Dubai Firm To Take Over Military Manufacturing Plants

How is this any different than the ports issue? It is a matter of our military's security.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Friday approved a deal for a Dubai-owned company to take control of some U.S. plants that manufacture parts for American military contractors.

"This was a transaction that was thoroughly reviewed and closely scrutinized," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in confirming the deal. "In the view of the committee, it does not compromise our national security."

As a condition of the president's approval, the company signed an agreement that promised an uninterrupted supply, McClellan said. The White House was in the process of informing key members of Congress of the president's decision.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which must review foreign transactions of this kind, began its review of the transaction on Jan. 28 and made its recommendation to Bush on April 13. He had 15 days to make a decision, a timeframe that expired Friday.

The decision follows a political uproar earlier this year after Bush backed a deal allowing another Dubai-owned company to operate several major U.S. port terminals. The company, DP World, decided to sell the U.S. operations that it acquired in its purchase of a British firm to an American firm after Republicans and Democrats in Congress balked, saying the transaction could compromise America's security interests.