the world, or part of it

The news has recently been bombarded with the issue of letting a UAE-run company handle cargo in six different U.S. ports. In my opinion, the issue has been blown out of proportion with people not giving the whole story to what will happen in this possible deal. In October, Dubai Ports World told the U.S. Treasury Dept. that they would most likely be purchasing cargo terminals in six U.S. ports from the British-run Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. The six ports involved (Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, Houston, and Newark) have a total of 43 terminals and only 11 would be trading hands to the United Arab Emirate Company. P&O only handles unloading and loading cargo, storage, and repairs, not security, so my question is: Where is the national security disaster in this?

Dissidents would argue back that UAE is the home country of 2 9/11 hijackers and has frequently been the hub of money transfers in the Al Qaeda terrorist organization, but basing the whole country’s security level on the acts of a few people is ridiculous. The UAE has been an ally to the U.S. in the current and previous war and has let U.S. Navy ships dock in the country. Why is such a big deal made of a country with only a few skeletons in their closet? DP World will control no measures of security; that will remain in the hands of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Coast Guard. The prevously mentioned two have done a less-than-perfect job as it is managing security at the nation’s ports, so it is shocking that the public outcry is not focused around how so little cargo is checked.

Recent evidence shows that only 5 to 10 percent of cargo that enters the U.S. ports are checked as opposed to many other countries who have beefed security up to almost 100%. There have been customs agents sent abroad that check the U.S.-bound cargo, but not enough is being done do prevent attacks and the Department of Homeland Security still has not made enough reform. Now, I’m not saying that every single container of cargo should be checked, it would shut down global commerce everywhere, but more than such a small percent should be screened. I have a feeling, though, that there will be change in this system as the controversy has opened a “can of worms” for security organizations.