Ah, such a dangerous world. And growing so much more dangerous under this president.
As anybody who isn’t fooling themselves is aware, the Iran deal is a recipe for an Iranian Mullahbomb, albeit after either a period of 10-15 years of good behavior, or bad behavior accompanied by artful sneakiness.
President Obama himself has said that in the latter years of the agreement – even under the U.S. understanding of it, which is not the same as the Iranian understanding – the breakout time to an Iranian nuke would plummet “almost down to zero.”
Yahh, the White House tried to walk it back, but thadeezwadeesed.
I don’t know if the world is going to survive such nuclear proliferation. Neither did previous administrations, who adhered to a no-nuclear-program policy for Iran and other dangerous countries, which Obama has jettisoned.
North Korea is the exception. Both Bush and Clinton failed here, but it was at least a little more understandable. An attack on North Korea could have meant the annihilation of Seoul.
A report in a Wall Street Journal today by missile defense expert Henry Cooper and electromagnetic-pulse (EMP) attack specialist Peter Vincent Fry brought home just how dangerous letting the nuclear genie out of the lamp has become.
North Korea now has nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles. Intercontinental, get it? West Coast.
Although highly inaccurate, the missiles could be used for a high-altitude EMP attack over the United States in space, which is hard to miss. This would not be pretty:
An EMP strike, most likely from the detonation of a nuclear weapon in space, would destroy unprotected military and civilian electronics nationwide, blacking out the electric grid and other critical infrastructure for months or years. The staggering human cost of such a catastrophic attack is not difficult to imagine.
Get ready for Baltimore on steroids.
Iran, of course, is also working on long-range missiles.
What is your president doing to protect you against these inevitable threats? Not enough, of course. They write:
President Obama has not acted on the EMP Commission’s draft executive order to protect national infrastructure that is essential to provide for the common defense. Hardening the national electric grid would cost a few billion dollars, a trivial amount compared with the loss of electricity and lives following an EMP attack. The U.S. also should deploy one of its existing transportable radars in the Philippines to help the ground-based interceptors at California’s Vandenberg Air Force defend the country against an attack from the south.
Congress hasn’t been doing much better, but presidential leadership and commitment could perhaps overcome congressional inertia.
Congress also has failed to act on the plans of its own EMP commission to protect the electric grid and other civilian infrastructure that depends on a viable electric grid—such as communications, transportation, banking—that are essential to the economy. In recent years, the GRID Act, the Shield Act, and the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act have gained bipartisan and even unanimous support in the House, yet they died in the Senate.
With the federal government AWOL, some states are taking matters into their own hands to prepare for an attack. But the analogy the authors draw is not comforting:
When ancient Rome could no longer protect its empire from barbarians, cities tried to protect themselves by building walls. Now Washington, unable or unwilling to protect its people, is making it necessary for states to build their own defenses against the electromagnetic-pulse barbarians of the 21st century.
Rome is burning. The emperor is not just fiddling, but using his bow to baste on some kerosene. These are deadly serious matters. I fear for this country.
30 thoughts on “WSJ: The Growing Danger of an EMP Attack”
I refuse to live in fear of something that I can’t control or defeat.
My generation was raised in fear of the “bomb”; the bomb that the Reds were going to drop on us any moment making our hometown look like Hiroshima. The authorities pretended that there were steps to take to protect us and they were all lies meant to keep us in fear.
Today it’s the crazed religious fanatic who will poison our water supply, the NoKo who will zap out our everything, and just like the threat of the Bomb, there is no protection, no steps that will save ourselves.
I’m old enough to see that black-hooded specter waiting for me, so I’ll just concentrate on what I can change, what I can protect and leave the hysterics to someone else.
Simple,….hit them before they hit us.
This president however does not have that mindset and he continues to think that he can persuade them through diplomacy to turn their guns into plowshares.
Obama is a fool.
Spent two days and four calls trying to straighten out a fine from the phone co for stopping a check–when they told me to! Then two hrs later, the computer and TV went out. We called–no, no cutoff (I have NEVER had one)–maybe 24 hrs? Then it came back on. We are just at the mercy of powers way larger than ourselves as SrDem said. Oh, and by the way–the stopped check was bec my check too more than 2 weeks to get to downtown Phoenix in the mail–the rep said that’s what you get when you use the mail. Yes, silly me.
He also doesn’t care about what came before him or what will happen after.
AFVet, are you not aware that THIS president wants to turn our enemies guns into nuclear weapons? Just to “level the playing field” I’m sure. Commie Bastard!!!
Dear leader sitting in the library, talking with children because he cares so much about them… Its old news that we have a low level thinker & doer in the WH. Incapable of understanding and dealing with the complex issues of today. He’s lazy & stupid (to put it mildly)
Agree, some things are beyond our capability to defend or protect. That being said, there is no excuse whatsoever for Congress and the Preezy of the United Steeezy to actively work against us or fail to protect us from enemies both foreign and domestic. I’m at the age where I worry for my kids and their kids. The only being that I can absolutely trust is God and so I pray, a lot!
It is the WH, Congress’s job and the military to take care of these types of threats. But they aren’t stepping up to the plate.
If the threat makes you feel hysterical, that’s on you.
All of us will be a lot more than hysterical if Iran is allowed to carry out its plan.
srdem65 you have know idea how close we came to full blown Nuclear war. We had SAC to thank it never happened, but guess what? SAC is gone along with most of our Nuclear capability, it is a fraction of what it was. While the powers that be have killed our Nuclear deterrent all the small but dangerous countries with Nukes are getting ready. So, don’t be afraid cause if it happens you will never no what hit you!
srdem65 means leave it for his/her kids to get shotgunned down in their house for canned food. Cold War beween Western-educated Capitalists and Communists is different from Clash of Civilizations with mad-as-hornets medieval Muslims.
Think of it in this respect: Everyone think of a person you know or have known that you did not trust! Now think of making some type of deal with them, that may/could/might hurt many other people.
Believe it or not but I still have not flown since the early 90’s.
So I am still trying to figure out how I would feel if I had to fly, be told to take off my shoes first.
Now I have this fear upon my shoulders.
That is not fear Lee, that is the intimidation that creates the fear of retaliation.
If you would refuse to remove your shoes, they will intimidate you.
Correct. There is a list he ignored. Comes up with this concoction.
Lee, why have you not flown since the early 90’s? I know I avoid flying NOW whenever I can but THAT’s because of the miserable experience provided by TSA agents. But that’s post 9/11. My last flight experience was from Vancouver, Canada to Los Angeles. Hmm. The Canadian equivalent of TSA was extremely vigalent but still managed to be polite and helpful!!! Compare that to LAX where the TSA thugs OWN you! And make sure you know it!! And from the looks of most of them, they were on welfare last week. One final note in this rant, my gorgeous wife and I flew out of Miami International a couple of years ago. Private Security. Nice people, wanted to hug them!!!
Work did not call for it. We traveled by car. I was not ranting about airlines or flying. I was making the point since 911 we know have other maniacs to be aware of, and now o is making a deal with I***.
When ancient Rome could no longer protect its empire from barbarians, cities tried to protect themselves by building walls. Now Washington, unable or unwilling to protect its people, is making it necessary for states to build their own defenses against the electromagnetic-pulse barbarians of the 21st century.
Jericho tried that, failed.
Never underestimate the power of the Lord.
The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? ~Psalm 27:1
Barack Obama!
I still think God can trump little demi-gods.
Judge Jeanine Pirro has been covering this issue for quite a while, at least a couple of years, and it scares the hell out of me.
http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/02/24/our-death-toll-would-be-staggering-judge-jeanine-power-grid-threats
Thanks for the link.
I am speechless a the moment.
Lee, I remember watching one of several shows that Judge Jeanine did on this issue and it’s inexplicable why the problem has not been remedied. As the WSJ article notes, “Hardening the national electric grid would cost a few billion dollars…”
When I first heard that from an expert on one of Judge Jeanne’s shows, it sounded like a lot, but then he mentioned what the Department of Energy’s annual budget is, which I think is around $28 billion. Yet we can’t dedicate a few billion dollars for a one time expense to upgrade and protect the system?
I’d like to see every presidential candidate, from both parties, asked about this issue.
I’d like to see it discussed also. It would be a devastating event that I don’t want to see.
By the way, if the WSJ link doesn’t work, just Google the title – The Threat to Melt the Electric Grid – and you can get in by clicking the link that comes up in the Google search.
While I agree steps should have been taken LONG AGO to protect our infrastructure from EMP, (the Soviet Union’s plan was several 100 megaton devices, detonated in the upper atmosphere) a craphole Nation with a “Little” nuke is not a big player in the EMP field. You need 50 megatons, detonated at high altitude, to cause widespread damage. And it would be widespread! My computer would stop working, and my TV, and my car, and anything else that has a computer chip in it (crap, my TOASTER)! But North Korea and Iran STILL do not have that capacity! But Obama WANTS them to!!! Just to be “FAIR”!! Fair, my “Most Hated Word of the 21st Century! ’cause who decides what’s fair?
Oh and for those who may not recall, ONE megaton is equal to ONE MILLION TONS of TNT!!!
Oh, and lest you think I don’t take rogue nuke states seriously, even a “Baby Nuke” like North Korea possesses (Thanks George HW, Bill, George W and Obie), if dropped on the West Coast, would GREATLY inconvenience me!! Although, if they managed to hit San Francisco, What’s that Honey? Nancy Pelosi’s on the phone? She wants MY opinion on Breast Reduction Surgery after menopause? Get her number and tell her I’ll call her back when I’m done here! Oh, I’m done here. Gotta call nancy!
George Soros owes 7B in taxes, that would make a nice down payment on insulating our Grid.
Barry is a one trick pony. He’s a “community organizer”, just as Sarah said. It’s all he’s ever been, all he ever will be regardless of job title. He causes problems, he doesn’t solve them. He destroys; he doesn’t build. He grows gov’t, not the economy. And his attitude toward foreign policy, “try something different”, sounds like advice one might get from a 6 year old.
So Keith… America has been in decline–if America as founded is the template–for a long time with the last century seeing the embedding of progressivism/communism into gov’t and media and education…then metastasizing like the cancer it is. The Democrat Party wheels and cogs and candidates/electeds are progressives/communists. The media and education are majority progressives/communists (socialists if you prefer), and increasingly, we see business crawl into bed with gov’t and snuggle up real close…for protection FROM gov’t and for opportunity to use and abuse gov’t for their own personal agenda. So…the fascist flavor of socialism blended with the communist flavors of Obamacare and all the other entitlements has made me fear for my country for some time. The current [p]Resident was foisted on us with a specific agenda…to “fundamentally transform America”. He’s turned her inside out domestically and cut her off internationally by completely destroying any trust and credibility we had with friends and allies as well as erasing any fear from enemies and all respect from anyone.
Even in this very dangerous world, as vulnerable as all that makes us, we could overcome it and restore America to a more secure position. What makes me most worried is that Barack Hussein Obama got elected…the SECOND time. We have THAT many active “useful idiots” among us. And that’s before he grants his full executive amnesty to ALL illegals in time to vote in the 2016 elections.
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