Inspection plans won't work
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is admitting what analysts have pointed out for years - that plans to check goods shipped into the United States simply won't work. The question now is what security officials can do instead.
Chertoff has told members of Congress that his department cannot meet a 2012 deadline set by lawmakers for the contents of every cargo container bound for U.S. ports to be scanned for contraband. The law was passed in an attempt to keep terrorists from shipping weapons into this country.
Some liberal lawmakers used Chertoff's admission as an attempt to score political points. Among them was U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. His comment was that, "The more time the secretary spends on excuses, instead of solutions, the longer our nation's ports remain vulnerable."
Unfortunately, obstacles in Chertoff's way cannot be removed by bluster such as that demonstrated by Thompson. Many other nations have balked at U.S. suggestions that cargo be scanned before being put aboard ships bound for the United States. There isn't much that Chertoff can do to make them comply.
That being the case, new strategies for keeping contraband out of our ports - or, at least, from leaving the docks - need to be considered.
About 11 million cargo containers arrive at U.S. ports every year. The logistics of examining the contents of each one are staggering. Most experts agree that attempting to do so would impost enormous costs on U.S. consumers - even if it could be accomplished.
Clearly, some means of keeping terrorists from shipping guns, bombs - or even biological weapons - into the United States must be found. The most effective method of doing that would be to eliminate the terrorist groups themselves, of course. But because that will take years, Congress and the Homeland Security Department should begin considering alternatives to the 100 percent scanning plan.
