The Next Attack: Trucking Not Prepared?
OLIVER B. PATTON
WASHINGTON EDITOR
More than a year after terrorists hijacked four airplanes and turned them into guided missiles, national security experts say the country still is "dangerously unprepared" to defend itself — and freight transportation is the point of greatest vulnerability.
"In all likelihood, the next attack will result in even greater casualties and widespread disruption to American lives and the economy."
That is the grim message from a task force of seasoned political, foreign policy and military veterans. The group, sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, is co-chaired by former Sens. Warren Rudman and Gary Hart, and includes such heavyweights as former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman William Crowe, and former CIA director William Webster.
Much has been done to improve security, but there still are serious shortcomings — many of them in the country's freight transportation systems, the group said in its October report.
"Only the tiniest percentage of containers, ships, trucks and trains that enter the U.S. each day are subject to examination — and a weapon of mass destruction could well be hidden among this cargo."
Detonation of such a device in a port or a major city would deal a double blow. Apart from the loss of life and property damage, it would force authorities to shut down freight transportation, at tremendous economic cost to the U.S. and to its trading partners.
Sept. 11 created the model: "Nineteen men wielding box-cutters forced the United States to do to itself what no adversary could ever accomplish: a successful blockade of the U.S. economy."
Labor unrest at West Coast ports demonstrates that the continued flow of international cargo is key to the country's economic health. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach alone handle 43% of the 21,000 maritime containers that arrive in the U.S. each day. Closure of these and other ports when dock workers were locked out was costing around $1 billion per day.
What can be done about it? The group begins with a strategic insight: "On Sept. 11, we witnessed how warfare will likely be conducted against the U.S. for the foreseeable future... As long as these kinds of attacks can hurt us, they will be attractive to our enemies."
The key is to make this kind of attack less attractive by developing a layered security system that reaches across the seas and the modes, the group said. Specifically, the system needs security standards for facilities where intermodal containers are loaded, and technologies to track and monitor containers while they are en route. U.S. officials need to work with their counterparts overseas to create performance standards for everyone who participates in global commerce.
The group also warned that something needs to be done to protect the routes between the U.S. and Canada — this country's largest trading partner. Between the U.S. and Ontario there are five major bridges and one tunnel that carry 70% of U.S.-Canadian trade. "Despite this dependency, the U.S. and Canadian governments provide no security to these structures because they are either privately owned or controlled by binational bridge authorities."
Everyone worries about what war in Iraq might do to oil supplies, but the task force said there is a significant vulnerability close to home. The Northeastern states get 60% of their refined oil from refineries in Louisiana and Texas. "A coordinated attack on several pumping stations — most of which are in remote areas, are not staffed, and possess no intrusion protection devices — could cause mass disruption."
Other weaknesses, and solutions include:
• Local and state police do not have access to vital intelligence about terrorists. Each state needs a 24-hour operations center that can provide terrorist information to police.
• First responders such as police, fire and emergency personnel do not have the gear they need. Provide federal money to get protective gear, training and communications equipment into the field.
• Current antitrust and liability laws hinder partnership between public and private entities. Congress should pass a law that gives public-private homeland security entities fast-track security clearances, and exemptions from antitrust and freedom of information laws.
• The National Guard could aid homeland security, but it is not equipped and trained for the task. Bolster its capacity to respond to biological attacks, and to provide civil support in the wake of an attack.
The country needs to be prepared for the worst, the task force said — not out of fatalism, but out of prudence. Inadequate security creates two risks: vulnerability to attack, and the likelihood that the government will overreact in response.
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