Monday, December 1, 2008

America's Biggest Threat

What is the greatest threat facing the U.S today?  Global warming?  Financial colapse?  Another 9-11?  A direct nuclear strike on a major U.S. city?

"Think about this scenario: An ordinary-looking freighter ship heading toward New York or Los Angeles launches a missile from its hull or from a canister lowered into the sea. It hits a densely populated area. A million people are incinerated. The ship is then sunk. No one claims responsibility. There is no firm evidence as to who sponsored the attack, and thus no one against whom to launch a counterstrike.

"But as terrible as that scenario sounds, there is one that is worse. Let us say the freighter ship launches a nuclear-armed Shahab-3 missile off the coast of the U.S. and the missile explodes 300 miles over Chicago. The nuclear detonation in space creates an electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

"Gamma rays from the explosion would permanently destroy consumer electronics, the electronics in automobiles and, most importantly, the hundreds of large transformers that distribute power throughout the U.S. All of our lights, refrigerators, water-pumping stations, TVs and radios stop running. We have no communication and no ability to provide food and water to 300 million Americans."

"While not causing immediate civilian casualties, the near-term impact on U.S. society would dwarf the damage of a direct nuclear strike on a U.S. city."

"Airplanes could literally fall from the sky, food would rot, and our medical and emergency response capabilities would be non-existent – the lives and property lost would be immense."

"Seventy to ninety percent of the population would not be sustainable after this kind of attack.  America would be reduced to a core of around 30 million people — about the number that existed in the decades after America’s independence from Great Britain."

"Twice in the last eight years, in the Caspian Sea, the Iranians have tested their ability to launch ballistic missiles in a way to set off an EMP."

So far, Barack Obama has indicated that he is very ambivalent about missile defense systems.  Will this change?

More

What a single warhead could do.  Why the U.S. needs a space-based missile defense against an EMP attack.
General Warns Obama On Missile Defense
Obama adviser: No Obama commitment on defense shield
Missile Defense in the Obama Administration
Why Obama Will Continue Star Wars
U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.

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Is Bill Clinton Next in Line for Hillary's Senate Seat?
REALITY CHECK: Obama Received About the Same Percentage from Small Donors in 2008 as Bush in 2004
Terrorists' Restless Leg Syndrome

7 comments:

PorkyRay said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PorkyRay said...

This scenario reminds me of when I was a kid in grade school, hiding under my desk, afraid that the USSR was going to launch an attack against the USA. The difference is that now it is much more probable that we will be attacked. Now, as an adult, I can't help but believe that we would not have this worry had we not tried to control the world. What gives us the right to tell everyone else how they must live and that they must bow to our every demand? It's time for us to get back to the guidelines of the Constitution!

robert verdi said...

well, one atomic bomb striking anywhere could knock this country pretty bad. The whole point of missile defense was not stop hundreds of warheads, but to stop one or two from an enemy nation.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a scary prospect. So very possible too. How many people in this country have their heads in the sand over this?

robert verdi said...

carrie,
too many

Biased Girl said...

Scary prospect, but completely plausible under the current conditions.

I have to admit when I first started reading your post and it involved a terrorist on a boat, I thought you were going to describe an attack similiar to what took place in India. Which although not nearly as doomsday as your scenerio, still tragic and Extremely possible.
It is important to be prepared and alert in these dangerous times....

PorkyRay said...

Report: World at Risk of Bio, Nuke Attack
It's 'More Likely Than Not' That a WMD Attack Will Occur by 2013, Panel Determines
By JASON RYAN

Dec. 2, 2008