Staged Attack Offers Lesson In Port Security

Charleston (SC) Post and Courier | May 7, 2003 | Ron Menchaca

[Stand Watch Listen]

Terrorists struck a handful of the nation's busiest shipping ports, including Charleston, in a series of fictitious national emergencies acted out Tuesday in a military classroom in Washington D.C.

U.S. Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., who joined an assemblage of top Bush administration officials and 13 other congressmen, had just minutes to consider a bold and risky proposition of shutting down the nation's seaports in a scenario not unlike what federal aviation officials faced on Sept. 11.

"I don't know if that would be the right thing to do," Brown said he advised during the exercise staged by the National Defense University's Strategic Gaming Center at Fort McNair. "We can't close the lanes of commerce."

In the scenario, an "incident" in Charleston blocked part of the harbor, said Air Force Col. James Haas, a senior military fellow who ran the game at the university. He declined to give many specifics about the incidents because the scenarios might be used again.

"Part of the exercise is determining 'is it a terrorist incident or is it an accident?' Then you have to figure out which (government) agencies are going to be involved."

Brown said Charleston's port was hit by a "dirty bomb," resulting in a major blockage of its shipping channels. An oil tanker blew up in Houston's port, he said.

In the end, most of the group agreed that sealing off seaports would be a bad idea, Brown said. "If you close for one day, it takes 10 days to catch back up."

Tuesday's simulation, called "Impending Storm," was part of an ongoing effort by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to teach members of Congress about the nuances of national security, Haas said, adding that it included terrorism incidents at some landside transportation sites.

Those participating included Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Asa Hutchinson, Homeland Security's undersecretary for border and transportation security.

"It was pretty exciting to be there with the decision-makers," Brown said. "I guess it would have scared you to death if it was real."

In planning the exercise, university officials visited Charleston to learn about its port operations, Haas said. "This could occur in Charleston. It could occur someplace else, too," he said. "Our hope is to create smarter and better government decision-makers."

Similar but much larger efforts are planned for five days later this month. What federal officials say will be the largest homeland security exercise in the nation's history is set to begin May 12. Dubbed TOPOFF 2 (for top officials), the exercise will cost an estimated $16 million and involve more than 100 federal, state and local agencies, the American Red Cross and Canadian leaders.

Brown said he came away from the game concerned that ports aren't inspecting enough shipping containers. He said it comes down to money, and finding sources to pay for added security measures.

U.S. Customs inspectors examine only a minute percentage of imported containers, saying they rely on other tools such as combing accompanying paperwork to focus their efforts on "flagged" cargo.

Citing a recent war scenario by a Transportation Department contractor that showed that an attack on a U.S. port could cause the economy to collapse within 20 days, U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., recently lobbied unsuccessfully to tack an extra $1 billion for port security onto the federal budget.