"Lithic Disguise" - Switzerland and Controlled Demolition

[Wombaticus Rex]

This hit me like a ton of bricks. Answers a lot. I don't even have to explain, you'll see it too.

Via: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/va ... guise.html

To make a long story short, McPhee describes two things: how Switzerland requires military service from every able-bodied male Swiss citizen—a model later emulated and expanded by Israel—and how the Swiss military has, in effect, wired the entire country to blow in the event of foreign invasion. To keep enemy armies out, bridges will be dynamited and, whenever possible, deliberately collapsed onto other roads and bridges below; hills have been weaponized to be activated as valley-sweeping artificial landslides; mountain tunnels will be sealed from within to act as nuclear-proof air raid shelters; and much more.

First, a quick look at the system of self-demolition that is literally built into the Swiss national infrastructure:

To interrupt the utility of bridges, tunnels, highways, railroads, Switzerland has established three thousand points of demolition. That is the number officially printed. It has been suggested to me that to approximate a true figure a reader ought to multiply by two. Where a highway bridge crosses a railroad, a segment of the bridge is programmed to drop on the railroad. Primacord fuses are built into the bridge. Hidden artillery is in place on either side, set to prevent the enemy from clearing or repairing the damage.

Further:

Near the German border of Switzerland, every railroad and highway tunnel has been prepared to pinch shut explosively. Nearby mountains have been made so porous that whole divisions can fit inside them. There are weapons and soldiers under barns. There are cannons inside pretty houses. Where Swiss highways happen to run on narrow ground between the edges of lakes and to the bottoms of cliffs, man-made rockslides are ready to slide.

The impending self-demolition of the country is "routinely practiced," McPhee writes. "Often, in such assignments, the civilian engineer who created the bridge will, in his capacity as a military officer, be given the task of planning its destruction."

Read it. Those contractors exist. NATO, etc, nuff said, moving on.

[vanlose kid]

talk about dual use tech.

great read. the comments too.

thanks.

*

[JackRiddler]

But if this security measure were taken with a building, e.g. a very tall one to prevent it from damaging too much around it, how and why would they design it to mimic a spontaneous collapse starting at the point of greatest damage?

[MacCruiskeen]

But if this security measure were taken with a building, e.g. a very tall one to prevent it from damaging too much around it, how and why would they design it to mimic a spontaneous collapse starting at the point of greatest damage?

They wouldn't necessarily do so. But if, say, a 100-storey building had been designed with such a measure in place, then presumably the sequence of explosions could be initiated at any point in that building between the bottom and the top. (Just as the Swiss can presumably initiate explosions at any point on a winding mountain road.)

Having explosives planted on every floor of that hypothetical skyscraper would also come in handy in the eventuality that, say, the top third of it started toppling away at an angle. You could then just dissolve most of it in mid-air, thus avoiding millions of dollars worth of unnecessary damage to property.

mimic a spontaneous collapse

Well, did it really do that? A lot of people disagree, including at least one demolition expert. Personally I don't know what it normally looks like when a 100-storey building collapses spontaneously. In fact, neither does anyone, because it's never happened before or since. So there is no norm to be mimicked.

[Wombaticus Rex]

Personally I don't know what it normally looks like when a 100-storey building collapses spontaneously. In fact, neither does anyone, because it's never happened before or since. So there is no norm to be mimicked.

+1000

[Forgetting2]

But if this security measure were taken with a building, e.g. a very tall one to prevent it from damaging too much around it, how and why would they design it to mimic a spontaneous collapse starting at the point of greatest damage?

I think this assumes that the point of impact could not be known by anyone prior to the actual impact. Maybe.

[Joe Hillshoist]

But if this security measure were taken with a building, e.g. a very tall one to prevent it from damaging too much around it, how and why would they design it to mimic a spontaneous collapse starting at the point of greatest damage?

They wouldn't necessarily do so. But if, say, a 100-storey building had been designed with such a measure in place, then presumably the sequence of explosions could be initiated at any point in that building between the bottom and the top. (Just as the Swiss can presumably initiate explosions at any point on a winding mountain road.)

Having explosives planted on every floor of that hypothetical skyscraper would also come in handy in the eventuality that, say, the top third of it started toppling away at an angle. You could then just dissolve most of it in mid-air, thus avoiding millions of dollars worth of unnecessary damage to property.*

mimic a spontaneous collapse

Well, did it really do that? A lot of people disagree, including at least one demolition expert.

*And thousands of lives potentially.

That doesn't mean I think it was altruism or even demolition.

Personally I don't know what it normally looks like when a 100-storey building collapses spontaneously. In fact, neither does anyone, because it's never happened before or since. So there is no norm to be mimicked.

Thank fuck for that too. Tho I do completely agree with you. I don't know what it looks like either, unless that was it.

[jlaw172364]

@Wombaticus

I saw that article a few weeks ago, but didn't make the connection to the WTC until you brought it up. Excellent connection!

I've actually known about the intricacies of Swiss defense for years, but I never made that connection. I knew that they wired bridges and tunnels to blow up during war-time, but hadn't realized that it extended to starting rock-slides as well.

Our family lived there for five years, and I also did some independent research.

Switzerland as hyper-strict immigration laws, and you basically have to buy citizenship by being extremely wealthy, unless you marry a Swiss citizen. There are customs agents who check everything that comes in and out of the country so they can tax you on it. There are hidden cameras that automatically send you traffic tickets through the mail for infractions, and they had this in the 80's.

Switzerland was founded by mercenaries who got rich protecting the Pope (the Swiss Guard). They have one of the, if not the, oldest standing democracies in Europe. A traditional voting process involve all the voters gathering in the village square and raising swords to cast votes.

During WWII, they were the only country Nazi Germany didn't invade, precisely because the entire country was booby-trapped, and every able-bodied Swiss was mustered into the army. The Swiss did let the Nazis run trains through sealed tunnels as a concession though. The Germans threatned the Swiss by saying that their army outnumbered the Swiss army 2 to 1, but the Swiss general just said something like, "Well, I guess our boys will just have to shoot twice."

The entire country is a natural fortress because it is so mountainous.

The Swiss are definitely ruthless, shrewd operators. The are because they have to be, living in the belly of the most war-ravaged continent in history. One of the ways they became so wealthy is by acting as a bank for an international elite. Virtually every corporate robber baron or high government official has a Swiss bank account, or at least they did until recently.

Let's see . . . what else?

Almost every house had its own bomb shelter. We lived in two different houses, and they each had a bomb shelter.

[StarmanSkye]

Hmmm ... My understanding is Swiss was neutral, off-limits to invasion/occupation by both Allies and Axis primarily BECAUSE it was strategicly and financially valuable for the principle behind-the-scenes leaders/financiers who backed the war, playing both sides and guaranteeing that whoever 'won' they would benefit. This would be the syndicate shareholder interests which Allen Dulles and Donovan of the OSS fronted-for, coordinated w/ & insulated against discovery/hiding profits thru arranging foreign shell-company 'ownership' and nested management/licensing agreements thru Sullivan & Cromwell Bank. I really don't know if Switzerland was better protected against attack by virtue of its financial usefulness or its tactical & practical self-defense measures -- possibly both. Curious that the Vatican had strategic alliances with both powers as well -- which undoubtedly contributed to Switzerland's unique and protected role.

In this regard, I wonder what role the Jesuits played? Some argue that the Jesuits continue to play a major part in global affairs.

[Wombaticus Rex]

In this regard, I wonder what role the Jesuits played? Some argue that the Jesuits continue to play a major part in global affairs.

Well, why would they stop trying to control the world? I can think of no reasonable explanation for a change in policy.