Bush White House Continues to Sell America Piecemeal to Other Lands
From the Financial Times:
The White House yesterday gave its stamp of approval to a $1.2bn (€950m; £659m) takeover by a Dubai-owned company of Doncasters, a privately held British aerospace manufacturer supplying parts for sensitive military vehicles and aircraft.
Scott McClellan, the outgoing White House spokesman, said a review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the US (Cfius) had found the acquisition would not jeopardise national security and that key members of Congress would be informed of the decision.
"This was a transaction that was thoroughly reviewed and closely scrutinised," said Mr McClellan.
President George W. Bush's blessing of the deal follows last month's backlash against another state-owned Dubai company, Dubai Ports World, which was forced to agree to sell five US port terminals it had acquired this year after Congress said the deal was a threat to national security.
The White House took special care with the Doncasters transaction, in part because Mr Bush and other officials were blamed for not reviewing the DP World deal thoroughly.
A person familiar with White House and United Arab Emirates officials said at the start of the Doncasters Cfius review that both sides were concerned another congressional blow-upmight seriously damage the US's relationship with Dubai, considered an important ally in the "war on terror".
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