Feds zap plot to bomb Holland Tunnel and flood Wall Street
posted at 9:20 am on July 7, 2006 by Allahpundit
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Another round of giant waves racing through the streets of Manhattan, except these wouldn’t have been made out of ash. That was their fiendish plan. And it would have worked too, if not for those meddling FBI and, er, the fact that the Holland Tunnel is below ground level.
Operations are still ongoing but there’s a scoop to be had, baby. Head for the hills, jihadis!
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.
It’s not clear, however, if any cash or assistance was delivered.
The News has learned that at the request of U.S. officials, authorities in Beirut arrested one of the alleged conspirators, identified as Amir Andalousli, in recent months. Agents were scrambling yesterday to try to nab other suspects, sources said…
The Lebanese government had been expected to release a statement about Andalousli’s arrest but was asked by the U.S. to hold off while operations to disrupt the plot continued, sources said.
The paper doesn’t say if the feds asked them to hold the story but the FBI and NYPD both declined comment. Then again, how sensitive could it be if Schumer and Peter King are willing to comment on it?
Update: “I have never made but one prayer to God, and that a short one: ‘O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’”
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“the fact that the Holland Tunnel is below ground level”
Hey if these morons think they were going to get 72 virgins for doing this dastardly deed, it’s easy to see that they believed water flows uphill too!
They stopped using their brains in the 7th century!
Bob Mileti on July 7, 2006 at 9:25 AM
They sent their brains to marterdom centuries ago.
Shmo on July 7, 2006 at 9:44 AM
foiled again… nah, we aren’t winning the war on terror or anything. sarcasm off/
pullingmyhairout on July 7, 2006 at 9:52 AM
They are just angry with us for being in Iraq. If we left right now, Muslims would love America again. Yea, that’s it.
NRA4Freedom on July 7, 2006 at 9:53 AM
The New York Times is keeping silent on this one.
gary on July 7, 2006 at 9:56 AM
The NYT’s is trying to find out how the feds discovered the plot, so they can post a timeline and detailed steps on how to beat the system.
Wyrd on July 7, 2006 at 10:18 AM
Which is more disturbing, that the terrorists thought blowing the tunnel would flood Manhattan, or that the NY Post had to go to “experts” to determine it wouldn’t work?
B Moe on July 7, 2006 at 10:46 AM
Expect a NYT expose’ soon on “America’s most vulnerable terrorism targets”.
NRA4Freedom on July 7, 2006 at 2:25 PM
Still a question as to who is talking to known enemy collaborators, and I’m talking from inside our own system.Someone is tipping the papers off,they need to be jailed NOW! Disrupting an ongoing investigation while perps are still at large is so evil I cannot even spit.
bbz123 on July 7, 2006 at 2:48 PM
Why would the Daily News hold back, when we don’t have the sack to go after al-Times and al-WaPo?
Kid from Brooklyn on July 7, 2006 at 5:01 PM
You know the DU guy who “proved” 9/11 was a gov’t. plot by putting a paving stone on top of some chicken wire and setting it on fire? I wonder what household items he’d use to re-create this one.
Jim Treacher on July 7, 2006 at 6:05 PM
And it would have worked too, if not for those meddling FBI and, er, the fact that the Holland Tunnel is below ground level.
Not so fast. A quick implosion of water into the tunnel could cause it to expel water from both ends, thus flooding the Financial district. It would also weaken the soil surrounding the tunnel entrances, possibly causing the collapse of buildings. Even if the water level never rose above ground (unlikely due to the basic laws of physics), there is still a high likelihood of flooding nearby subways and tunnels carrying electricity and communications.
First, check out this map showing the entrances to the Holland tunnel on Manhattan.
Next, check out this map showing the proximity of subways to the Holland Tunnel. Look at lower Manhattan in the proximity of Canal Street and Spring Street.
Finally, as an example of what happens when underwater tunnels flood, check out the following historical examples:
Read this account of a small 6-foot diameter tunnel collapsing at St. Anthony Falls:
Also read about the Chicago Flood of 1992.
Finally, read about the July 1, 2003 collapse of an underground, below-water rail tunnel in Shanghai:
A collapse of the Holland Tunnel would cause much more damage than just the filling of the tunnel itself with water. The media and the Democrats are going to try to downplay the risk of the collapse of an underwater tunnel. The laws of physics are against them so don’t buy into their arguments.
Stingray on July 7, 2006 at 10:47 PM
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