Reply #4: It is not even possible in theory to defend a pipeline. [View All]

[benburch]

Even if you posted armed guards within earshot of each other along the whole length, a concentrated force of men could reach the pipe and destroy a segment before more than a few guards on either side of the attack point could respond.

100 miles of pipeline, with a guard every 50 yards would require 10,000 men assuming they rotated through 8 hour shifts. Plus support personnel. And there are several hundred miles of exposed pipeline in Iraq.