HOMELAND SECURITY -- THE FORGOTTEN PORTS

The Progress Report

HOMELAND SECURITY -- THE FORGOTTEN PORTS:
A veteran U.S. counterterrorism agent has a scary message about the vulnerability of the nation's ports: "If I was Al Qaeda and I was looking for a hit, that is exactly
where I would look." According to the LA Times, "For all the concern
about safety at the nation's airports, counterterrorism officials and other
experts say the nation's ports may now present an even greater threat
(http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-port26nov26,1,3704469.story?coll=la-headlines-california)
. Since Sept. 11, they have received far less security funding than
airports, yet they continue to process far more cargo — more than 9.5
million containers a year." For example, about 12,000 containers arrive
every day at Los Angeles and Long Beach ports in California. Under
current screening measures, officials only scan about 720 of these
containers and inspect roughly 43 by hand. Dale Watson, former FBI head of
counterterrorism, states, "Even though there were manifests, some of us got
the sense we really didn't know what was coming and going."