According to a story on
Reuters, Dubai Holding - an investment company owned by the Dubai government - is poised to take over nine factories in the U.S. that manufacture precision parts for U.S. military aircraft and the Abrams main battle tank.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) completed its 45-day security review of the transaction earlier this week and apparently decided everything sounded just ducky.
So CFIUS recommended the transaction last Thursday and sent it on to George for his blessing. Bush now has 15 days to ponder whether selling key U.S. weapons factories to a foreign government with terrorist ties presents any kind of security risk for the U.S.
And they're not just any old factories. The factories were owned by Doncasters, a U.K. firm that was a participant in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project, the largest defense contract in U.S. history and a major component of Washington's plans to maintain U.S. air dominance well into the 21st century.
According to the Joint Strike Fighter website:
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is the Department of Defense's focal point for defining affordable next generation strike aircraft weapon systems for the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and our allies.
In other words, this latest deal puts the Dubai government right in the middle of a program vital to our armed forces as well as to the forces of one of our staunchest allies, Britian.
Stay tuned as the fireworks began to erupt over the next two weeks as George decides whether to back this deal. Chances are the controversy should make the Ports fiasco seem like a minor squabble.