Ports

I've got no particular opinion on the port issue. My gut feeling is that there's nothing to worry about. But this isn't about that, it's about this post from Instapundit yesterday, quoting email from reader Steve Soukup:

Drudge runs with the headline "Arab Co., White House had Secret Agreement..." Follow the link and you find an AP story detailing this "secret agreement." At the end of the third paragraph, is the following, "Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries." Really? So how, exactly, is this news? Does it really deserve to be fronted on Drudge?

Mr Soukup seems to have trouble reading. This is the news. If such obligations are routinely attached to approval in other industries, why weren't they attached here? That's what makes this agreement at least somewhat unusual. There may well be a good reason why the usual requirements were not made here, but in the absence of any obvious explanation it's a fair point to challenge.