Militants Eyeing Seaborne Attack, U.S General Says

[CVX]

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Reuters) - It is "only a matter of time" before militants try to launch a seaborne attack on the United States, but threats of terrorism are greater abroad because they are avoiding hardened U.S. targets, a senior U.S. military official said on Wednesday.

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[Warsai]

If the government wants to step up its defense measures, that's fine with me. It's possible that terrorists could attack from a submarine, especially North Korea with those new subs they have.

[plazul]

It would be almost impossible for a terrorist submarine or a North Korean submarine to escape detection and interdiction by American Naval Intelligence and attack submarines. I'm not worried about it. But even with stricter reporting requirements and inspection procedures for foreign vessels entering American ports the sheer magnitude of the container traffic makes our ports attractive to terrorists. But not for a bomb detonation. Ports are fairly well removed from the general public and while a bomb detonation would kill many port workers and sailors it wouldn't have the same psychological impact (unless it was a nuke) as a detonation in the middle of a metropolis.

Ports are attractive to terrorists as a channel for smuggling in operatives, equipment, and explosives. I suspect that they've already been used for that purpose and that they will continue to be the entry point of choice for weapons materials, and in some cases, terrorist soldiers.

One thing we can do is install total coverage video surveillance at all exit points from our ports. And there's nothing like our good old fashioned canine corps for sniffing out the goods in crowded container storage areas. I'd have dogs all over the place.

[plazul]

It would be almost impossible for a terrorist submarine or a North Korean submarine to escape detection and interdiction by American Naval Intelligence and attack submarines. I'm not worried about it. But even with stricter reporting requirements and inspection procedures for foreign vessels entering American ports the sheer magnitude of the container traffic makes our ports attractive to terrorists. But not for a bomb detonation. Ports are fairly well removed from the general public and while a bomb detonation would kill many port workers and sailors it wouldn't have the same psychological impact (unless it was a nuke) as a detonation in the middle of a metropolis.

Ports are attractive to terrorists as a channel for smuggling in operatives, equipment, and explosives. I suspect that they've already been used for that purpose and that they will continue to be the entry point of choice for weapons materials, and in some cases, terrorist soldiers.

One thing we can do is install total coverage video surveillance at all exit points from our ports. And there's nothing like our good old fashioned canine corps for sniffing out the goods in crowded container storage areas. I'd have dogs all over the place.