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If a nuclear bomb exploded in downtown Washington, what should you do?
The Week ^ | April 14, 2014

Posted on 04/14/2014 6:13:21 AM PDT by stevie_d_64

Funny question in the headline, yes?

But since President Obama worries more about the threat of terrorists' improvised nuclear device going off in a major American city than anything Russia can throw at us, I was wondering if the government had deigned to share with us citizens any tips for, you know, surviving something their own intelligence points to as the likeliest unlikely Black Swan event.

Well, no. And yes.

No — very few people in Washington, D.C., who work for the government have any idea what they would do if a 10-kiloton nuclear device exploded at the intersection of 16th and K streets.

You can always look to movies to figure this stuff out, right? And in movies, since nuclear radiation is BAD, the thing to do is to get away from it as quickly as possible. In the movies, electronics are fried, too, the response is chaotic, and hundreds of thousands of people die.

Interestingly enough, though, the government has done quite a bit of work to figure out what exactly would happen if a suitcase nuke — which, I know, doesn't really exist, but, for the sake of this example, bear with me — actually did explode a few blocks from the White House.

(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; US: District of Columbia
KEYWORDS: bomb; fallout; nuclear; preparedness; response; terrorist
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To: stevie_d_64

I’d be unhappy about the damage to the wonderful museums, art galleries and memorial sites. The rest, death toll to politicians & their minions, oh well.


141 posted on 04/14/2014 7:57:27 AM PDT by RicocheT (Where neither their property nor their honor is touched, most men live content, Niccolo Machiavelli)
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To: stevie_d_64

I would mourn the loss of those innocents caught in the conflagration.

But then I’d probably do some kind of Snoopy dance...


142 posted on 04/14/2014 7:58:18 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (Tri nornar eg bir. Binde til rota...)
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To: RicocheT

Considering the concentration of power and wealth that has occurred in recent years,

a considerable amount of net worth would go “poof” as well.


143 posted on 04/14/2014 7:58:44 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: yefragetuwrabrumuy

Not trying to be a smartass here but they also thought about hijacked aircraft. And we just saw it happen.

I absolutely agree they have nearly idiotproofed the system. But there is always...ALWAYS a better idiot. The coast guard does not inspect all ships. China has parked subs off the coast just outside the 12 mile limit for decades. And the Navy can’t do anything about it because they adhere to the international suicide pact.

Iran was just boasting about sending their navy over. In all honesty, who here thinks that this regime would provoke an ‘international incident’ by sinking them in international waters? But since their stated goal is obliterating us, and Allah has instructed them, there could easily be a china/Russia purchased nuke aboard. And any point along our coasts could get heavy fallout if not a direct hit when they blew it in those international waters.


144 posted on 04/14/2014 8:03:36 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart (How's that 'lesser evil' workin' out for ya?)
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To: Mich Patriot
After the applause ended, my next thought was,

Rats! There go the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress..."

145 posted on 04/14/2014 8:05:47 AM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias... "Barack": Allah's current ally...)
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To: Ditter
We need to start handing these out I think...

I live a half hour outside of Minneapolis. If it got nuked, I'd put my lead-lined pinstripe suit on and grab a bag of marshmallows...

146 posted on 04/14/2014 8:06:09 AM PDT by Dead Corpse (Tri nornar eg bir. Binde til rota...)
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To: RicocheT

Well I’d probably mourn the end of the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry.


147 posted on 04/14/2014 8:07:14 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: stevie_d_64

Pray that Ted Cruz was home in Texas with his Family.


148 posted on 04/14/2014 8:10:36 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Nobody owes you a living, so shut up and get back to work...)
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To: bayliving

Hey if you think this could happen and it does, good luck looking God in the face and explaining why you let you whole family die when you had ample opportunity to save them.

If you don’t think it could happen whether it does or not, well, good luck anyway.


149 posted on 04/14/2014 8:11:55 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart (How's that 'lesser evil' workin' out for ya?)
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To: stevie_d_64

I would expend the considerable amount of least years leftover fireworks


150 posted on 04/14/2014 8:15:27 AM PDT by daku
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To: IMR 4350
Barring defections, there are not enough Federals, both military and para military to subdue one major US city let alone an entire state. Do you know how many troops a martial law situation requires? Study math and history.

For example, during WWII the occupation of Yugoslavia required 400,000 Wehrmacht troops. Little Yugoslavia....

151 posted on 04/14/2014 8:19:32 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Norm Lenhart
Hey if you think this could happen and it does, good luck looking God in the face and explaining why you let you whole family die when you had ample opportunity to save them.

Thanks for your judgment. I really appreciate your lack of understanding as to why I'm here. I will however pray for you and all the others that pretend to understand my situation and have all the answers for me.

152 posted on 04/14/2014 8:26:55 AM PDT by bayliving
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Well... I read the article. I didn’t see anything to indicate that it was intended to be humorous.

I guess many of your responses would be different if the nearby city was YOURS - but it’s not so we get your jokes.

I don’t believe I would react the way most of you have it was another place.

I think I know some of the steps I would take if a nuke was detonated downtown. None of my reactions would be to celebrate - and I seriously doubt you would either.

Mr. K - Do you have a plan if the question was about NYC?
(I didn’t celebrate on 9/11. I personally watched the Pentagon burn with acrid green smoke - and I have friends who were in the building.)

Eric T. - I have family in Florida. I would not “shrug” if a nuke went off in Vero Beach or Miami, neither would you.

Ivan - What if it was Chi-town. I wouldn’t pop a cork - that’s “crazy.”

Do you all think that the people is D.C. deserve to die?
What’s WRONG with you?

I am ashamed of many of you.

Tsk..tsk


153 posted on 04/14/2014 8:28:39 AM PDT by kinsman redeemer (The real enemy seeks to devour what is good.)
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To: bayliving

Not ‘my’ judgement you need be worrying about. BTW, I’m not ‘judging’ anything. I’m stating a fact. Several actually. But since you brought it up, it sounds an awful lot like ‘don’t judge me”, which is a famous liberal phrase, as you know, designed to deflect other people’s opinions while bulling along in self righteousness.


154 posted on 04/14/2014 8:31:12 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart (How's that 'lesser evil' workin' out for ya?)
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To: Blood of Tyrants
I would hope that Congress, the Supreme Court, the president and vice president were all in town.

If those conditions were met, then I'd throw a party.

155 posted on 04/14/2014 8:34:02 AM PDT by SMM48
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To: Mich Patriot

They need to get out of Sodom.


156 posted on 04/14/2014 8:35:41 AM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: Norm Lenhart

A neutron bomb would be cleaner...


157 posted on 04/14/2014 8:36:58 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: KC_Lion

War, war never changes...

(paying homage to one of my favorite games ever!)


158 posted on 04/14/2014 8:37:18 AM PDT by Willgamer (Rex Lex or Lex Rex?)
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To: Norm Lenhart

Here’s a dirty little secret.

You wouldn’t need to actually touch off a nuke, radioactive dirty bomb, or bio weapon dirty bomb to bring the country to it’s knees.

Having a bomb of this type in place and having it “discovered” before it went off would cause mass panic on a scale most people can’t imagine.

Tens of millions of people would start fleeing the major cities all over the country because of the possibility of a second bomb.

To get an idea of what it would be like, look at what happened during hurricane Rita after the mass panic that was created by hurricane Katrina.

People didn’t want to risk getting caught in another New Orleans post Katrina type situation and millions tried to flee before the storm.

I saw it first hand, and it looked like something from an apocalyptic syfy movie.

Tens of millions of people would be trying to go somewhere safe without any idea where they were going.

With the amount of traffic on the roads you’re lucky to go 100 miles in 24 hours.

Small town gas stations run out of fuel on the first day.

Thousands of cars are abandoned because they run out of gas.

Store shelves in small towns are stripped.

The one saving grace that kept people somewhat in line and not turning into desperate mob willing to do anything was the fact here in Texas people are armed.


159 posted on 04/14/2014 8:42:33 AM PDT by IMR 4350
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To: central_va

I’d think that’s the last thing someone would want to use. I mean if you are going to go to the level of nuking DC, I’d think it would be as an example...a ‘salt the earth’ kind of thing so that the seat of the great Satan was forever (well for a long time) used as an example.

Standard communist/Muslim philosophy to destroy a country/people’s symbols of power.


160 posted on 04/14/2014 8:43:18 AM PDT by Norm Lenhart (How's that 'lesser evil' workin' out for ya?)
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