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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Condor who wrote (21595)	3/17/2002 7:29:17 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Well, I would say that it's not exactly simple. But given how I remember the Teton Dam collapse (also an earthen dam), it's apparent that they are not as sturdy as reinforced concrete dams. Also, the Ft. Peck dam is fairly old. And while folks are contemplating nukes, they should be paying more attention to the fertilizer/diesel combo. The "dam busters" bomb use to destroy the Ruhr Valley dams in WWII were a tad less than 10,000 pounds of explosives. And since Anfol is an excellent cratering charge, given its slower detonation speeds (less "shock", more "umpff"), and an earthen dam is naturally saturated with moisture, it could create sufficient impetus to undermine the dam's foundation. It certainly would create sufficient concern that the Federal Govt would be forced to evacuate all urban areas in the potential flood plain until the COE verfied that no serious damage was done (dams might not collapse for weeks to years after such blast.. But it would force the immediate draining of the resevoir).. Now this is a resevoir. It doesn't strike me as particularly difficult to arrange for a number of fishing craft to be filled with the explosive, rammed into the dam, or sunk near it, with hydrostatic fuses set to explode at a particular depth. None of this is rocket science... and unfortunately, neither is it out of the realm of possibility when the enemy is fanatical, living secretly within the US, and looking for a way to collect those 72 virgins. What it would take is the ability to deliver sufficient (whatever that may be) to either cause a collapse, or cause concern that one could occur. I can think of a number of ways right now, but I will not go that far as to discuss them publicly. Any one of these recreational sites along the 1,500 miles of shoreline that make up the resevoir would provide more than ample access: nwo.usace.army.mil nwo.usace.army.mil The only reason I mention this scenario in depth here, is because I'm confident that security officials are taking extra steps for security there, or that it's a topic that can't be ignored. Hawk