So you're saying we're impervious to another terrorist attack?
I suppose "Homeland Security" is now patrolling our shores 24/7 to stop any foreign flagged ship from coming in and inspecting every single one?

Riiiight.

Guess thats why illegals still cross the mexican border without any problem and plenty of contraband makes it way here via cargo ships.

All it takes is one idiot to beleive in the cause and it'll happen all over again.

it could happen again.......but i doubt to the same scale. we could be attacked of course, any one can make a bomb =] guides are available online...but i dont think we'll be seeing anything to the scale of 9/11 ever again.

Yes, this is true.

All foreign flagged vessels entering US ports are boarded, inspected and cleared or turned away. I am not saying this is fool-proof. Some vessels are inspected prior to departing their port of origin. If you have a panamanian flagged, japanese owed container vessel that carries 2500 containers not every container will be open. But those vessels are checked at their port of origin. Good luck trying to bring a vessel into the US from India or Pakistan. Is it fool-proof? No, but it's 300% more than we were doing before 9/11. Our intel services have changed the way that they think as well.

After the Cole incident, the Navy started taking "force protection" really seriously. It is now illegal in US waters to close a US warship closer than 100 yards without 1st communicating with us. Will we shoot you ? not right away, but there will be a security boat with weapons talking to you, or you might get pulled over by the coasties. Is it fool-proof, no, but if you break our security zone, there will be action and they escalate to deadly force.

Here's a weird example for you.
For years (and even a year after 9/11) when we did Newport-Bermuda or any other long distance offshore race to a foreign country, when we brought the boat back we never bothered to clear customs.

Why? Why bother.
Nobody cared.
Obviously because there is now the chance of legal action taken by the federal gov. thats all changed, but if someone is looking to get into this country illegally by ship/boat, its completely possible and nobody would know any better.

Navy Chief,

I agree with you that maritime security has increased dramatically in recent years, however there is a long way to go. Considering it is almost a boundless problem, much technology and cooperation between enforcement agencies need to implemented. Unless something has recently changed (which it may have) I don't believe we board and inspect every vessel that comes to our shores. The Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (which was supposed to go into full effect in July of this year) is a sort of self implementing / self policing sort of legislation. Which means each ship develops and implements its own security plans. Now the USCG does do some "racial profiling" if you will. Ships that have a questionable history or fly flags of contentious contries will be boarded every single time. There is constant technology insertions in this arena. One of the hottest is container security.

Carl

I agree that the system isn't perfected yet. The Coast Guard has started boarding all vessels to verify documents and manifest. They don't racially profile anyone, but there is a watch list and certain countries are considered suspect. There are also "frequent flyer" programs implemented.

I agree that it is possible to put a WMD in a container at the bottom of a containership and not have it searched. Most major ports (well, I know LA/Long Beach for a fact) have huge X-ray and radiation detection devices that all containers must pass through.
A couple of the larger Japanese ports have these installed over there.

So, I agree it's not perfect, nor will it ever be. But it's a whole lot more than was happening pre-9/11

You know, I'd bring up the topic of Bush and allowing amnesty to ILLEGAL immigrants now being allowed to stay here and take American's jobs, but hey, who wants to hear about Bush making it harder for Americans to get jobs? :D

If you did that you would also have to talk about Clinton rushing them thru the naturalization process before he was reelected so they could vote. If someone just shortened the process by 6 month's to a year for me I would vote fore him was his thought and it worked.

Al Queda pack up and leave? I wouldn't count on it. There are plenty of rag-heads out there that would gladly take over to just be a marder. Osama will be caught, just a matter of time. He has way more sympathetic followers than Sadamm ever did. Start taking them out first and then maybe the beast will rear its ugly self.:err: :rocketem: :kewl: