Andrew Hagen

President Bush is pushing hard to sell to a United Arab Emirates company control of the ports of New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. (*)

Ports are a known vulnerability in US homeland security. There is the possibility that terrorists could slip a nuclear warhead into the US through port security, and then set it off.

Congressional representatives have stated that illegal nuclear weapons technology was transferred in the AQ Khan network through the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between countries such as North Korea and Iran.

While the Homeland Security department has declared that this deal is inevitable, that is false. National security trumps administrative procedure.

Congress should call for a full-fledged investigation of this matter. In particular, the Bush Administration should be asked if there is any “secret deal” between the White House and the UAE.

With the press obsessed with Cheney’s bad aim and the latest sensationalized criminal case, perhaps the news professionals should think about covering this important story.

Victor Davis Hanson, responding to the Muslim cartoon riots. (*)

The great wealth and leisure created by modern technology have confused some in the modern age into thinking that history is linear. We expect that each generation will inevitably improve upon the last. . . .

[W]e are in the great age now of ethical retrenchment. . . .

If we give in to these 8th-century clerics, shortly we will be living in an 8th century ourselves, where we may say, hear, and do nothing that might offend a fundamentalist Muslim — and, to assuage our treachery to freedom and liberalism, we’ll always be equipped with the new rationale of multiculturalism and cultural equivalence which so poorly cloaks our abject fear.

The Religion of Peace now takes a stand against Valentine’s Day in India. (*)

Cartoons of Islam’s prophet, Mohammed, were printed in a Danish newspaper. An international incident has occurred because many Muslims are offended. Products made in Denmark are being boycotted. Will a fatwa or jihad be next?

The cartoons are available online. (*)