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U.S. and Liberian officials have signed an agreement that gives the United States authority to board and search ships registered in Liberia that U.S. intelligence suspects are transporting illicit...

U.S. and Liberian officials signed an agreement Feb. 13 allowing U.S. enforcement agencies to stop and search any vessel flying a Liberian flag. This opens unprecedented doors for the United States, because Liberia is the second-largest ship registry in the world and has been used extensively by smugglers.

The United States has long been trying to expand its ability to search foreign vessels on the high seas. The threat of weapons proliferation and international sea-borne terrorism has provided the groundwork for the U.S. legal footing. The blank-slate authority that Liberia has granted the United States is more a political than a tactical victory in the global war on terrorism and the rejuvenated war against weapons proliferation; the United States does not have the means or desire to search all of the foreign vessels registered to Liberia. Still, the possibility will give smugglers pause and possibly pave the way for cooperation from other flags-of-convenience nations -- such as Panama.

In addition to weapons proliferation and terrorism, this accord expands U.S. authority to act unilaterally against smuggling operations. Because the basis for any search will be suspicion rather than hard evidence, this will impact a broad swath of operations: piracy in Southeast Asia, oil smuggling in the Middle East, drug trafficking (narco-terrorism) in Latin America and even illegal fishing and dumping operations worldwide.