Posted on 09/09/2011 5:22:26 PM PDT by Kaslin
National Security: The Sept. 11 commission stated that our biggest failure was one of imagination. Imagine an Iranian nuclear device detonating high over the American heartland. They're working on it.
On the same day the 9/11 Commission issued its report, another commission issued a report on a threat that could change our world and way of life in ways we can scarcely imagine. It is a real and credible threat, and it is largely being ignored.
The threat is a phenomenon known as electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, and demonstrates why the issue of homeland security extends beyond the need for body scanners or taking our shoes off at the airport. It's why ignoring Iran is dangerous and why a robust national missile defense should be of the highest priority.
This threat to our national security was the subject of study by the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack, established by unanimous consent of the House and Senate. Released on the same day as the 9/11 Commission report, few paid attention.
It is a scenario worthy of Hollywood, but it is a frighteningly real possibility. A solitary ballistic missile, perhaps an ICBM launched by a decaying North Korean regime or an Iranian mullah, or a terrorist Scud launched from a ship off the Atlantic Coast carrying the first Islamic nuke, detonates its warhead 25 to 300 miles above the U.S. mainland.
Nobody is harmed or killed immediately by the blast. But life in America, the world's only superpower and largest economy, comes to a screeching halt as a country dependent on 21st-century technology regresses almost a century instantaneously.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Doesn’t it need to be launched first and then when the correct altitude is reached it would be detonated?
Exactly! You wouldn’t need to “launch” it from 250 miles up. That is where you would “detonate” it from.
I realize where the quote came from, and you posted it to make a point with no correction.
You’re right. A visa and a plane ticket was about all that was required. And we still leave the door open to Islamic immigration.
“I realize where the quote came from, and you posted it to make a point with no correction.”
Generally when I post a quote I don’t change it. Your nitpickin and its an asinine argument.
I read it just recently. Very scary scenario. We should take this very, very seriously.
Assume freighter launch from open sea off coast or body of water. Positional accuracy is not that important for EMP attack. Target:
1) Philadelphia - hits northeast rather hard, is accessible from Atlantic.
2) Southern California - much of west coast, accessible from Pacific
3) Chicago - gets midwest, accessible from Great Lakes
Depending on yields and altitudes, this may leave out Seattle, Texas, and Gulf Coast. But it covers the bulk of the population and where they live. Military targets are ignored as they are generally hardened. Most of electric grid is down for a while.
Just a SWAG based on an atlas...
So who asked you to change the quote?
You seem to have a problem with cognition.
Exactly. Sure, we could trace the trajectory back to a ship, or whatever. But whose ship is it?
There are entities that want to see the USA destroyed. Iran, for example.
But there are also entities that would like to see the USA blame, then destroy, Iran.
And there are also entities that would like to see the USA and Iran destroy each other.
Again, we see the tragedy of Bush II not putting us on a war footing right after 9/11. We could have, and should have, completely crushed Al Qaeda wherever it was found, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, wherever. And the world would have applauded.
But Bush II went for nation-building instead.
Sorry for the rant, but it's a very emotional thing for me.
You've got a VIVID imagination, don't you?
NO cheers, unfortunately.
Indeed. Can’t believe it’s been 10 years.
get a life sport
Not really.
The standard US position should be that we will kill every man, woman and child outside US borders should such an attack occur.
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An EMP would take out cars
computers
electric grids
trucks
trains,
planes
hospital equipment
elevators,
water treatment plants,
garbage trucks,
oil refineries
gas stations... etc etc etc.
It's NOT just 'electronic toys'...
I have a quibble there. I think they are hypocrites. The hot-shots drink alcohol. They compulsively download pornography (including UBL). I'd bet a solid majority of the leadership are milking it for the power and the access to babes.
I'll bet they want to live.
Meaning a lot of people would have to spend a lot of money replacing their tech stuff, boosting the economy!
Husein's Secret Economic Plan?
You would have to launch it to get it 250 miles up there.
It was a very thought provoking book, which was scary at the same time.
They wouldn't need to send ANY Iranian ships for the purpose. An old junky freighter could do the job.
As far as retaliation is concerned, sure, our military, not in this country would be available for the job. The damage would still be done to this country, with regards to all things electric, or electronic. Folks wouldn't be able to survive without the steady flow of food from the trucks and trains that carry them across the country on a daily basis.
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