When I first read this story I thought to myself... No freaking way. One of the greatest strengths of the US Military is its ability to mobilize enormous numbers troops and equipment anywhere in the world rapidly. Basically, we create an air-highway to our destination and begin military operations. However, with this tunnel in place, it would allow any country to overcome this feat of military infrastructure by sending trainloads of cars, tanks, and troops over just by paying the toll. Basically, this actually makes the world more like the giant RISK board where you can move from Russia to the US in one turn.
Then I got to thinking some more. When you consider the amount of money that places like Asia, Russia, and Eastern Europe spend to put stuff on a ship and send it over to North America, the economic impact of this would be staggering. It would certainly make Russia more economically viable just throug the tariffs alone.
I guess the internal debate comes down to one of history. Which side has the most to gain and is the easiest to defend? The positive economic aspect of the project or the negative (in my opinion) military aspect of the project....
Excellent point. It seems like landmines have always been used as a cheap alternative to actually having to have to shoot somebody. However, it's disconcerting that there still seem to be cases where some kid is hiking around and ends up getting blown apart by a mine that was left around during the "conflict du' jour".
Now they're making them actually smart! Excellent. I can't wait to see these in action as they reset themselves to blow up the Cub Scout troop that comes along to review the site ten years later.
Slashdot Mirror
When I first read this story I thought to myself... No freaking way. One of the greatest strengths of the US Military is its ability to mobilize enormous numbers troops and equipment anywhere in the world rapidly. Basically, we create an air-highway to our destination and begin military operations. However, with this tunnel in place, it would allow any country to overcome this feat of military infrastructure by sending trainloads of cars, tanks, and troops over just by paying the toll. Basically, this actually makes the world more like the giant RISK board where you can move from Russia to the US in one turn. Then I got to thinking some more. When you consider the amount of money that places like Asia, Russia, and Eastern Europe spend to put stuff on a ship and send it over to North America, the economic impact of this would be staggering. It would certainly make Russia more economically viable just throug the tariffs alone. I guess the internal debate comes down to one of history. Which side has the most to gain and is the easiest to defend? The positive economic aspect of the project or the negative (in my opinion) military aspect of the project....
Excellent point. It seems like landmines have always been used as a cheap alternative to actually having to have to shoot somebody. However, it's disconcerting that there still seem to be cases where some kid is hiking around and ends up getting blown apart by a mine that was left around during the "conflict du' jour". Now they're making them actually smart! Excellent. I can't wait to see these in action as they reset themselves to blow up the Cub Scout troop that comes along to review the site ten years later.