Here’s how we ended our Vol. II, Art. 25 commentary:

“[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.]”

Hardly anyone alive is unaware of the devastation that resulted from the two “atom bombs” dropped on Japan back in 1945. In a 2005 “Congressional Research Service Report for Congress”, the authors of the report showed their concern for our ports’ vulnerability with the clear warning that: “A terrorist Hiroshima-sized nuclear bomb (15 kilotons, the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT) detonated in a port would destroy buildings out to a mile or two; start fires, especially in a port that handled petroleum and chemicals; spread fallout over many square miles; disrupt commerce; and kill many people. By one estimate, a 10-to 20-kiloton weapon detonated in a major seaport would kill 50,000 to 1 million people and result in direct property damage of $ 50 billion to $ 500 billion, losses due to trade disruption of $ 100 billion to $ 200 billion, and indirect costs of $ 400 billion to $ 1.2 trillion.”

Shortly after this warning, however, another 29 Chinese nationals were found wandering around a cargo area in the Port of Los Angeles, and we posed the question, “If our security measures cannot detect bungling illegal aliens, are we supposed to believe that scheming, intelligent terrorists will be caught?”

The government’s response, of course, was to throw still more money into inspections conducted by trusted overseas entities … the kinds of trusted entities that continue to allow unwanted aliens and goodness-knows-what-else to reach our shores.

How secure are we? (Read: How reliable are our security methods and those overseas personnel who’d sell us out in a heartbeat?) We’ve just seen the reports about the 22 Chinese immigrants who managed to get into the Port of Seattle last Wednesday, but the media glossed over the fact that seven South Koreans who had been smuggled into a Canadian port were also picked up on that same day as they were crossing into the state of Washington. We’re paying billions of dollars for this “protection”, by the way, and there’s no end in sight. Unless our elected representatives come to their senses, the cost will soar into the trillions and the consequent economic devastation could well exceed the destruction wrought by an actual nuclear attack. Ironic.

The recommendation we spelled out last week bears repeating … again and again and again:

“For a fraction of those ‘trillions’ we could revitalize our shipbuilding industry, create a few hundred thousand new jobs, retrofit container ships with our patented storage, retrieval and inspection systems and be rid of the terrorist threat once and for all.”