Fire erupts at Iraqi oil pipeline

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20030918/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_oil_blaze&cid=1514&ncid=1473

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A fire has erupted at an oil pipeline 200 kilometers (125 miles) north of Baghdad, with the commander of US ground forces saying it was not known whether it resulted from sabotage.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez told a news conference the blaze broke out nine kilometers (six miles) north of the oil hub of Baiji, but he could not give any other details.

"There was a pipeline fire," he said Thursday. "We have not established if it was sabotage or not."

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[Brucey]

1. How can they tell when a new fire erupts?

It sounds like the whole damn thing is one continuous fire!

[saigon68]

11. fire erupts= ITS BURNING THE CRAP OUT OF EVERYTHING

I guess the pipe just decided to erupt(burn) </sarcasm>

[lanlady]

2. just showed it on TV

Lots of flames and lots of black goo seeping into the sand.

[ThreeCatNight]

3. Anyone else hear....

all that the cha-chinging coming from Halliburton's board of directors?

[northernsoul]

4. math question: how many troops is it going to take

to guard the Iraqi pipelines?

Seriously, are we going to have to build a series of guard towers augmented by soldiers on foot patrol 24/7 so that every square inch of these pipelines is under guard at all times?
Even all that may not stop of suicide sabateur...

Anybody else hear a draft coming?

[NNN0LHI]

5. There are not enough soldiers in the whole world than can protect...

...hundreds of mile of pipelines 24/7. Here is what one bullet can do.

Don

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1584553.stm

The pipeline has been shot at a number of times

Alaska clean-up 'could take years'

An official of the company operating a trans-Alaskan pipeline which has leaked hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the wilderness since Thursday has said it could take years to clean up the pollution.

Bill Howitt, vice-president of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company which operates the 800-mile pipeline, said: "We anticipate it will take literally years to get the area free of contamination."

Meanwhile, rescue crews installed a clamp over a bullet hole in the pipeline to stop the leak.

Daniel Carson Lewis - the man suspected of shooting the pipeline with a rifle - has been charged with criminal mischief, driving while drunk, weapons misconduct and assault.

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[northernsoul]

6. so one drunk with a deer rifle can do that?

You're right, we'd literally need every soldier currently serving in uniform from every nation on earth to stop pipeline sabotage.

our cup floweth over with good news today, don't it?

[htuttle]

8. Now imagine if it were shot with a tracer round

I think the sound is something like:

'FFOOOOOMMMMP!'
:nuke:

[reprobate]

13. And that was a .30 cal deer rifle.

Imagine what a 50 cal rifle would do. It wouldn't just punch a hole in the pipe. The hydostatic shock from that energetic a round would likely blow the pipe apart.

No imagine three or four teams with 50 cal rifles, moving from place to place, knocking out sections of pipe each. There wouldn't be enough trained pipe workers in the world to keep the oil flowing.

Hey, Captain Codpiece. Just declare victory and bring them home!

[papau]

7. Not much on the wire - APO's report below

Explosion Reported at Iraq Oil Pipeline
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 1:56 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- An explosion along the main oil pipeline from Iraq to Turkey triggered a large fire early Thursday near the northern Iraqi town of Bayji, witnesses said.The explosion occurred about dawn just north of Bayji, about 120 miles north of Baghdad, the witnesses said. The cause of the blast could not be immediately determined and the extent of damage was unclear.<snip>

[catmandu57]

9. So, whatcha gonna do

Guard the pipeline so chaindrive, and the bfee can make billions and leave the cities to ferment in religious outrage, or gaurd the cities, keep a damper on religion, build resentment towards the occupation, so that the deadenders can sabotage the pipeline? What a choice.

[NNN0LHI]

10. deadenders? Rummy uses that word all the time. Catchy, ain't it? n/t

[saigon68]

12. I'd like to see him as a 'dead ender'

Small chance though,