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To: jpthomas
Not to "smoke 'em out" so much as to "burn 'em out".

Maybe with some American jet fuel.

13 posted on 09/29/2001 8:48:29 PM PDT by GVnana
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To: GVgirl
I have some experience in tunnel construction. A few comments:

It is very difficult to "hide" a tunnel, because every cubic foot of rock excavated must be dumped outside somewhere on the ground. Freshly excavated rock looks quite different from normal ground and its very easy to detect on air photos or satellite photos.

The thing people in tunnels fear most is not cave-ins, it's fire. You are in an enclosed space. Dead-end tunnels need forced ventilation, otherwise the air will stagnate. If there is a fire in a dead-end tunnel you become trapped. If someone disables your ventilation and seals the entrances, you're trapped.

Tunnels with ventilation shafts or multiple adits can be even worse. If fire is introduced in one end, the air can be drawn by the fire which turns the tunnel into a blast furnace. This happened in the Caldecott Tunnel an California a while ago. A tank truck filled with gasoline was in an accident and caught fire. Everything upslope of the truck was incinerated. Bin Laden may feel safe from bombs in his little cave. He will not feel safe when fuel is pumped in his ventilation shafts and ignited.

21 posted on 09/29/2001 9:05:57 PM PDT by BigBobber
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