All? Or Nothing! (Part 2)
Vol. II, Art. 25

As long as the nation’s media doesn’t seem to be interested in covering it, let’s say a little bit more about the “Congressional Research Service Report for Congress” we just mentioned. Here are some excerpts from this published report.

1. “Terrorists might try to smuggle a bomb into a U.S. port in many ways, but containers may offer an attractive route ... Containers could easily hold a nuclear weapon ... An FBI official stated, ‘The intelligence that we have certainly points to the ports as a key vulnerability of the United States and of a key interest to certain terrorist groups ...’ CBP Commissioner Robert Bonner believes an attack using a nuclear bomb in a container would halt container shipments, leading to “devastating” consequences for the global economy ...”

2. “Terrorist Nuclear Weapons: Routes to a Bomb.
A terrorist group might obtain a bomb, perhaps with the yield of the Hiroshima bomb ...This is the simplest type of nuclear weapon ... about 6 inches in diameter by 6 feet long ... U.S. scientists had such high confidence in the design that they did not test the bomb ... A National Research Council study stated: ‘The basic technical information needed to construct a workable nuclear device is readily available in the open literature ... Many believe it would be hard for a terrorist group to obtain enough HEU (highly enriched uranium) for a weapon; others fear that terrorists could do so ...’ ”

3. “Enhanced Technology.
The last line of defense against a terrorist nuclear attack is the ability to detect nuclear weapons or material entering the United States. A large effort is underway by government agencies, industry, and universities to develop key technologies. By one estimate, the FY2005 appropriation provides $ 4.1 billion for homeland security R&D. Operation Safe Commerce, a Department of Transportation-CBP ‘program to fund business initiatives designed to enhance security for container cargo ... will provide a test-bed for new security techniques.’ ”

4. “Terrorists can counter new technologies.
If foreign ports screened containers before being loaded onto U.S.-bound ships, terrorists could infiltrate the ports ... In 2002 and 2003, ABC News shipped shielded 15-pond cylinders of depleted uranium into U.S. ports in containers. CBP did not detect these shipments ... In September 2004, DHS issued a report on the topic. It concluded ‘... improvements are needed in the inspection process to ensure that weapons of mass destruction ... do not gain access to the U.S. through oceangoing cargo containers’ and recommended improving detection equipment and search methods.”

[Question: If 32 Chinese stowaways in two separate containers could get past this “improving detection equipment and search methods”( see our Vol. II, Art. 6 commentary), how does DHS/CBP expect to detect a 6-inch x 6-foot Hiroshima-type nuclear weapon? Remember: For much less than $ 4.1 billion, our patented systems will scan/inspect 100% of the nation’s incoming containers.]