stevep
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Post by stevep on Apr 20, 2018 22:39:58 GMT
I can't see such a tactic being practical for Panama even if they managed to get control of one or more nuclear weapons. The blast damage and fallout would seriously damage the most developed and populated region of Panama - i.e. along the canal itself, even if it was far enough away from the two cities at either end of the canal that they 'only' suffered minor damage. Exactly. That's the radical view I have for Panama, They see the West as the enemy and will do anything - even sacrifice themselves - to make sure they don't exploit what they believe is rightfully theirs. However, that's more fantasy than reality. In a more plausible note, is there an effective way to really close off the canal without involving nukes? Well as I said, I have read a number of references that destroying a dam, which holds the water for the lock system to work would put it out of action, for at least a year and probably more. Apart from the destruction of the reservoir draining away you would have to rebuild the dam, not an easy job even without possible local resistance and then wait for the lake of fill up so there's water to operate the locks. Wish I could remember one of the places where this was mentioned so I could get more details but nothing coming at the moment. This was the situation a couple of decades back and with the enlarged locks of the recent upgrade, which would need more water, it would be worse, at least unless their provided substantial additional water supplies.
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 20, 2018 23:24:31 GMT
Exactly. That's the radical view I have for Panama, They see the West as the enemy and will do anything - even sacrifice themselves - to make sure they don't exploit what they believe is rightfully theirs. However, that's more fantasy than reality. In a more plausible note, is there an effective way to really close off the canal without involving nukes? Well as I said, I have read a number of references that destroying a dam, which holds the water for the lock system to work would put it out of action, for at least a year and probably more. Apart from the destruction of the reservoir draining away you would have to rebuild the dam, not an easy job even without possible local resistance and then wait for the lake of fill up so there's water to operate the locks. Wish I could remember one of the places where this was mentioned so I could get more details but nothing coming at the moment. This was the situation a couple of decades back and with the enlarged locks of the recent upgrade, which would need more water, it would be worse, at least unless their provided substantial additional water supplies. So place a couple of thousand tons of TNT near the Miraflores lock and have the whole thing crashing down. Nice. That would render the canal inoperable and leave the Panamanian resistance to make the US's life a misery. Eventually, it would be so catastrophic for the US (once they do rebuild it, nothing stops another lunatic from placing TNT again), that they will be left without options. A good place to start.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2018 4:50:42 GMT
Then the United States Navy would sail down there toots quick to open that shit back on up because that is messing with ~EVERYBODY'S~ shipping.
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Apr 23, 2018 15:37:01 GMT
Then the United States Navy would sail down there toots quick to open that shit back on up because that is messing with ~EVERYBODY'S~ shipping. No doubt they would try but it would probably be closed for a couple of years at least, even without Panamanian resistance/opposition.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 23, 2018 15:41:50 GMT
Then the United States Navy would sail down there toots quick to open that shit back on up because that is messing with ~EVERYBODY'S~ shipping. No doubt they would try but it would probably be closed for a couple of years at least, even without Panamanian resistance/opposition. And in the mean time China is building the Nicaragua canal in Nicaragua.
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 23, 2018 16:35:22 GMT
No doubt they would try but it would probably be closed for a couple of years at least, even without Panamanian resistance/opposition. And in the mean time China is building the Nicaragua canal in Nicaragua. This is something I didn't know. It will be quite the feat of engineering and really show us that this is China's Century.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 23, 2018 16:44:15 GMT
And in the mean time China is building the Nicaragua canal in Nicaragua. This is something I didn't know. It will be quite the feat of engineering and really show us that this is China's Century. Wait you did not know that China is planning to build something like the Panama Canal in Nicaragua and then get a right to operate it for a very long time (think of the Chinese version of when the Americans controlled and operated the Panama Canal).
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James G
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Post by James G on Apr 23, 2018 17:13:04 GMT
This is something I didn't know. It will be quite the feat of engineering and really show us that this is China's Century. Wait you did not know that China is planning to build something like the Panama Canal in Nicaragua and then get a right to operate it for a very long time (think of the Chinese version of when the Americans controlled and operated the Panama Canal). Nope. I knew they had a string of pearls elsewhere in the form of naval access but not Nicaragua. Ortega is playing with one superpower against the other... sounds like something out of 1980s fiction!
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Apr 23, 2018 17:16:00 GMT
Wait you did not know that China is planning to build something like the Panama Canal in Nicaragua and then get a right to operate it for a very long time (think of the Chinese version of when the Americans controlled and operated the Panama Canal). Nope. I knew they had a string of pearls elsewhere in the form of naval access but not Nicaragua. Ortega is playing with one superpower against the other... sounds like something out of 1980s fiction! Well they have the funds for it, if they can build it they will control a canal not operated by a pro-american country who listens to the United States.
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jasonsnow
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Post by jasonsnow on Apr 24, 2018 1:29:35 GMT
Nope. I knew they had a string of pearls elsewhere in the form of naval access but not Nicaragua. Ortega is playing with one superpower against the other... sounds like something out of 1980s fiction! Well they have the funds for it, if they can build it they will control a canal not operated by a pro-american country who listens to the United States. So I was speaking with Miguel (my bro) and he told me how the US originally planned to build the canal on Mexico. Apparently there's this heroic tale where US warships were headed to assault the Mexican port when a Mexican general fended them off with a massive, German-made cannon so powerful it kept the Americans at bay, until the cannon was eventually dismantled. The US originally offered the Mexicans to buy the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (the thin bit in central Mexico, apparently), but the President at the time said no. So the US sent ships to invade. However, the Mexicans brought in their massive cannon and kicked them out. I can't say for certain if this is true, but it appears to pop up exactly the same whenever I search it, so it must be a folk tale of some sort. Look at this thing. It's enormous.
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