Armed group wants to blow up Mosul Dam

[rodeodance]

Source: Azzaman

Armed group wants to blow up Mosul Dam



Azzaman, December 15, 2007



Security officials say scores of armed men have entered the Province of Nineveh with orders to detonate Mosul Dam.



Mosul is the capital of Nineveh Province and the dam is 60 kilometers to west of the city.



“Some 250 armed men have entered Nineveh Province with the aim of detonating the Mosul Dam,” one source said.



Another source said information was based on intelligence tips passed to provincial authorities recently.

Read more: http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news\2007-12-15\kurd.htm

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i have not heard anything about this

[happyslug]

1. This Dam is unconsidered unsafe, a concern for years.

For more on the Dam see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul_Dam

http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2007/10/30/iraq_warned_by_us_that_mosul_dam_at_risk_of_collapse/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+World+News
http://enr.construction.com/news/Front2003/archives/030505.asp
http://www.mainandcentral.org/archives/2007/08/the_mosul_dam.html
http://moslawi.blogspot.com/2007/11/mystery-of-mosul-dam.html

[truthisfreedom]

2. From Wikipedia:

"The earthen embankment dam is located on top of gypsum, a soft mineral that dissolves in contact with water. Continuous maintenance is required to plug, or "grout" new leaks with a liquefied slurry of cement and other additives.<2> More than 50,000 tons of material have been injected into the dam since leaks began forming shortly after the dam was completed in 1986, and 24 machines currently continuously pump grout into the dam base. A September 2006 report by the United States Army Corps of Engineers noted, "In terms of internal erosion potential of the foundation, Mosul Dam is the most dangerous dam in the world." The report further outlined a worst case scenario, in which a sudden collapse of the dam would flood Mosul under 65 feet of water and Baghdad, a city of 7 million, to 15 feet (5 m), with an estimated death toll of 500,000. <3> A report on 30 October 2007 by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said that the dam's foundations could give away at any moment.<4>"

[stubtoe]

3. Failure (or breach) of the dam would be a disaster

"the possibility of a catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam ... could lead to as many as 500,000 civilian deaths by drowning Mosul under 65 feet of water and parts of Baghdad under 15 feet"

WaPo.com article

[Arctic Dave]

4. sounds fishy

Why does this sound more like a veiled threat to the people of
Baghdad. Kinda like, do as I say or you might have a little
"accident"