Posted on 03/11/2006 12:48:58 PM PST by Old_Mil
WASHINGTON - Lapses by private port operators, shipping lines or truck drivers could allow terrorists to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the United States, according to a government review of security at American seaports.
The $75 million, three-year study by the Homeland Security Department included inspections at a New Jersey cargo terminal involved in the dispute over a Dubai company's now-abandoned bid to take over significant operations at six major U.S. ports...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Considering the number of lies, misstatments and misrepresentations made by the Port Deal critics, I think we will need to actually SEE the report before we leap to any conclusions. This sure smells like stage two of Chucky Schumers PR campaign to nationalize the Ports and put all Port Operations under Govt Control. Just think all those thousands and thousands of new Govt workers donating to the Democrats campaigns and the "Conservatives" will do all the PR dirty work for him. Chucky sure is one smooth operator.
Oppsie. See there is the lie here all ready. Just where is Coast Guard, DHS, Customs and the Border Patrol in this? THEY, not the Terminal Operations people are responsible for shipping security. Just another manufactured lie by the Port Deal Hysterics
Good, sounds like they are working.
IBTZ (just teasing).
Look who's being quoted in the article,patty frickin' murray.
That's sad.
Chuck Schumer, Senator Chuck Schumer. Please come to a white courtesy telephone.
Yes, why didn't Chucky just give the report to the Terrorists directly? Oh, he wouldn't make brownie press points, that's why.
Think Lonshoremen's Union and the Teamsters who are neck deep in theft and corrupttion at the airports and sea ports. Anything to make money.
You're cracking me up. LOL
Among the study's findings:- Safety problems were not limited to overseas ports. A warehouse in Maine was graded less secure than any in Pakistan, Turkey or Brazil. "There is a perception that U.S. facilities benefit from superior security protection measures," the study said. "This mind set may contribute to a misplaced sense of confidence in American business practices."
- Truck drivers in Brazil were permitted to take cargo containers home overnight and park along public streets. Trains in the U.S. stopped in rail yards that did not have fences and were in high-crime areas. A shipping industry adage reflects unease over such practices: "A container at rest is a container at risk."
- Containers could be opened aboard some ships during weekslong voyages to America. "Due to the time involved in transit (and) the fact that most vessel crew members are foreigners with limited credentialing and vetting, the containers are vulnerable to intrusion during the ocean voyage," the study said.
- Some governments will not help tighten security because they view terrorism as an American problem. The U.S. said "certain countries," which were not identified, would not cooperate in its security study - "a tangible example of the lack of urgency with which these issues are regarded."
The study, called "Operation Safe Commerce," undercuts arguments that port security in America is an exclusive province of the Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection and is not managed by companies operating shipping terminals. ...
The study, expected to be completed this fall, used satellites and experimental monitors to trace roughly 20,000 cargo containers out of the millions arriving each year from Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Most containers are sealed with mechanical bolts that can be cut and replaced or have doors that can be removed by dismantling hinges.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Ports_Security_Study.html?source=mypi
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