An article in the New York Times (November 19, 2012) describes decision by the US military to use US flagged ships to move military cargo, thus providing billions in fees for US ships. But 82% of the ships are controlled by Danish, Polish and other country owned companies. Should the US military insist on product movement to be done by US controlled corporations, even if they have higher operating costs ? Is this a national security issue that justifies higher costs or are the risks too low to be relevant ? In general, should the worries about security also extend to control of ports ?