We read RILA’s views on 100% container scanning in yesterday’s Financial News, so today, in Reuters, Susan Cornwell provides us with some opposing views.

“Senators called on Friday for passage of long-delayed port security legislation that includes steps to intercept nuclear material, as the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks nears.

“The bill would require the government to finish installing screening equipment at major U.S. ports by the end of next year to detect ‘dirty bombs’, devices that combine conventional explosives and radioactive material.

“‘We now have 11 million shipping containers coming into this country each year,’ said co-sponsor Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, on the Senate floor. ‘We know that each one has the potential to be the Trojan Horse of the 21st century.’

“Sen. Ted Stevens, Alaska Republican and Commerce Committee chairman, said …’We must do everything possible to prevent those who wish to harm Americans from carrying out their missions…

“The Senate legislation requires radiation detectors to be installed in the 22 largest U.S. ports by the end of 2007. This would cover 98 percent of all incoming container traffic and is similar to a House-passed bill, Collins said …

“Only a fraction of the millions of cargo containers that enter U.S. ports each year are inspected. That has prompted warnings that sea cargo remains a serious security vulnerability, years after the September 11 attacks.”

1. Even “… as the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks nears …”, however, everything is still up in the air and we have no clear cut game plan. On the fifth anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, on the other hand, all our World War II involvements had been brought to successful conclusions. And without “high-tech” gadgetry, we might add.
2. “… radiation detectors to be installed in the 22 largest U.S. ports …”? This careless revelation tells terrorists that the remainder of the nation’s 361 ports are obviously without surveillance. It gives them a free pass. Is this the way to …”do everything possible to prevent those who wish to harm Americans from carrying out their missions”?
3. “…sea cargo remains a serious security vulnerability, years after the September 11 attacks.” At least some of our elected representatives are aware of the peril, even though the RILA doesn’t seem to be overly concerned.

[We would remind you again that our patented systems, retrofitted in all 61 container handling ports, would address every concern. The RILA and its members would be pleased with a scanning system that eliminates costly delays in their flow of commerce, and the other 99% of the populace would be assured that “everything possible” has been done to protect their interests and well-being.]