President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said Wednesday. The administration continued to defend the deal but also said it should have briefed Congress sooner about the transaction, which has triggered a major political backlash among both Republicans and Democrats...read on
By John Amato
— February 21, 2006