15 Freighters Believed to Be Linked To Al Qaeda

Washington Post ^ | 12/31/2002 | John Mintz

[Pokey78]

U.S. Fears Terrorists at Sea; Tracking Ships Is Difficult

U.S. intelligence officials have identified approximately 15 cargo freighters around the world that they believe are controlled by al Qaeda or could be used by the terrorist network to ferry operatives, bombs, money or commodities over the high seas, government officials said.

American spy agencies track some of the suspicious ships by satellites or surveillance planes and with the help of allied navies or informants in overseas ports. But they have occasionally lost track of the vessels, which are continuously given new fictitious names, repainted or re-registered using invented corporate owners, all while plying the oceans.

As they scramble to keep tabs on the largely unregulated and secretive global maritime industry, U.S. officials have no end of worries about how nautical terrorists could attack U.S. or allied ports or vessels, officials said. They cite such scenarios as al Qaeda dispatching an explosives-packed speedboat to blow a hole in the hull of a luxury cruise ship sailing the Caribbean Sea or having terrorists posing as crewmen commandeer a freighter carrying dangerous chemicals and slam it into a harbor.

[PoorMuttly]

15 new artificial reefs. Great !

[RCW2001]

Seems like we heard of this shortly after 9-11 also...

[tonmo]

Semi-related, anyone care to comment on why we're not closing all of our borders at this point, even as a temporary measure?

...and yes, this IS series. :-p

[Savage Beast]

Say, you remember those Al Qaida thugs that were vaporized from the air by the Predator...???

[AntiGuv]

...anyone care to comment on why we're not closing all of our borders at this point...

Simple. Because the economy would collapse.

[Uncle George]

We are at war: We have submarines: What the hell are we waiting for?

[concerned about politics]

Remember that radio active ship (they say it was due to tiles), the something-er-other Senator? What ever happened to that ship, anyway?

[Robe]

SINK 'EM... The ocean is wide and deep... strange things happen ya know...

[AlaskaErik]

Time to give our subs some torpedo practice!

[tonmo]

Simple. Because the economy would collapse. What if there were to be a lot of money (I dunno... billions) devoted to regulating traffic? Couldn't this be done in a way that wouldn't cause our economy to collapse, while severely restricting enemy infiltration by heavy monitoring?

[MeekOneGOP]

[kimosabe31]

Second the motion. If we have them ID'd, sink them.

[DWar]

BINGO !

[Thud]

ping

[AntiGuv]

Sure it could - but that's tightening the border controls, not closing the borders down altogether. Perhaps that's what the original post meant though I took it literally. In any case, so far as the ports are concerned, it seems that conflicts between the maritime companies & the longshoreman unions are the greatest impediment (aside from the breadth & scale of the problem). I really haven't looked into any of the details about that or why the Feds aren't moving more aggressively to improve port security. To be honest, I just figured that's one of the things this new Homeland Security Department is supposed to take care of whenever it gets organized.

[Crossbow Eel]

"Semi-related, anyone care to comment on why we're not closing all of our borders at this point, even as a temporary measure? "

Simple - it would cost the US more then 10 Billion $$ per day !

[TLBSHOW]

Greatness is found when American character and American courage overcome American challenges.

We heard it during World War II, when General Eisenhower told paratroopers on D-Day morning not to worry – and one replied, "We're not worried, General ... It's Hitler's turn to worry now."

George W

[Ramius]

Maybe it's because the borders are 12,000 miles long and we don't have that much razorwire?

Are you actually suggesting that we cease all forms of trade? That's exactly what Al Queda would like us to do.

[all4one]

Well hi-jacked airplanes, as well as, biological and nuclear threats don't bode well for an economy either. I did some business travel to Australia, we would do well to pattern our tourist/business/student visas after their system. They are vigilant, and they keep track of everyone entering and leaving their country. When your work-visa inticates that you will be leaving in two weeks, they make sure that you are on-time. Per my experience they even have a cap on the timeframe for a work visa, as to not impede Australian workers or lose jobs to outside interests.

We are wasting more money to stripe search an 80 Grandmother from Wisconsin, than to protect an imminent danger from our ports or our borders with Canada and Mexico.