Stop all shipping at a safe distance for full inspection.
First written July 25th, 2006. By James Gray Mason.
First written July 25th, 2006. By James Gray Mason.
If a weapon of mass destruction of a size of a suitcase or a trunk or larger is introduced into the United States by those who would harm us it will likely be through our shipping ports. Consider, if a terrorist gets his nuclear bomb or bio chemical weapon shipped in a crate and that crate is tucked into the rear corner of a container the size of a tractor trailer shipping container, and that container is sitting in a parking lot waiting to be inspected or passed over that is the optimal time of detonation, at the port and almost as soon as it arrives. Since all American shipping ports are within sight of major cities then just getting to the port is adequate for the terrorists. Our current loose and barely accountable and barely efficient inspection arrangement at all of our ports will not save us.
“Foolish” is what we’ll be called after the detonation and it will be ourselves doing the name-calling as well as our enemies. The problem is not how to protect our ports so the ports won’t be a route for harming us, the problem is where we locate the ports for inspection purposes. This solution requires that we locate inspection ports at sea. Far out at sea where no detonation will harm the populaces of our cities.
Three or perhaps five large wet-docks each the size of a sports complex manned by the United States Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security can inspect by order and force all shipping that crosses oceans with intent to dock in the United States. Ships that are routing themselves around the inspection docks should be chased and apprehended. One inspection dock should be located in the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps two each in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that are centrally located and their distances between ports divided by traffic use at those ports. Each inspection dock should be at least one hundred miles from coasts.
Very few private contractors should get their sticky fingers on this. We the people can handle this because the security while under construction will have to detailed. The U.S. Coast Guard are the best personnel for this job. An unquestionable degree of training and professionalism combined with sacrosanct mission ideology and the discipline of that branch of our military make them the best suited for this important task of our safety and future well being. Well armed and well equipped with inspection technology and nothing harmful should get by them. The Coast Guard will be equipped to quickly sink a vessel should it be needed.
An appropriately measured tariff increase to imports sent by sea to the U.S. would compensate the entire program. For the shipping industry the cost of this inconvenience will be negligible and easily retrieved. This is not a gargantuan task like our building the Panama Canal, or the Interstate Highway System or rebuilding San Francisco, or winning World Wars I and II. It is just a technological challenge of a reasonably large endeavour.
For the American citizen a tremendous bonus. A a level of trust in one large aspect of our security not seen since decades past when we feared a Japanese invasion force landing in California.
This project could employ tens of thousands and both revitalize the Coast Guard and revitalize our sense of security. Many builders of the project will have only temporary work but the pay will be worth while and their paychecks will boost our consumer driven economy. There could be as many as one thousand Coast Guard assigned to each inspection dock at any given time. With determination of America’s politicians this project could be finished in five years. Much like the oil industry’s offshore rigs, the Coast Guard will function in much the same way while at sea, taking eight weeks off and then on time to come and go stateside. The wet docks would be at least five times the size of an offshore oil rig. But their function and capacity to house, entertain and feed a thousand personnel while performing the task of U.S. safety at its front line will be an invaluable function. Yes, McDonald’s can take a big bite and Whole Foods too.
All Rights Reserved: James Gray Mason / End All Suffering, 2006, 2016.
#homelandsecurity #TSA #Terrorism #UnitedStates #USCongress #POTUS #StoppingTerrorism #endallsuffering #stopallsuffering
