Useful Fools

Iran and Korea have deep tunnel systems to protect their nuclear assets - tunnels too deep for us to destroy - even with nuclear weapons*.

Dr. Charles Krauthammer claims that we cannot defeat Iranian tunnel systems. Iran also threatened to block the Straits of Hormuz if attacked. The conclusion was that we will give up the military option against Iran.

Am I missing something?

Why can’t we put the tunnels out of action? Sure, we can’t destroy the deeply buried equipment and facilities with aerial bombing, but we should be able to make them inaccessible. What if we destroy all of the entrances and utility/communications links, using a combination of powerful bunker busters, and time delay bombs (or better, time delay cluster munitions if they exist) and air-sowable mines? THen e also use High energy microwave weapons to destroy electrical equipment supporting the operation and even equipment in the tunnels.

A tunnel that requires a lot o digging to reach is a useless tunnel - as long as the willingness to attack the diggers exists. Time delay weapons help increase the difficulty and time in digging back into the tunnels. These were used on the Ho Chi Minh trail at a critical mountain pass choke-point. Adequate saturation bombing of the area, or good intelligence or a pre/post attack commando or airborne ranger raids should allow entrances to be identified, and response efforts to be hobbled.

Nobody and no material would be able to get in and out for a long time - as long as we were willing to continue to attack the sites.

As for the Straits, we could and should capture the Iranian territory along the Straits if a single weapon is fired. We should provide Aegis escorts for tankers, and provide insurance if needed to guarantee continued world oil supplies.

None of this is simple, but none of it seems impossible.

None of these is as bad as an ICBM and nuclear armed Iran, an imminent prospect!

We need to start thinking like a country at war.

*In theory , nukes can reach any depth, by a long series of ground bursts. However, the fallout would be intense and the resulting humanitarian issues prevent such an approach.