Homeland Security Policies Overlook Essential Issues, Says Shipping ExecutiveFrom The Reform Institute:
Sandra I Erwin. National Defense. Arlington: Nov 2007. Vol. 92, Iss. 648; pg. 20, 2 pgs
(National Defense Industrial Association)Security industry soothsayers for years have been sounding alarms about the prospect of a nuclear or biological weapon reaching U.S. shores in a shipping container.
"A terrorist attack involving shipping could severely disrupt the global supply chain and cripple the economy," says a report by the Reform Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.
The admonitions have been heard. Congress recently mandated that, within the next five years, all U.S.-bound maritime cargo loaded at foreign seaports be screened for radiation.
The security measures may be well intentioned, but are unlikely to create a foolproof system, especially in the unwieldy global shipping business, says an industry executive. The legislation does not take into account that container ships are only a small percentage of the many thousands of vessels traveling the world's oceans, nor does it consider that many of the containers, once they are loaded on ships, are not accessible by radiation detectors, says Stephen M. Carmel, senior vice president of maritime services at Maersk Line Ltd.
Maersk, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, operates in 125 countries and runs the world's largest container ships, which are bigger than Navy aircraft carriers. It runs a U.S.-flagged shipping line and operates 30 vessels for the Navy's Military Sealift Command.
The company on any given day has 1,000 ships at sea, 550 of which are cargo ships carrying up to 11,000 containers, Carmel says.
Speaking at a recent maritime strategy conference in Washington, D.C., Carmel says the latest wave of U.S. security measures ignores some fundamental realities of the shipping world. One is that container ships are so big that no detector would be able to scan every box unless the containers were removed from the ship, which may not be feasible in every case.
Another flaw in the new security mandates is that they ignore the existence of other vessels that don't carry containers. "The world is fixated on container ships, for whatever reason," Carmel says. "Nobody talks about a weapon of mass destruction coming underneath a couple of thousand tons of oil on a tanker," he adds. "Container ships are a small percentage of ships. In places like Africa, there are more tankers than container ships."
Carmel also chastises the Department of Homeland security for pursuing piecemeal efforts instead of taking a broader view of the threats.
The U.S. government's so-called "maritime domain awareness" program - intended to gain global access to information about terrorists trying to smuggle a WMD into a U.S. bound ship - is not well coordinated, Carmel says. "It's a collection of pre-9/11 programs" that has been clumsily executed, he says.
A case in point is the emphasis on automated identification systems to track ships and cargo at sea. That technology has significant limitations and compliance is far from universal, says Carmel. "At least 30 percent of all data is incorrect. The concern about false data is global."
Another major flaw in U.S. policies is that they disregard the role of foreign companies and authorities in strengthening security, Carmel asserts. In the June 2007 cargo security policy issued by DHS there is no mention of international issues, overseas shipping authorities, shipping companies or terminal operators, he says. "About 98 percent of container ships are foreign flags, all terminal operators are foreign owned. You have to engage them. It's a huge task."
The protection of U.S. civilian ports from terrorist attacks also is being unintentionally undermined by the military's airtight security, he notes. "The Defense Department, in a perverse way, by hardening its domestic targets, is making civilian targets more attractive," says Carmel. "Nobody consciously set out to do that," but the reality today is that the Navy is consuming Coast Guard resources for force protection, and leaves the Coast Guard with fewer assets to protect the civilian side.
Both the Navy and the Coast Guard increasingly are shifting more resources to anti-piracy efforts. But in Carmel's opinion, piracy is a much over-hyped threat. "For international trade, it's not a big problem," he says. What usually gets reported in the media as piracy acts are mostly low-end crimes such as theft of food supplies, he says. "People don't get past the headlines."
Petty thieves and stowaways are the real nuisance, he adds. "We spend a lot of money on private security to deal with stowaways."
Carmel's views are not unlike many other executives in the shipping industry who complain that tighter security will hurt their business.
But he also predicts that security measures - such as the recent law mandating the scanning of all containers - will hurt working-class Americans more than they will perturb wealthy corporations.
When one considers that 30,000 containers come into the United States every day, "if the supply chain is disrupted, it will hit WalMart shoppers harder than it will affect the shoppers at Saks Fifth Avenue," Carmel says. "The giant sucking sound that Ross Perot warned about will get louder. It'll be harder to do business in the United States, so jobs will migrate overseas."
Advocates of stricter security dismiss these claims as corporate whining.
"Maritime trade is a critical part of our economy, but it also represents a serious vulnerability that must be addressed," says Robert Kelly, a homeland security expert at the Reform Institute. "While there are some legitimate concerns regarding the 100 percent screening requirement, the feet of the matter is that it is now the law. Instead of procrastinating and posturing for extensions, all the players should see this as an opportunity to enhance the resiliency of our supply chain," says Kelly. "The mandate is workable if innovations such as 'smart' containers are utilized, and the public and private sectors collaborate closely."
New Report: Securing Maritime Cargo is Vital to U.S. Security and Economy
New Report Urges Use of “Smart” Containers in Addition to Cargo ScreeningOctober 3, 2007
(snip)
Resiliency is the major focus of the Reform Institute’s work on homeland security. “The Reform Institute is committed to strengthening the ability of the U.S. to withstand and quickly bounce back from a catastrophic event without severe disruption to economic and social activity,” according to Reform Institute Executive Director Cecilia Martinez. “Under the direction of Bob Kelly, we will educate policy makers and the public about the need to focus on resiliency in homeland security policy and provide practical solutions for achieving resiliency.” Mr. Kelly’s distinguished public service career included serving on the White House staff as General Counsel, Office of Administration in the Executive Office of the President, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Drug Enforcement). He also served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. He also possesses extensive private sector experience.
Full Report (PDF): Container_Security_Final_10-02-07_(in_template).pdf
More frickin ROT.
"Homeland Security Expert"? Maybe... he is an attorney. But his business interests, like Centauri Solutions seem to benefit from whatever plan is ultimately adopted and some of these other businesses look well positioned for a "technological" fence and the like.
Robert W. Kelly is a Founder and Managing Partner of CenTauri. Prior to CenTauri, Mr. Kelly served as Vice President and General Counsel for Gray Hawk Systems Inc. and its successor ManTech-Gray Hawk. Mr. Kelly was also a founder of two successive technology companies in the wireless mobile services industry and had also directed the government business group of ORBCOMM, the world's first low-Earth orbit satellite communications service. Prior to entering the private sector, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Drug Enforcement) where he also served as Deputy Chairman of the nation's Border Interdiction Committee. Before his appointment to the Pentagon, he served on the White House staff as General Counsel, Office of Administration, Executive Office of the President (EOP). Previously, while on active duty, he served in the White House Military Office as Special Assistant for Operations Policy.From National Journal. Sep 1, 2007. (Vol. 39, Iss. 35; pg. 59)Mr. Kelly served in the U.S. Coast Guard for nearly ten years as both a lawyer and in operational and special assignments and also served in the Coast Guard Reserve for an additional thirteen years. He is a member of the Massachusetts and Virginia Bar.
For Robert Kelly, national security is a family affair. His son, Brendan Kelly, is a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy and is heading to Iraq in October. His daughter, Erin Kelly, is involved with the Homeland Security Department through her job at Booz Allen Hamilton, a global consulting firm. And Kelly himself is a managing partner at CenTauri Solutions, a small Alexandria, Va.-based consulting firm that does work for the Pentagon, DHS, and the broader intelligence community. Now he is about to take on die role of senior adviser on homeland/national security at the Reform Institute, a think tank with roots in campaign finance issues that has recently extended into other areas. Kelly says that joining the institute was a chance to "keep my fingers in the policy world, and I've been a policy guy for a long time." Kelly explains, "I think what really attracted me to the Reform Institute is the fact that they're very much a centrist organization and focus on solutions, rather than what everybody else seems to be doing, which is a lot of hand-wringing about the problems." The institute's advisory committee includes Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C, and former Sens. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., and David Boren, D-Okla.The second resume is interesting. Wouldn't that place him in the White House with Poindexter and Ollie North?Kelly, a 58-year-old native of Boston, joined the Coast Guard in Portsmouth, Va., in 1980 as a lawyer. "I probably would have done a full career on active duty in the Coast Guard, I enjoyed it so much," he says. "But the White House made me an offer I couldn't refuse." Kelly was assigned to the military office staff in the White House during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also served Bush 41 as general counsel for the White House Office of Administration. He later worked under then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney as deputy assistant secretary of Defense for drug enforcement, plans, and support, a job that entailed frequent trips to Central and South America. Kelly eventually spent a number of years in the private sector, co-founding CenTauri Solutions in 2006. -G.S.
He goes to law school, then goes in the Coast Guard in 1980 as an attorney when he is about 30 years old. Then he ends up on the military staff at the White House staff during Reagan and stays in that military capacity through the beginning of GHWB term (which started Jan 1989) but ends up as WH General Counsel. And also flips over to DoD with Cheney working as a deputy in drug enforcement (leaving by 1992 and Clinton). I wonder who he worked under at DoD--I think it would be the Asst Secy of Defense for Policy and Drug Enformcement? Frequent trips to Central and South America.... that would be the Noriega years, right?