Ports, schmorts

SHHHHH! Don't let the terrorists see this one!

Lapses by private port operators, shipping lines or truck drivers could allow terrorists to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the United States, according to a government review of security at American seaports.

The $75 million, three-year study by the Homeland Security Department included inspections at a New Jersey cargo terminal involved in the dispute over a Dubai company's now-abandoned bid to take over significant operations at six major U.S. ports.

The previously undisclosed results from the study found that cargo containers can be opened secretly during shipment to add or remove items without alerting U.S. authorities, according to government documents marked "sensitive security information" and obtained by The Associated Press.

And this UAE ports deal was supposed to be all kosher, remember? All business records did not have to be kept on U.S. soil, right? And we were supposed to trust Bush on this one, because he looked into every single possibility of terrorist infiltration and came up with every Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C imaginable to prevent that from happening. Oh wait.


(With inspiration from Joe in DC at AMERICAblog.)