Sophia's Peace Work

Monday, August 04, 2014

Mosul Dam under threat

3 Aug situation update from the Institute for the Study of War: An anonymous local source says that Islamic Militants have given the Peshmerga an ultimatum to withdraw from the Mosul Dam within two hours of seizing the nearby village of Wana, north of Mosul. An unnamed Peshmerga confirmed that there had been clashes and bombardment in the area of the dam.

What is ISIS likely to do if it gains control of the Mosul Dam?  It can wreck unimaginable devastation upon the country if there is a catastrophic release from the dam.  All they might need to do is stop the maintenance ... this dam was so poorly designed and built that it needs to be constantly grouted (i.e. have all the leaks plugged).  It's been called the most dangerous dam in the world and in fact should never have been built in the first place.  Its literally build on rocks that dissolve in the presence of water.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Report "outlined a worst-case scenario, in which a sudden collapse of the dam would flood Mosul under 65 feet (20 m) of water and Baghdad, a city of 7 million, to 15 feet (5 m), with an estimated death toll of 500,000. A report on 30 October 2007 by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) said that the dam's foundations could give way at any moment."  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul_Dam.

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