us israeli sympathizers

Testing Time
Editorial, Arab News, 29 March 2006

There can be no doubt that some US politicians will claim the blocking of an Israeli bid to take over a US Internet firm, coming so soon after Congress’ wrecking of attempts by Dubai Ports World to take over the six US port installations owned by its newly acquired P&O, demonstrates evenhandedness. It does no such thing. The action against a respected international Arab business was racist and irrational. Stopping an Israeli company getting it hands on sensitive US government-related software is eminently sensible. Someone in the US federal government clearly took the view that Israel had enough sympathizers, influence-peddlers and spies embedded in the country without being allowed to take control of a company called Sourcefire. This firm’s patents include something called “Snort” software, which is used to protect some of the US government’s most sensitive computer systems. The actual decision to block the bid from Israeli Internet firm Check Point Software has come from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS). This is the same body which had earlier approved the Dubai Ports takeover of P&O’s US port assets.

The Israeli company has apparently accepted defeat. It will however be interesting to see if Israel lobbyists in the US try to build up a head of steam about such humiliating and untrusting treatment of a business from Washington’s most loyal and honorable ally in the Middle East. If Congress could overthrow CFIUS’s decision on the Dubai deal, why should it not try the same thing with the attempted Sourcefire acquisition?

Meanwhile the question has been raised: Can Americans trust themselves to look after their own security? In a hugely embarrassing operation, US government investigators were able to smuggle radioactive material across the US borders with Canada and Mexico. When a radiation scanner detected one consignment, the investigators produced false paperwork that was accepted by the border guards. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO), which set up the operation, claims that there was enough radioactive material in the consignments to make two dirty bombs. It has also pointed out that it had been able to buy this nuclear waste in small quantities from commercial suppliers in an unnamed third country, in a telephone transaction that involved no checks whatsoever.

America is supposed to be ringing its borders, including the ports Dubai World thought it had bought, with over 3,000 sensitive radiation detectors. The GAO reports this program is woefully behind schedule and over budget. What is also clear is that all the detectors in the world are going to be no good unless border guards act intelligently on the warnings that they give. US customs and border authorities are reportedly furious at being shown up in this way. Nuclear regulators have added their support by claiming the nuclear material was not enough to make two dirty bombs. Nevertheless, rather than squirm and protest, the most sensible response is for the organizations involved to welcome this condign lesson and re-focus their procedures on the protective job that they are supposed to be doing.