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posted by martyb on Monday November 04 2019, @05:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the if-you-build-it-they-will-come...and-cut-through-it dept.

Smugglers have found an easy way to get through the vertical steel tube Mexican border wall. From https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/smugglers-are-sawing-through-new-sections-of-trumps-border-wall/2019/11/01/25bf8ce0-fa72-11e9-ac8c-8eced29ca6ef_story.html

The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier's steel-and-concrete bollards in minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques.

After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, creating an adult-size gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post.

The taxpayer-funded barrier — so far coming with a $10 billion price tag — was a central theme of Trump's 2016 campaign, and he has made the project a physical symbol of his presidency, touting its construction progress in speeches, ads and tweets. Trump has increasingly boasted to crowds in recent weeks about the superlative properties of the barrier, calling it "virtually impenetrable" and likening the structure to a "Rolls-Royce" that border crossers cannot get over, under or through.

In other words, no one did any serious pen testing on the wall design, or it would have been obvious that with all that leverage, the top tie-in was easy to flex.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday November 04 2019, @07:44PM (1 child)

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday November 04 2019, @07:44PM (#915861)

    Oh yes, because nobody in the history of history has ever figured out how to disable a sensor. And no, that doesn't necessarily tell you where the breach is going to happen: The people trying to cross the border are organized enough to do moves like "Disable sensors at points A, B, and C simultaneously, then while border patrol is responding to those, disable sensors at point D and cross there".

    My distinct impression is that the border wall plan serves its purpose equally well if it involves sharks with friggin' laser beams attached to their heads. In other words, the real point wasn't for it to be implemented or effective, but to motivate the portions of some people's psyches that enjoy inflicting cruelty on others, especially if they get to do it vicariously and not get their hands dirty themselves.

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  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Tuesday November 05 2019, @03:25PM

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Tuesday November 05 2019, @03:25PM (#916280) Journal

    Defense in depth, although you can pull off what you describe to distract and push through.

    You're correct that no wall will stop everyone, but the point isn't to stop them. In fact there are regions where there are no walls or physical barriers at all due to terrain issues or sheer distance away from where mules and solo crossers will find profitable. A smart individual will be able to defeat the system without anything less than armed and shoot-on-sight wall standers and even then you'll get bribery. But the point is to slow and delay long enough for an effective response to be mounted with what force one has. And the effective response doesn't have to catch everyone, just stem the tide enough. Plus intimidate people from thinking about coming (which a "hey, you can Saws-All that" kind of diminished the impact of.)

    This was still a stupid and ill-conceived idea and I can't wait for the Republicans to scream the next time a Democrat now creates a non-emergency national emergency.

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