Cooler heads

Mark Steyn supports the ports deal. The transcript will be here. Last night, Tommy Franks was on the Hannity and Colmes show on Fox News Channel defending it as well. He's got a good point. Our navy has been using the Dubai ports throughout this war without incident.

The idea that it's more dangerous for the UAE to run these ports than a British company just doesn't add up to me. Steyn makes the same point. As does Austin Bay. And Instapundit has come on board, as well.

Hugh Hewitt, however, is still fearful that it would be easier to sneak a sleeper agent into a Dubai company than in a British one. I wish he were as worried about letting the Democrats demagogue this into a winning issue in November, but maybe he figures that there's no way the Republicans can explain it to the American people. That could be right, since most of them will only hear the spin from the Cocoon People.

Update: Robert Kaplan seems to support the deal as well. He says we'd lose more in the Arab world than we'd gain in security by killing it, confirming my view that the furor raised by Democrats is race-baiting. He also downplays the talk of civil war fed by Shiite reactions to the bombing of the Golden Mosque.

To his credit, Hugh Hewitt is doing a great job of letting his listeners hear both sides of the issue. His guest list really makes his show the best on the air.