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| FBI foils plot to bomb Holland Tunnel |
| 2006-07-07 |
| New York Daily News hat tip: Instapundit The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned. The terrorists sought to drown the Financial District as New Orleans was by Hurricane Katrina, sources said. They also wanted to attack subways and other tunnels. Counterterrorism officials are alarmed by the "lone wolf" terror plot because they allegedly got a pledge of financial and tactical support from Jordanian associates of top terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before he was killed in Iraq, a counterterrorism source told The News. As the mighty Instapundit notes, "Doesn't that mean they're not exactly lone wolves?" |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #14 Mike: I saw a special on the WTC "pit" recovery on Discovery, and they came VERY close to losing that coffer dam. The side wall of the "basement" areas was bending in, so much so that the resident engineer got very nervous...thankfully, he thought to bring in literally TONS of dirt on the backside to help "shore up" the dam. The interview with that engineer made me just think about how close they came to losing it and flooding the tubes for miles. |
| Posted by: BA 2006-07-07 23:24 |
| #13 OP: The evening news said that the plan was multiple jihadi in one PATH car, knapsack bombs. So that wouldn't do the job, then. |
| Posted by: KBK 2006-07-07 20:49 |
| #12 KBK - it would have to be a MASSIVE explosion - on the order of a ton of TNT or equivalent. The tunnel is rigidly made, and actually buried several feet below the river level. Most of your explosive force with go forward and back, not to the sides. I doubt there would be more than a small but unstoppable leak, not a massive force of water. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2006-07-07 20:39 |
| #11 Maybe not quite so dumb. While you couldn't totally flood lower Manhattan, the lowest point of the tunnel is nearly 90 ft below sea level. Considering hydraulic inertia effects, with a massive breach there probably would be quite a gush from the tunnel entrances for a short while. Hydraulic ram. Also see Water Hammer link |
| Posted by: KBK 2006-07-07 17:11 |
| #10 #9 GE - why can't it be both? |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-07-07 12:22 |
| #9 Operational Requirements Communication No, the Dhimmicrats could not Possibly think that such should be monitored by the NSA between domestic cells wanting to blow the tunnel and Zarqawi associates in Lebanon. Aggressive Counter Action Not the Dhimmicrats. They were calling for cutting and running from Iraq where Zarqawi himself was, long before we finally got the cock roach. But of course, things would have settled down if we had cut and run, such as the roof of the Holland Tunnel settling down on another few thousand Manhattens. Financing Yep, the liberal NYT certainly did its part by alerting the Zarqawi financiers that "Uncle Sam is Listening". Who really is in the 7th century? The Dhimmicrats or Al Qaeda? |
| Posted by: Gromosh Elminegum5705 2006-07-07 11:38 |
| #8 But the Holland Tunnel doesn't link to the subway system. Doh ! Isn't it 3 separate tubes ? If one is bombed so that river water can enter, then those caught in that particular tube could drown. I wish a cell would bomb the NY Times so we would become stupid. Arf ! |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-07-07 10:02 |
| #7 Revenge for Mohammed cartoons in Holland. |
| Posted by: Master of Obvious 2006-07-07 09:53 |
| #6 Not so flaky--the tunnels, subways, utility lines, and underground infrastructure for Manhattan are below sea level. In the book American Ground, which is about the WTC recovery operation, it mentions that one concern was if the concrete "bathtub" (a cofferdam) around the WTC foundations failed, the inrush of water would flood the tunnels and subways. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-07-07 09:34 |
| #5 Well, after all, it is called Lower Manhattan! Duh! End of sarcasm. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2006-07-07 09:29 |
| #4 The Arab logic is amazing. Bomb a tunnel in hopes of flooding an area above the water level. Unbelievable. Infidel. Allah would have made it happen. |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2006-07-07 09:27 |
| #3 And a rebuilt New Orleans is going to be target #1. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-07-07 09:21 |
| #2 idiots |
| Posted by: Archimedes 2006-07-07 09:21 |
| #1 The Arab logic is amazing. Bomb a tunnel in hopes of flooding an area above the water level. Unbelievable. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2006-07-07 09:07 |