Port Security: Alarming lapse

That a container with 22 people hiding inside could arrive undetected at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18 should be a blaring wake-up call on this nation's long-neglected marine port security.

Nearly five years after the horrors of 9/11, have we learned nothing? By all indications, these stowaways sought to do no more than start a new life in the United States. But what if their motives had been darkly different? Suppose they had intended to plant and detonate explosive devices, chemical or biological weapons or a "dirty" bomb to spread killer radiation in the heart of a major urban population, with a hoped-for -- and likely -- death toll in the tens of thousands?

In an ill-begotten war on Iraq, the nation has squandered years and literally billions of dollars that could have been devoted to making Americans truly safer from terrorist attack.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray has been at the forefront of efforts to persuade a recalcitrant Bush administration to make the investments and undertake the diplomatic efforts necessary to upgrade and integrate security systems for marine cargo.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/265822_smuggled.asp

be done.

With the thousands of containers arriving at ports every day, the Coast Guard, FDA, Customs, and other agencies have always been charged with everything from finding fake Rolexes to spoiled shrimp and containers full of Chinese. And the general safety of ships entering the ports.

They haven't ever been able to keep up with all of it, as anyone can see by the amount of fake Rolexes for sale, the price of heroin, and all of the other stuff that slips though the ports. Unpacking every container that comes in, taking apart locomotives tied to the deck, checking every used car, opening cartons... It's an enormous job they couldn't handle before "security" became the watchword. And, if they do look closer at security, that just means the other stuff will lose even more. Personally, I hope they don't stop inspecting for contaminated food-- a much worse problem than "terrorism."

Shipping has spent the last 40 years becoming incredibly efficient, and everything else suffers. I've seen Interpol going in circles just trying to unravel basic scams and barrtry, and I've seen cheap owners running circles around established standards. It will be an incredibly expensive undertaking to do it all right.