On this episode of International Reporters Roundtable, our topic is tunnels. We take you underground into the world of subterranean warfare. Since Oct. 7, we’ve all become acutely aware of the tactical role of tunnels.
Hamas terrorists operate in vast underground warrens snaking below the Gaza Strip. We’ve seen the videos: hidden entrances, deep, dark shafts, and stores of arms. And the murky accounts from traumatized hostages being dragged through “a spider web,” as one described it, of dank passageways. And Hamas, using civilians as cover, has been keeping hostages in buildings directly below critical civilian sites such as hospitals, schools, and mosques.
Does the war in Gaza signal a new brand of warfare? What lessons can we learn? And where else might these lessons apply? In China, is the “underground great wall” hiding nuclear capabilities? In North Korea, what is in its vast underground network?
What about closer to home along the southern border, where cartels use tunnels to smuggle in drugs and criminals? Is that where it ends, or where it begins?
What of our own cities and subways and sewers? If terrorist cells emerge here, are they a strength or a vulnerability? What are we prepared for?
Our guests, James Fanell, co-author of “Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure”; Clare Lopez, founder of Lopez Liberty LLC; and Sargis Sangari, CEO of Near East Center for Strategic Engagement, join us to reveal the secrets of tunnel warfare.
