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Usually a Big Fan - Disappointed this Time

Reader comment on item: Might the Saudis Blow Up Their Oil Infrastructure?

Submitted by Adam (United States), May 13, 2005 at 16:49

I am usually a big fan of Daniel Pipes and all the fine work he does on his website.
However, I feel in this case he should not be pushing forward this theory. This is conspiracy-theorism and fear-mongering.

BTW, I am an energy consultant by profession, and the idea that the Saudis could secretly rig their massive infrastructure with dirty bomb explosives is just plain ridiculous. Let's think about this logically for a moment...

1) An operation of that size and scope CANNOT slip under the noses of the intelligence agencies. For sake of comparison, remember the incredible lengths we had to go to keep the Los Alamos project secret, or the secretiveness surrounding any country's WMD program, or any other large super-secret state project. What you conjecture that the Saudis did is much bigger in scale than any of those projects because it is spread out over a much larger infrastructure.

2) Not to mention that most workers in the Saudi oil exploration, drilling, production, gathering and pipeline infrastructure are Westerners. How can all this be done without them noticing?

3) Why would the Saudis set up a self-destruct button in a country that has a large number of Islamists, including double-agents, etc. that would be all-too-happy to push said button.

The only plausible explanation is that the Saudis know that half of the world's intelligence agencies are taping/bugging certain high-level conversations. So, they want to spread this rumor to deter any thought of hostile action.

Again, Daniel I am a huge fan, but just felt compelled to try to inject some thoughtful reasoning in this discussion. BTW, did you hear that some Islamists are suing FOX News and the Boston Herald regarding some Boston Islamic Center or other? I saw it in the Boston Globe yesterday.
Submitting....

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Reader comments (31) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1Dual Purpose of Explosives [42 words]Dr. SleeOct 22, 2005 12:4927207
US Treasury market [30 words]michael cMay 18, 2005 20:3122163
House of Saud [95 words]JoeMay 18, 2005 13:1722145
1Haven't they learned anything? [195 words]PatMay 17, 2005 19:0922129
1Saudi empty threat [169 words]Marcos BerensteinMay 16, 2005 19:5622119
Blow up Oil infrastructure? [98 words]Jacques BakkeMay 16, 2005 02:4622116
Worth considering... [17 words]CutlerMay 15, 2005 23:0722113
I Always Assumed They Had A Self-Destruct [30 words]ConstanceMay 15, 2005 16:1922111
Past due [224 words]philiplisagorMay 13, 2005 18:1222103
Usually a Big Fan - Disappointed this Time [291 words]AdamMay 13, 2005 16:4922102
Small quantities protocol [88 words]Marc JorisMay 13, 2005 16:3422100
Too much of Oil can be a bad thing [132 words]Yldaed SurivMay 13, 2005 12:4922098
Irrelevant [106 words]Paul ZMay 13, 2005 10:5822097
Poor Mr. Ahmed [96 words]Octavio JohansonMay 13, 2005 09:5322096
Completely Preposterous [114 words]Ronald MonsenMay 13, 2005 09:1922095
If they did do it, they must have thought about it hard [73 words]Alain Jean-MairetMay 13, 2005 00:5322093
Absurdity [63 words]Stan SuchockiMay 13, 2005 00:1222092
New energy project [175 words]Fodor, G.E.May 12, 2005 22:2522091
A doomsday switch is a stupid idea [88 words]LTECMay 12, 2005 21:5822090
Not an Effective Deterent? [19 words]ElliotMay 12, 2005 16:3922089
I doubt it would work. [403 words]bernardzMay 12, 2005 15:4422087
2The Desert Fantasy [596 words]Alo KievalarMay 12, 2005 15:3322086
Chilling thought. Now, what's the bottom line? [103 words]J. GoldbergMay 12, 2005 11:0122084
SAUDI OIL [82 words]Asim AhmedMay 12, 2005 08:5922083
The evil that you know [87 words]Octavio JohansonMay 12, 2005 08:2822082
Button, Button, Who's Got The Big Red Button? [400 words]YonasonMay 12, 2005 03:1922080
Dr. Strangelove in a kaffiyeh [365 words]Kenneth S. BesigMay 12, 2005 02:1122078
Saudi self-destruct: silver lining [98 words]Gary GoldmanMay 11, 2005 20:4222073
re: Might the Saudis Blow Up Their Oil Infrastructure? [99 words]Garrett HildebrandMay 11, 2005 20:0422072
An aside... [55 words]Mark FabyMay 11, 2005 19:4122071
A secret deterrence system would be useless [76 words]Alfred KohlerMay 11, 2005 18:1422070

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