Trapped Inside the Box of Commonplace Misperceptions (UAE ports controversy)

Whereas I am dead-set against the idea of the government of the United Arab Emirates running terminal operations at any American commercial ports, it is also important to understand just how painfully little the average American, average American politician and average American bureaucrat knows about the conduct of terrorist operations, especially the reconnaissance and attack phases of an operation.

Since the U.A.E. � U.S. port scandal blew up just over a week ago (in large part because of a total communications and leadership failure in government), seemingly innumerable talking heads have been commenting on the vulnerability of shipping containers, which might hold a nuclear or radiological (�dirty�) bomb. It is true that terrorists have examined this possibility and one terrorist has been caught smuggling himself inside a container, and it is accurate to say that we have a long way to go when it comes to achieving the level of container security we must achieve before it is too late, but the annoying truth is that there are a variety of means terrorists can exploit security shortcomings at American ports. Some of these methods will be discussed here and you can rest assured that all are known to and have been explored by terrorists for quite a few years, so don�t email me screaming that I just gave the bad guys an idea. We know the terrorists know about these techniques because they have already used them or intelligence tells us they are fully aware of them.

As a terrorism analyst and counterterrorism instructor who consults with the maritime industry on a regular basis, I assure you that one need not place a bomb in a shipping container to create a massive explosion. In fact, a ship need not have any shipping containers per se to reek staggering destruction, by which I mean tens of thousands dead under the right circumstances.

Most Americans have never seen a liquefied natural gas carrier. Many terrorists have. These large vessels are extraordinarily well marked for safety reasons, sometimes with the letters �LNG� on the massive, roughly spherical containers on or built into the deck holding the gas. Frankly, you can�t miss them or the ship.

Hitting one of these vessels while fully loaded in such a way that one (all you need is one because one could blow the rest under the right conditions) of the containers blows is far from impossible. In fact, it could be almost easy with some basic planning and training. Terrrorists know all about Unconfined Vapor Cloud Explosions (UVCEs) and how LNG becomes vulnerable to such explosions. UVCEs are so feared that some port communities are looking at ways to keep LNG tankers miles away from them.

For example, a small private jet (Bombardier Learjet 40, Gulfstream G100, Cessna Citation X, etc.) stolen from a general aviation airport (a comparatively easy task for a trained terrorist team) and flown into a full LNG container amid several such containers on a ship in or coming into port, could produce an explosion the likes of which few humans have ever seen or would want to see again.

So how have terrorists already considered attacking such vessels and others carrying highly volatile cargoes?

A tried and true method is the small-boat attack, which was used effectively against the USS Cole and supertanker Limburg. There are safeguards in place used by the Coast Guard to hopefully prevent a small craft from detonating a charge alongside an LNG carrier, but the tactical fact of the matter is that a powerful, properly rigged speedboat slowly motoring past an LNG carrier just outside the Coast Guard stand-off perimeter could easily go to full speed and suddenly veer through the Coast Guard vessels to strike the LNG carrier.

Al Qaeda-linked terror groups have interested in scuba for some time. I broke the story of such a group and scenario in the Philippines. But this method posses some operational challenges that, while not insurmountable, are demanding. With the right equipment (especially closed-circuit rigs, which when used correctly do not release bubbles to the surface, thus possibly giving away a diver�s presence) and training, divers could sink or detonate an LNG carrier.

You can ask the Israelis about how imaginative terrorists can be. For example, very few Americans are aware of how motorized hang gliders of sorts called ultralights have been used by terrorists to attack into Israel from southern Lebanon. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine � General Command began trying this technique in the 1980s. One attack resulted in the deaths of half a dozen Israeli soldiers who were caught off guard when a PFLP-GC terrorist suddenly arrived at their position flying an ultralight. This tactic is truly thinking outside of the proverbial box. A two-man ultralight with one of the terrorists operating a .50-caliber rifle with armor-piercing incendiary rounds could fly over an LNG tanker and open fire with impressive results.

That same rifle could be used against an LNG carrier from shore or a boat. Engaging the vessel at night could give the shooter(s) substantial more time before they are counterattacked.

Most ports have rail spurs and trains pose unique threats when it comes to infiltration and attack. Terrorists secreted away on a train entering a port, especially at night, could cause unspeakable damage to ships carrying explosive cargoes.

And with a bogus identification card and some training, a terrorist driving a freshly stolen semi cab into a port appearing to be just another driver coming to collect a shipping container could find himself alongside ships carrying God knows what.

So we see that detonating a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb smuggled into the United States in a shipping container is just one means of attack. Why our self-proclaimed oracles of counterterrorism wisdom in the Congress only focus on shipping containers indicates they are true knaves when it comes to the intricacies of preventing terrorist attacks on our maritime assets.

Son, stay in your realm of actual knowledge. Below is a very brief, chopped summary of my background. When you can match it, let me know.

One of the world’s most respected authorities on terrorism, guerrilla warfare, special operations, survival and security, Bob Newman has briefed members of Congress on matters relating to the war on terror and homeland security, and has been commended for his work by mayors, governors, senators, congressional representatives and generals, including Gen. Richard B. Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Newman’s comprehensive “10-Point Plan to Win the War on Terror” has raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. He has given briefings and presentations on terrorism at the prestigious Intelligence Summit in Washington, Maritime Security Council’s International Maritime Security Summit, China Shipping 2004, Intersec Security Exposition, Airport-Port-Terminal Security (Middle East) Exposition & Conference, TOC-Asia (Terminal Operations Conference--Asia), U.S. Air Force Academy, US oil & gas industry, and to various business organizations, as well as an assortment of government (foreign & domestic), media, civic, and private entities, and to professional sports organizations. A terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and tactics consultant to one of the largest metropolitan police departments in the United States, he is also the Director of International Security & Counterterrorism Services for The GeoScope Group, which provides the world’s foremost Vulnerability Assessment Teams from the most elite law enforcement agencies, intelligence organizations and military special operations units in existence.

The host of the “Gunny Bob Show” (Newsradio 850 KOA) and an award-winning military science & terrorism analyst for Clear Channel, Inc., Bob’s hard-hitting, insightful analysis & commentary on terrorism, homeland security, guerrilla warfare and military science has resulted in his appearances on such programs as “The O’Reilly Factor,” “On the Record” with Greta van Susteren, “War Zone” with Geraldo Rivera, “FOX News Live,” “FOX News Sunday” and “Big Story Weekend” with Rita Cosby, “War on Terror: The Hunt for the Killers” with Linda Vester and Laurie Dhue, “The Big Story” with John Gibson, “The FOX Report” with Shepard Smith, ABC’s “World News Tonight,” MSNBC’s “Connected Coast to Coast” (hosted by Ron Reagan Jr. and Monica Crowley), CNN, the “Today” show (interviewed by Matt Lauer), “Talkback Live,” “Catherine Crier Live,” “Montel Williams,” “Cochran & Company,” and radio stations from coast to coast, as well as in Europe and Australia.
In October of 2002, Bob was the counterterrorism consultant for an investigative report on terrorism and homeland security for CBS. In July of 2003, Newsweek’s World Wide Web edition published an extensive interview with Bob on the guerrilla war in Iraq. In January of 2004, Bob accepted the position of military science & terrorism columnist for The Denver Daily News. Bob is a popular political columnist for Frontiers of Freedom and Men’s News Daily. The Chicago Tribune repeatedly consulted Bob in 2004 about interrogation techniques, the Geneva Conventions, and myriad aspects of subjects relating to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. While in the Middle East in March 2005, he was extensively interviewed by Reuters and Agence France-Presse regarding terrorism in the Persian Gulf.
Bob is well known for his uncanny ability to precisely predict the nature and location (by country) of terrorist attacks months, even years in advance, as well as anti-terrorist operations carried out by the U.S. Department of Defense and/or Central Intelligence Agency, and events relating to standard DoD operations, such as Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is also the most successful investigative journalist covering the war on terror, with 95 accurate predictions and assessments, and stories he has broken since October 2001 (more than all other military science and terrorism analysts in the media combined).
Bob won a national-level 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting on terrorism and homeland security, and won a 2001 Associated Press/Colorado Broadcasters Association Award, also for investigative reporting on terrorism and homeland security. In 2003, “Redmond & Newman” won a Colorado Broadcasters Association Award of Excellence. In 2004, Bob won another Colorado Broadcasters Association Award of Excellence for his special live broadcast on the 1st anniversary of the beginning of the liberation of Iraq titled “365 Days of War.” He is also a frequent consultant to the BBC on terrorism, interrogations and guerrilla warfare, was selected by Westword as the “Best Military Expert” in that publication’s 2002 “Best of Denver” competition, and is a recipient of the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps’ Leadership Writing Award.
On 11 September 2004, Dave Kopel of the Rocky Mountain News, who is also an associate policy analyst for the Cato Institute and a columnist for National Review Online, said: “In the Colorado media, KOA evening radio host Bob Newman is virtually alone in presenting a sophisticated understanding of military science.”
A member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, a life member of the Disabled American Veterans, and a federally-certified hostage survival instructor, Bob is a decorated, retired parachute- and scuba-qualified United States Marine with extensive, global operational experience in reconnaissance, special operations, counterterrorism, counterguerrilla warfare, and wilderness survival, and is a ground combat veteran.

Sir. With all due respect for your service as a Marine, the Port Deal is not a "Scandal". The level of misinformation, disinformation and out right Lies being pumped out by the Democrat Part Election Year PR Machine is disgraceful. Here is a copy of part of a letter I sent out this week to various Junk Journalists, Conservative Talk Show Hosts and grandstanding Congress Critters. The FACTS of the Port Deal are quite different then the media spin.

Thank you for your service as a Marine to our country.

To Whom it may Concern:

Ok Time AGAIN, for the facts. You can get the information on Container Security at this link. Click on the link at the top of the thread to see the OFFICAL facts, not the make believe talking points and other nonsense of the Port Deal Critics.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1590048/posts

We scan 100% of the containers coming into the US for radiation all ready. We ONLY NEED to physically inspect about 6% of Containers because of security concerns. It is fraudulent to claim we "only search 3-6% of containers. IF we needed to, we could search more.

The Terminal Operator controls NOTHING about the shipment. He is just the freight handler. That is true of any freight handler be it trucking, air freight or port terminal. The Bills of Ladeing are controlled BY THE SHIPPER as well as the RECEIVER and must go thru Customs. You do NOT let the shipper contol the Purchase Order/Shipment Bill because it is a legal document which once the reciving party signs legally obligates them to pay. Letting the Bill be handled by the Freight Handler would create the easiest possibility to steal. They simply could alter the shipment documents and pocket a portion of each shipment. Thus the Shipper could not PROVE they shipped it and would have no ability to compel payment because the Receiver never signed for it. Legally until the Receiver SIGNS for the freight it belongs TO THE SHIPPER, NOT the Port Terminal or other Freight Handlers. Because of the ability of Port Termanal, Truck Companies and others to misroute, steal or lose Friegth what they pick up and what they deliver is monitored by everyone involved. That is basic business. If you sign for 8000 cases and only got 6000, YOU are LEGALLY liably for those missing 2000 cases. The original Shipper gets paid based on what you sign for, NOT what they say they shipped. It is NOT as easy to add or subtract things from shipments as the Port Terminal Hysterics keep screaming. That too, is another of their lies. The level of RABID ignorance on the part of supposed "Journalists" here is simply inexcusable. The United States is giving NOTHING away. Two weeks into this story it is utterly inexcusable for any "Journalist" to be this rabidly ignorant.

Here are the facts. A PRIVATE company, P&O is selling it Port Terminal Operations. A company Called Dubai Port World is BUYING that private company. Part of what they are acquiring is 9 terminal leases, out of 300, in 6 US Ports. 9 out of 300 GET IT? The US Govt is giving NOTHING away. They have NOTHING to do with the deal. They CANNOT require the leases be granted to some other company. All they can do is REJECT this or that company from getting the leases dure to "Security concerns". Then P&O would either have to find a different buyer OR Dubai Port World will simply sue to overturn the decisions.

Either way, the same American Dock Workers, the same American Clerks, Truck Drivers, Gate Guards, Office Workers, Cleaning Crews etc etc etc etc who NOW work of P&O will switch to getting their checks from Dubai Port World. Some Stock Holders and upper level management will change. The name on the outside of the building will change, the Labor Unions will have to negotiate new contracts (which is why they do NOT want this deal to go thru) and that is about ALL that will change. No misstatements, distortions and lies about "Running our Port" "Compromising Port Security", "Access to Sensitive Military Cargo Shipments" or any of the other utterly stupid nonsense being spewed by some of the Congressional critics is going to change the FACTS.

Those are the FACTS. That is not White House Spin, RNC Talking Points and all the other stupid nonsense being screamed to drown out the FACTS. Time for "Journalists" to grow up and LEARN the facts not mindlessly regurgitate the DNC spin. How can any "Professional Journalists", capable of using a computer, be so utterly IGNORANT of the facts of this matter after 2 weeks? There must be a genetic element. Some Invincible Stupidity Shield gene that keeps "Journalists" from being able to absorb even ONE fact about this topic. The display of panic, hysteric, bigotry and ignorance on the part of SOME of the Port Deal critics is inexcusable.

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