I'm glad to see America up in arms over the issue of who controls America's ports.

But I'm afraid everyone is missing the real issue.

The real issue is security.

Now, for my money, you can't have port security by turning over routine operations to an Arab oil tyranny. That's just common sense.

The move by the Bush administration is akin to what is happening with border security. Because George Bush doesn't want to hurt Vicente Fox's feelings, he is jeopardizing U.S. national security. Likewise, with the ports deal, Bush suggests it would be unfair to this "ally" in the war on terrorism to deny it control of our ports.

Maybe he should have thought of that before the issue came up. Perhaps he should have headed off this embarrassing diplomatic issue by ensuring the matter never reached this crisis point.

Diplomacy is nice. But it is no substitute for a secure America.

And to achieve a secure America, we've got to get control of our borders and control of our ports.

As the latest issue of my G2 Bulletin online newsletter details, only 2 percent of cargo containers entering America's ports are ever inspected. And the inspections performed are inferior to say the least.

For instance, ABC News, as part of an investigative story, shipped a container full of depleted uranium to a New York port. There were sufficient red flags to make it one of the one in 50 containers singled out for examination. Had radiation detectors been used, they would have indicated a problem. They were not.

There were all kinds of excuses from the Customs department. But the episode pointed out the distressing state of port security. That depleted uranium could have been a nuclear weapon.

Would it surprise you, in light of this Arab port deal, to learn that an American company has proposed for the last four years a plan to build offshore inspection points for every single cargo container entering the United States?

Would it surprise you to learn that this offer would involve no government financing at all?

Would it surprise you that American companies, with the best interests of the U.S. at heart, are being turned away in favor of foreign companies with no plans to keep nuclear weapons away from our shores?

That's the real story – the one no one else is telling.

Robert Pfriender, president of Allied International Development, tells G2 Bulletin: "The real concern is that if a weapon of mass destruction arrives at one of mainland ports, it will be much too late for any possible security measure to have any effect."

We're talking about maybe 2 million people dead – even if a nuclear device is detected once it reaches a port in the United States.

"Such an event which is unfortunately entirely plausible at the current time would change the nature of our free society in profoundly negative ways and would likely ruin the national economy aside from the great human tragedy of immeasurable proportions," he adds.

And that's why Allied International Development put together a comprehensive plan for Customs and Border Protection to develop three offshore cargo container security inspection ports to inspect each and every container prior to it being cleared for entry to the U.S. mainland. The ports would be located 25 miles offshore to mitigate the effects of a detonation and so any fallout (which is minimal over water) would not pass over land.

"We offered to develop these ports with private financing and at no cost to the government," he said. "The operation of the ports would generate revenue from a small inspection fee for each container. The fully automated robotic process would add only a slight delay to the container delivery time."

Not only did Pfriender ensure the proposal was seen by Customs officials as far back as August 2002, less than a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, he also took the time to see that virtually every member of Congress received this proposal – along with officials in the White House, the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security.

Who the heck is paying attention to the big issue, the real issue, of U.S. national security?

See the full report – and get access to three years of archived, searchable stories – in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin by subscribing today.