How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

Of course, NPR is just a mouthpiece of the White House (see previous), so maybe we would do better to get a perspective from outside our own borders. The Economist is a British based paper. Good old Great Britain, they're an ally of ours, so we can trust them. What do they say?

On February 13th, DP World, a ports operator owned by the government of Dubai, a small but economically ambitious member of the United Arab Emirates, paid $6.8 billion to acquire P&O, a British firm which runs a global network of maritime terminals. With P&O came six American ports—Miami, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, New Jersey and New York...

To his credit, George Bush has risen above such populism, reasserting his free-trade principles by promising to veto any legislation that tries to block the takeover. Mr Bush's problem is that, with the exception of Jimmy Carter and John McCain, no prominent politician seems inclined to speak out on his side. With mid-term elections looming in November, Congress may well find enough votes to override the presidential veto...

Underneath all the posturing is one legitimate worry: ports are one of America's weak spots when it comes to national security. Only 5% of the containers that bring 2 billion tonnes of freight to the ports each year are inspected on arrival. That is up from 2% before September 11th 2001, but is still worryingly low. Weapons of mass destruction could be smuggled in and, if the ports themselves were targets, closures or even interruptions would disrupt the global supply chain, says William Daly of Control Risks, a consultancy. This would mean potentially huge consequences for the American and world economies.

But will letting DP World operate there really make a material difference to that risk? Nobody denies that Dubai, though pro-western, is a notoriously porous place, with blind eyes reputedly turned to shipments of drugs and arms. A.Q. Khan's Pakistani nuclear-smuggling network, for instance, was hidden behind a Dubai front. But that does not mean DP World is unfit. It is a globally respected firm with an American chief operating officer, Ted Bilkey, and an American-educated chairman. When Mr Bush nominated an American manager from DP World to a ports post in the Department of Transport last month, nobody objected (though they are complaining now). The company will not own the American ports and it has no incentive to run them badly. Just as under P&O, American coast guards, customs and immigration people will remain fully responsible for security.

The United Arab Emirates is a member of America's Container Security Initiative, which allows American customs officials to inspect cargo in foreign ports before it leaves for America. The employees will continue to be unionised (and presumably patriotic) American citizens. Any Arab employees whom DP World ships in will be subject to American visa approval, no easy matter nowadays.

Alas, America's politicians seem to be in no mood to discuss this issue rationally. So much easier, and more popular, to base policy on the prejudice that every Arab is a potential terrorist.

I'm sure none of this matters to those who are opposed to the sale. But I think it's a real shame. I've been to Dubai, and it was one of the best experiences of my six years in the United States Navy. They were very pro-modernization, with beautiful architecture, huge malls, and a traditional Gold Souk that was an amazing marketplace with fantastic deals and pro-American passers-by. You should see the place. I can't wait to go back.

If you are unmoved, and you have a really good argument against the purchase of P&O by a frim from Dubai, let me know. And you might want to drop a line to Senators Schumer, Frist, Clinton, and Menedez. Because right now they are grasping at straws.