[kromike]

Do they realize what every city on the Middle East would look like within a week? Mecca would be a smoking hole, Damascus, Tehran, Cairo, all gone!

Not under a President Obama. His response would be, "Let's chat..."

[GAB-1955]

If President Obama did not respond to a nuclear attack with all the means available to the U.S. armed forces, then he would be impeached and removed from office. If the new President didn't carry on the attack, then he or she would be impeached, and so would the Speaker.

Note: An attack on Washington alone would not cripple the U.S. ability to strike back. Strategic Command would be intact. NORAD would be intact. The senior generals who survived—and there would be many—would take over the positions of the Joint Chiefs. There are no bombers in Washington. There are no missiles in Washington. There are no nuclear submarines in Washington. There are no airborne divisions, tank brigades, or infantry brigades near Washington, save for the honor guards of the 3rd Infantry and Marine Barracks.

Politically, the Senate could be refilled within days, since the Governors of the several states can appoint a Senator to fill the term of a vacant seat. The Senate could meet in Baltimore and wait for the special elections required to fill the House of Representatives.

Government agencies routinely back up data to places outside of Washington in an exercise which is part of Continuity of Operations (COOP). Pensioners might not even miss a check.

Most of the military bases are outside the immediate burst radius of the bomb depicted in the picture. The only bases that would be destroyed would be Fort Myer, Henderson Hall, the Marine Barracks at 8th and I, the Navy Yard, and Bolling Air Force Base. That would leave Fort Belvoir, Andrews Air Force Base, Fort Meade, Naval Station Annapolis, and Coast Guard Sector Baltimore functional. Law and order and emergency services could be hindered, but would function to some extent.

The greatest loss outside of human life would be cultural, with the destruction of the treasures in the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress. The Iwo Jima Memorial and the Air Force Memorial would be vaporized.

Now, how are they going to get a bomb into Washington? Probably by truck. I suspect from the picture the bomb was detonated on the I-395 bridge by the Pentagon. But such a bomb is bigger than a suitcase.

It would be a world of hurt, and I might die in such an attack, but there would be an American government and an angry American people.