You know the story. Personally, I actually agree with Bush on this. My primary reason for not being against the deal is because I don't see port security changing a bit. I don't believe for a second that a terrorist group couldn't currently smuggle in whatever they wanted to smuggle, so no change there. And I don't see the DPW firing existing workers in exchange for terrorist-friendly Middle Easterners
The only legitimate reason we would have to deny this deal is if DPW has had a mixed security record, or if we had some reason to suspect a large-scale change in personnel and/or security processes. Anything short of that is basically a knee-jerk reaction, which sends a pretty clear message to the moderate Muslims that we consider their whole region untrustworthy. While that may very well be the case, it would pretty much be an admission that we're no longer going to try to win hearts & minds over to our cause.
I know the UAE itself is a mixed bag, but like I said, unless they make wholesale changes through DPW, I don't see any real change.
I also have to say I'm intrigued by how many people are suddenly questioning Bush's attitude towards terrorism based on this situation. Why start questioning his resolve now?
