2003dec17. William Safire checks in on the origin of the term “spider hole,” as used recently to describe Saddam’s Fortress of Solitude:
Another useful bit of information is the origin of “spider hole,” a phrase used by Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez to describe the dugout hiding place in which the fugitive Saddam was cowering. This is Army lingo from the Vietnam era. The Vietcong guerrillas dug “Cu Chi tunnels” often connected to what the GI’s called “spider holes” – space dug deep enough for the placement of a clay pot large enough to hold a crouching man, covered by a wooden plank and concealed with leaves.That seems like an awfully long road to travel to get to the term “spider hole.” Why not “snake hole"? Why would American forces name things from the perspective of a clay pot-hiding VC? “Hey, I found one of those dead clay pot VCs ... looks like he died from a bunch of spider and/or snake bites! I thus call this hole and all subsequent holes formed in the same fashion ... a ... a spider hole!” It couldn’t have possibly derived from the fact that spiders actually dig holes in the ground or that VC tunnels were sometimes “guarded” by a ton of spiders?When an American patrol passed, the Vietcong would spring out, shooting.
But the hole had its dangers; if the pot broke or cracked, the guerrilla could be attacked by poisonous spiders or snakes. Hence, “spider hole.”
“One hole seemed to be darker than any hole I’d ever been in and for a moment I thought I was losing my equilibrium because it seemed like the hole was moving in on me, and as I shined the light around more, I found out it was just a mass of spiders. The whole chamber, the walls and top, were one great black moving mass of spiders.” (The Tunnels of Cu Chi, Tom Mangold and John Penycate)Also note the reference to “Cu Chi tunnels” ... Cu Chi was a place, where the most elaborate network of underground tunnels was located (and then the Americans went and put their own really big base on top of it, enabling the VC to do really weird things like hollowing out a tree in the middle of the base and sporadically firing guns from the top of the tree). But I guess Safire has the 411 on the spider hole, I mean, after eating dinner with the Rumsfelds and all. I have not eaten dinner with the Rumsfelds.
[later, that same day ... ] Description of spider hole (scroll down a bit).