ favorite beach destinations, the Bahamas, is getting a new U.S. arrival — sophisticated equipment to detect radioactive materials in shipping cargo.

But U.S. customs agents won’t be on site to supervise the machine’s use as a nuclear safeguard for the American shoreline that is just 65 miles away from Freeport. Under an unusual arrangement, a Hong Kong company will help operate the detector.

The Bush administration says it is finalizing a no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. It acknowledged the deal is the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.

The administration is negotiating a second no-bid contract for a Philippine company to install radiation detectors in its home country, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. At dozens of other overseas ports, foreign governments are primarily responsible for scanning cargo.<snip>


URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11991755/

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Port_Security_Bahamas.html

U.S. to contract foreign co. to scan cargo

By TED BRIDIS AND JOHN SOLOMON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS


This undated photograph provided by the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration shows a specialized radiation detector, known as a "modified straddle carrier," at a port in the Bahamas. The vehicle scans cargo containers at seaports for evidence of radioactive materials. The actual radiation detectors are the white panels mounted vertically on the front of the vehicle. (AP Photo/U.S. Nuclear National Security Administration)
WASHINGTON -- One of Americans' favorite beach destinations, the Bahamas, is getting a new U.S. arrival - sophisticated equipment to detect radioactive materials in shipping cargo. But U.S. customs agents won't be on site to supervise the machine's use as a nuclear safeguard for the American shoreline that is just 65 miles away from Freeport. Under an unusual arrangement, a Hong Kong company will help operate the detector.

The Bush administration says it is finalizing a no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. It acknowledged the deal is the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.

The administration is negotiating a second no-bid contract for a Philippine company to install radiation detectors in its home country, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. At dozens of other overseas ports, foreign governments are primarily responsible for scanning cargo.

While President Bush recently reassured Congress that foreigners would not manage security at U.S. ports, 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.<snip>


http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/6/12/210339.shtml

Chinese Company Continues to Encircle the World
Phil Brennan
Wednesday, June 13, 2001
A huge, multibillion-dollar company closely tied to the Chinese army has set up operations in ports all around the world.
From Panama to the Philippines, an arm of Hutchison-Whampoa, Hutchison Port Holding (HPH), has become the world’s largest seaport operator, embedding itself in strategic seaports all across the globe.

Hutchison holds the exclusive contract to operate the Panama Canal.

An animated map on the Hutchison-Whampoa Web site shows the extent of the encircling movement with seaport operations in Africa (Tanzania International Terminal Services Ltd.) in the Western Hemisphere with seaport services in Beunos Aires, Argentina; Freeport, the Bahamas; Veracruz, Mexico; and at both ends of the Panama Canal.<snip>

I believe, also means a relationship with Dubai which pretty much controls the ME line of trade to Hong Kong since the Cole incident at Aden shook loose the traditional Brit set-up. With the steam about "Red China" once a big nuclear menace the neocons loved to talk about nuking, the little economic thread to Dubia again might be missed.

:-)

Looks like we will be taken over by the Chinese if we continue on our present course.

It would be interesting to have a comparison of Bush vs other presidents in regard to the number of no bid contracts.

Why do these anti-American Republicans hate America so much that they insist upon using foreign workers and shipping our jobs overseas while giving them tax breaks and cuts? How are these people fooling American's to think they have anything resembling the moral, character or true love of this country that they need in order to manage a country with a global industry wisely without hurting it's own citizenry?

America was not formed as a Capitalistic society, that is a lie of the Rich to subjugate the poor through ignorance, the truth is that America was formed as a democratic Representative republic, it wasn't meant to be owned by a few, run by a king or an elite ruling structure, even the most conservative reading of the founding fathers they wanted a broad voting base of educated voters who were capable of basic critical thinking... while we may lack the critical thinking of late we are not to be ruled by a small minority government that caters to big business and big money.

Coast to Coast * apologist host George Noory, guests and callers were furious last night about this, saying they'd supported * but this was the last straw, and it was much bigger than the Dubai deal.

Did you notice how Noory was making excuses or Bush, saying maybe the government was controlled by some evil power and poor, innocent George Bush was just an unwitting pawn? Please... But yeah, the repug audience that Noory has attracted since he took over the show is up in arms about this. Excellent... *rubs hands together*

I haven't heard a peep about this in the mainstream media though. You figure they would love to have another scandal to latch on to....

hiring cheapo foreign workers.

In the private sector too, Middle Class wages are just a drain on Boss' wallet.

GOP wont be happy till ALL jobs given to foreigners.

The GOP goal is to destroy the middle class. Unions built our middle class... GOP now has cut unions in half, and next they will destroy our middle class... look at Mexico as the GOP utopia.

Mexico's economy.. an island of billionaires in a sea of poverty. Your future.

A dirty and dangerous clone of Mexico.