Crate expectations for cargo security strategy.(News and Trends)

Security Management, April, 2005 by Gips, Michael A.

In a draft national cargo security strategy, the Department of Homeland Security sets a "zero-tolerance policy" toward the arrival of weapons of mass destruction at U.S. borders. The goal is to inspect 100 percent of "designated high-risk" cargo.

But the question is: How sure can you be that a cargo container not designated as high risk wasn't the box a terrorist chose as the perfect hiding place?

Basing screening on risk is tricky, says the Homeland Security Institute (HSI), a federally funded think tank. It writes in its assessment of DHS's cargo strategy that screening only high-risk cargo could be "catastrophic."

The report states: "Simply put, there is no truly secure substitute for 100% checking of all cargo for WMD, particularly given...

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