By MARY SANCHEZ

The U.S. public unfortunately bought the controversy about the nation’s seaports — hook, line and sinker.

The Dubai Ports World saga showed our worst attributes.

Xenophobia. Isolationism. Ignorance of global trade.

Recent days have illustrated a nation of gullible citizenry, easily ratcheted into a frenzy by report-little, talk-a-lot commentators.

By now many people are discovering that global trade is, in fact, global.

Foreign-based firms for years have helped run the nation’s ports. They do not handle security. That is the job of the U.S. Customs and the Coast Guard.

And, considering that 24 of the world’s 25 major ports are foreign-based, most goods coming into the country must pass through foreign operations.

In short, there is virtually no way to participate in global trade without working alongside foreign-owned firms.

So the news that a United Arab Emirates company will handle management of six U.S. ports should have been little news for the general public. A British-owned firm was handling the work prior.

But that’s not what happened.

Instead, the nation saw politician after politician latching onto the issue.

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Robert Menendez began the feeding frenzy. Sen. Charles E. Schumer and Rep. Peter King jumped in with emergency legislation to suspend the deal. And Govs. George E. Pataki and Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. eagerly joined the fray.

All sounded like what they are: politicians desperate to appear diligent about keeping the U.S. safe, in an election year.

The issue is not that there are no legitimate questions that can be asked about the security of the nation’s ports.

The issue is that it took so long for anyone to begin asking valid questions.

An interesting project would be to unwind the “who-called-who” that provided fermentation for the controversy.

A Florida firm, Continental Stevedoring and Terminals, is suing to stop the $6.8 billion deal that gives Dubai Ports World the management of the ports.

Continental was a partner under the old arrangement when the ports, including one in Miami, were managed by the British-based P&O Ports.

Halliburton-esque aspects also are afoot.

Several U.S. executives have also worked for Dubai Ports World. One, Dave Sanborn, is the Bush administration’s nominee for the job of U.S. Maritime Administrator.

John W. Snow, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, is the former chairman and CEO of CSX Corp. The firm sold its port assets to Dubai Ports World after Snow left the company.

Snow says he did not involve himself in the U.S. government’s approval of the P&O to Dubai Ports World agreement.

Still, the men’s industry ties may raise questions of friends in high places giving the nod on lucrative business deals. But it also should calm some fears of “foreign equals terrorist.”

True, two of the Sept. 11 hijackers were from the United Arab Emirates. And yes, they used the country’s banks to launder money.

But they also used U.S. planes. And they exploited holes in U.S. tracking of legal immigrants to do their evil.

Should we now also distance ourselves from deals with England, which produced Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber? Or any number of other countries, including the U.S., as in us, that produced Timothy McVeigh and Jose Padilla?

The reality is focusing on one nation, one race or religion, will not stop terrorism.

But some protection can come from having a broad range of business and political allies in this ongoing battle, including officials of Middle Eastern nations like Dubai.

Worthy of note is that the people closest to the port industry are relatively mum on the Dubai controversy.

Perhaps they are simply stunned numb by the outrage.

Folks like the American Association of Port Authorities are concerned about security at the nation’s ports. They have been pressuring the White House on budget allocations for infrastructure upgrades and other bureaucratic concerns they feel are leaving us vulnerable.

Terrorism needs willing partners, uninformed partners. People wired to react, not think.

Terrorism needs illogic that will take “foreign” and “Arab” and always conclude “TERRORIST.”

Yes, we’ve exposed the enemy in the Dubai port’s deal. It’s us.

Mary Sanchez is an opinion page columnist for the Kansas City Star.