Jihad in the Merchant Marine. Why has the Coast Guard been excluded for so long from anti-terror efforts? From Reuters, with thanks to DC Watson:
A 14-month investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard and FBI has uncovered nine merchant mariners with possible terrorist links, raising renewed concerns that U.S. ships and ports are vulnerable to attack.Coast Guard spokeswoman Jolie Shifflet said on Thursday that "Operation Drydock," prompted by national security concerns after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, had also led to the arrest of about a dozen others whose active arrest warrants for crimes from minor misdemeanors to attempted murder had long gone unnoticed.
The Coast Guard said it investigated the records of more than 200,000 people who hold U.S. merchant mariner credentials.
It also revoked or suspended the licenses of roughly 200 other commercial seamen for a range of offenses, Shifflet said. None of those arrested, dismissed or suspended had been linked to terrorism.
Shifflet would not disclose what had happened to the nine mariners suspected of possible terror links, only saying, "We've taken steps to mitigate the potential risks posed by these individuals."
She would not give the nationality of the nine, but said merchant mariners were required to be U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens.
Shipping experts have long said the U.S. maritime industry is vulnerable to attack. They say porous borders, global logistics chains, limited funds and the trade-off between security and commerce make fail-safe protection impossible.
Almost 7 million containers and about 50 percent of all imports arrive in the 361 U.S. ports each year.
Analysts say the vulnerability of military vessels was laid bare by the attack on the warship USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
The investigation, which came after years of internal government infighting, Coast Guard exclusion from intelligence circles and cost-cutting, also involved the Justice and Defense departments and the U.S. intelligence community, and shows security officials are taking the threat to U.S. maritime interests seriously.
"The Coast Guard before 9/11 was not a full member of the intelligence community. We didn't even have a seat at the table, and now we do," Shifflet said.
Some politicians and analysts say the Coast Guard, which is charged with patrolling 95,000 miles of coastline, remains overstretched and underfunded. Cost-cutting before the Sept. 11 attacks had trimmed staff to its lowest levels since the 1960s, but officials say funding has increased substantially since then.
Concerned about possible national security threats from fraudulent merchant mariner documents, the Coast Guard said it had strengthened its background checking process for commercial seamen and began issuing more tamper-resistant credentials in February 2003.
We have excluded the U.S. Coast Guard from anti-terrorist activities for so long because we have a habit of shooting ourselves in the foot, over and over and over.
The "bullet" is philosophic inconsistency. Our educational system has failed to arm us with the proper ammunition to protect ourselves from stupid mistakes. Our schools have misinterpreted "celebrate diversity" to mean that "one value system is just as good as another."
Values are chosen, and form the basis of a moral code. Values can, if desired, be objectively demonstrated to be legitimate or not.
Our moral code chooses human life as its fundamental value; the other guys use death and destruction as theirs.
Ours is better than theirs, but our PC schools think it's "rude" to bring that up, even in the rare instances where someone in the system recognizes it.
In any conflict, the most consistent side wins. We are inconsistent because we don't know right from wrong and are pulled in different directions; they are wrong, but they are consistent, and pull in the same direction.
One of the most important things we need to do is to make certain that our youth is cautioned about Radical Islam's mission. This is a necessity. They will follow our footsteps in continuing our way of life, and they cannot be unaware of Jihad.
If they're older than 8, they need to know what our country faces with these crazies.
I agree....I am in school and already know about what these people want to do to America. I hope things change. We help alot of people in the world. I don't know why they do this.
Bad Chad
My 12 year old wanted to do a post on this site, please forgive me. He's off school today and gets a kick out of the fact that we are addressing terrorism the way we do. Anyway, I wanted to comment on this story.
It's so important to keep our waters guarded. The terror networks have difficulty using airliners anymore, and although it's still a hell of a mess, immigration has stopped many of them from entering our land.
That leaves a couple of options. One, they can continue to try to mass breed the ones that are already in the U.S., and two, they can attempt to get here by way of water. The Coast Guard is a great defense mechanism for us and it should be properly trained and funded.
We will win this war with Jihad.....all it takes is the smarts to do it.
We do need to teach our youth what is now obvious to me…Islam is NOT a religion of peace and multiculturalism is a national disaster.
I live in a port city and teach in a local school. We have been cautioned about making "disparaging remarks" and "denigrating" any group in order not to "make any student feel bad," and "to avoid a lawsuit." it is very difficult, now, for me to bite my tongue. Presenting "both or all sides issues" has been helpful, but even then, there is protest. I have to tread very carefully.
Lack of port security has worried me. I am glad that measures have been taken. But, a way of life has died. No longer can we go out and watch the boats or buy seafood on the docks or all other simple pleasures we once had. Those damn terrorists have indeed changed our lives.