A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

I was going to link to this article earlier today. I think you should read it regardless of the fact that it is now an anachronism of a story:

Dubai-owned DP World, facing congressional opposition to its operation of six U.S. ports, will divest its management of those terminals to a U.S. entity.

The sale is intended to preserve ``the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States,'' Edward Bilkey, the chief operating officer of the company, said in a statement that U.S. Senator John Warner read on the Senate floor.

DP World, which completed its acquisition of U.K.-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., ``decided to transfer fully the U.S. operation of P&O Ports North America to a United States entity,'' Bilkey's statement said.

The company planned to make the transfer ``in an orderly fashion'' so it ``will not suffer economic loss,'' the statement said.

As Dan Drezner rightly rages, this has been one of the most incompetent, nakedly protectionist, utterly self-serving, completely shortsighted disasters of a policy screwup I have seen in a long time. I am more willing than is the good Professor Drezner to spread the blame, but however you pin the blame and whatever the specifics regarding who deserves calumny from the serious-minded regarding this Keystone Kops operation, the fact remains that we have enraged an ally that has been quite loyal and helpful, we have engaged in economic antediluvianism and primitivist nationalism, we have subjugated the long term security interests of the United States to purely partisan politics and we have made it clear to other countries and companies around the world that we can and will break our word to them without reason and in the absence of any sane justification whatsoever.

Did I miss anything? Or are there even more reasons to be upset about the way in which this farce played itself out?