The hallmark of President Bush's administration has unquestionably been attempting to increase national security.

That's why it is so unnerving that President Bush is not publicly and vocally objecting to the sale of major port terminals in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia to a company that is controlled by the government of the United Arab Emirates.

The issue at hand is not whether foreign groups should control U.S. ports. The UK-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company currently operates the ports. The issue is whether giving control to a business located in an unstable part of world like the Middle East is in the best interest of a country fighting a war on terror, backed by many in that part of the world.

White House officials were swift to point out that the UAE is an ally of the United States, while members of Congress responded with equal swiftness that two of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were from the UAE.

Not only members of the Democratic Party, like New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, are posturing against this government-sanctioned deal between a UK-based company and the UAE-based business.

Tennessee Republican and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he would announce legislation putting a hold on the sale, saying the administration needs to further review the sale and implying the reason stemmed from national security concerns.

And the administration's response to the bipartisan affront: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said nothing will change in port security, and the Coast Guard will continue to manage port security without missing a step.

Through this thinly veiled attempt at rubberstamping the deal emerges a plain fact: The sale of six of the nation's ports to a country in a part of world as unstable as the Middle East places the U.S. in a compromising national security situation.