Notebook By Jonathan Guthrie
Jeepers! That was close. Without the timely warnings of US politicians such as Hillary Clinton, those sneaky Arabs would have gotten away with it, too. Dubai Ports World would have bought P&O. And the next thing anyone knew, Iraqi insurgents would have overrun the blue crab eateries of Baltimore. They would have swarmed ashore in droves once the port was in the hands of fellow Arabs.
Like Chuck Schumer says, Arabs could easily compromise homeland security by furtive acquisition of US assets. You drive a Chrysler, right? Notice a raggedy, unhealthy vibration through the stick shift? You probably just thought it was a lousy car. Dubai International Capital bought a $1bn stake in DaimlerChrysler last year. Go figure.
Ever been to Tiffany's? Funny how pricey all that diamond jewellery is. Way out of the range of the ordinary, hard-working blue-collar family. But those swarthy high-rollers who arrive by limo never seem to have a credit problem. Investcorp of Bahrain owns Tiffany's and Gucci. You work it out.
Across the pond, where P&O is based, no one gives a damn. The Brits just auction their assets to the highest bidder. The UK economy seems to do pretty well, despite that.
It makes the UK a dangerous place to live. For example, Investcorp owns the Welcome Break roadhouse chain. They say they aren't trying to poison their customers. The Colonel Sanders on their billboards looks different, too. Imagine that face with a khefiyah, but no glasses. Yup. It's Osama.
Guess who the most important guy in British horse racing is. Lord Hugh Grant? Sir Aston Martin? No. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum. He doesn't sound British because he isn't. He's the guy behind the P&O bid. Starting to see the connections? Any one of his hundreds of pure-bred Arab steeds could be an animatronic blast bomb, primed to explode when approached by a minor royal with a sugar lump.
A person could start dreaming up all kinds of whacko conspiracy theories. If they were paranoid. Thank God realists like Senator Clinton stop us doing that.