Surveillance Camera is watching operation in the port.
In one scenario laid out by The VonFrederick Group, terrorists could hide an atomic weapon inside a cargo container, load it on a pirated freighter, dock it at a pier in San Francisco, and detonate the weapon before anything could be done to prevent it. Such an explosion would instantly kill every living thing for miles and utterly destroy the entire city and surrounding areas. Nearly every building would be demolished. As for people, San Francisco has an estimated population of over 740,000- the death rate would be expected to be at or near 100%. Deaths attributed to the effects of radiation poisoning as well as those who would perish in the resulting structure and wild fires outside the blast’s immediate reach could number in the thousands. Should something like this occur, September 11th would seem insignificant in comparison.
The preceding scenario came to mind when I read an article in the February 17th, 2006 edition of The New York Times about the control of the ports in New York. According to the article, “P&O Ports operates the New York City Passenger Ship Terminal and owns a 50 percent interest in the Port Newark Container Terminal, which is the third-largest cargo terminal on the Port Authority’s property.” This British company, Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) also runs ports in New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. Our government has approved the purchase of P&O by Dubai Ports World (DP World). DP World is owned by the government of Dubai which is part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Additionally, David Sanborn, a senior executive of DP World, has been nominated to head the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration.
Two of the September 11th high-jackers were UAE citizens and partial financial backing of the attacks were done through transfers within the UAE financial system. The UAE is also working on expanding trade with Iran and has already approved several Iranian companies to operate within the UAE’s RAK Free Trade Zone.
Could a DP World employee sympathetic to extremist-Muslim terrorists pass along information on the inner workings and security of our ports? What if terrorists infiltrated the DP World organization and smuggled in terrorist operators or allowed deadly cargo to enter our ports, such as in the San Francisco scenario described above?
With an executive of Dubai Ports World in charge of the Maritime Administration, the Dubai company having 50% ownership and control of the Port Newark Container Terminal in New York (as well as operations in the other ports mentioned) and the threat to our ports from Mid-Eastern terrorists, are we leaving the fox to guard the hen house? Are we making the terrorist’s job easier? Are we opening our ports to potential disaster or is that thought just an over-reaction? What are your thoughts?
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