If there were a national security issue, I'm sure there's a law that would let Bush force the ports open. I'm pretty sure there's such a law for railroads, and would be surprised if it weren't worded in a way to include ocean-going travel.

(Of course, sometime in the last year some judge decided that airplanes weren't "mass transit vehicles", so I could very well be wrong.)

When the Marine's embarked for Guadalcanal they had to load their own ships because the New Zealand warfies were on strike for more money because they were only getting four times what an infantryman in North Africa was being paid.

I wouldn't worry too much, what needs to happen will happen... one way or another.

There's a law that lets him force the port open anyway. I think that most cargo loading is done by the military itself, at their own bases. But I could be wrong.

I'm pretty sure the military has its own transports. Go to http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/sealift.htm and scroll down to the sample loadout of a Naval Sealift ship. It's pretty clear that the Navy has things well in hand, with plenty of surge capacity.

There are something like 4 to 5 brigade sets of armor in the area already, in Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, and, of course, the Kingdom, and more at Diego Garcia, in addition to the two (I think two) Marine assault ships. I think they're set.

I heard on Fox News the other night, that the dockworkers are willing to load military equipment. I believe Bush also has the power to force it, it needed.

I don't think it matters what West Coast longshoremen do.

From Supporting the Troops: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Persian Gulf War, 1 October 1996:

"Shipment of material continued throughout August and September from five Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ports."

At the least, the President could get an 80-day injunction forcing everyone back to work under the Taft-Hartley Labor Act.

Have been an active duty member of a couple of Armor divisions, and most recently a transportation unit of the National Guard. The military will contract with civilian companies to do the work, but is totally capable of getting the job done using it's own resources- including c-17's and c-5's and ocean going craft. Did you know the Army has more boats than the navy?

There's a big difference between owning a "boat" and a "ship".

The Navy has something called NAVCHAPGRUs that can do anything a longshoreman can do, and probably faster. All they have to do is activate them... although given a choice they're put to better use @ the receiving end.

Anything that's going to be there is probably already there (on MPF/APS ships from Diego Garcia and Guam), or in transit.

Aircraft are great for moving people and light equipment, but they're worthless for anything armored.