However it is resolved, the controversy over the Bush administration’s decision to allow a corporation owned by the United Arab Emirates to manage six U.S. seaports touches on a very real fear: Nearly five years after Sept. 11, U.S. ports remain vulnerable to terrorism.
President Bush has been defending the business arrangement for several days, but Congress believes he is offering empty assurances. On Thursday he said, “The more people learn about the transaction that has been scrutinized and approved by my government, the more they’ll be comforted that our ports will be secure.”
In fact, experts have raised plenty of red flags regarding seaport vulnerability.
The ports in question have been run by London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., a publicly traded firm that was purchased a few months ago by Dubai Ports World, a firm owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates. The deal involves four of the 10 largest U.S. ports (New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia and Baltimore) and two others among the next-busiest (Newark and Miami).
Susan Collins of Maine, Republican chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, and Jane Harman of California, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, plan to introduce a resolution opposing the deal. “My concern specifically is having our country lose control over some of the important operations of terminals at our ports,” Harman said. She and Collins are especially credible critics, as last spring they proposed beefing up port security.
The concerns are rooted in reality. “Seaports have not only been identified as terrorist targets but also as low-tech gateways for the introduction of weapons of mass destruction,” said the Center for Contemporary Conflict. The journal Foreign Affairs reported: “Intelligence agencies estimate that al-Qaeda and its affiliates now own dozens of phantom ships – hijacked vessels that have been repainted and renamed and operate under false documentation, manned by crews with fake passports and forged competency certificates.”
Less than 10 percent of the 27,000 cargo containers unloaded daily at U.S. ports are ever inspected. Most of the ships fly foreign flags, are manned by foreign crews and are owned by foreign firms.
Despite vehement pronouncements that he supports the port deal and would veto any effort to block it, Bush would be wise to delay the transaction to allow for a more thorough review of its provisions. Indeed, his adviser Karl Rove has hinted at some flexibility. More important, the president should put his shoulder to efforts to tighten anti-terror security at all U.S. ports.
