Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A 14-month investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard and FBI has uncovered nine merchant mariners with possible terrorist links, raising renewed concerns that U.S. ships and ports are vulnerable to attack. Coast Guard spokeswoman Jolie Shifflet said on Thursday that "Operation Drydock," prompted by national security concerns after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had also led to the arrest of about a dozen others whose active arrest warrants for crimes from minor misdemeanors to attempted murder had long gone unnoticed. The Coast Guard said it investigated the records of more than 200,000 people who hold U.S. merchant...

As the world reels from the bombings in Madrid, it is important to remember that the jihad continues in America as well.* The FBI and Coast Gaurd announced March 11 that nine members of the Merchant Marine may have links to terrorist groups. This is the fruit of Operation Drydock, an anti-terror investigation that has lasted more than a year. These efforts, while laudable, only underscore the fact that terrorists have already begun to try to take advantage of the vulnerabilities of U.S.seaports.* The same day, three members of the "Virginia jihad network" were found guilty of conspiracy. Masoud Khan,...