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How A North Korean EMP Attack Could Kill Millions, Turn America Into A Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland
TEC ^ | 11/30/2017 | Michael Snyder

Posted on 11/30/2017 8:37:26 AM PST by SeekAndFind

This is why North Korea’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile is so important. North Korea had test fired a total of 22 missiles so far this year, but this latest one showed that nobody on the globe is out of their reach. In fact, General Mattis is now admitting that “North Korea can basically threaten everywhere in the world”, and that includes the entire continental United States. In addition to hitting individual cities with nukes, there is also the possibility that someday North Korea could try to take down the entire country with an EMP attack. If the North Koreans detonated a single nuclear warhead several hundred miles above the center of the country, it would destroy the power grid and fry electronics from coast to coast.

I would like you to think about what that would mean for a few moments. Suddenly there would be no power at home, at work or at school. Since nearly all of our vehicles rely on computerized systems, you wouldn’t be able to go anywhere and nobody would be able to get to you. And you wouldn’t be able to contact anyone because all phones would be dead. Basically, pretty much everything electronic would be dead. I am talking about computers, televisions, GPS devices, ATMs, heating and cooling systems, refrigerators, credit card readers, gas pumps, cash registers, hospital equipment, traffic lights, etc.

For the first couple of days life would continue somewhat normally, but then people would soon start to realize that the power isn’t coming back on and panic would begin to erupt.

The intercontinental ballistic missile that North Korea just launched traveled almost 1,000 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 4,500 kilometers. We have been told for decades that this would never be allowed to happen, but now it has happened

This is concerning for one big reason: according to General Mattis, the North Korean ICBM “went higher, frankly, than any previous” and “North Korea can basically threaten everywhere in the world.” This was confirmed by North Korea missile analyst, Shea Cotton, who cited Allthingsnuclear author David Wright, and who told the BBC that the initial estimates of the ICBM test mean that North Korea can now reach New York and Washington DC.

If we had been working hard to develop our anti-missile technology all these years, this wouldn’t be a problem.

But at this point we are way behind the Russians in this regard, and there is a very real possibility that a missile launched by the North Koreans could make it through the very limited anti-missile defenses that we do have.

Once upon a time, discussions about a North Korean EMP threat were mostly hypothetical, but now that has completely changed. North Korea has clearly demonstrated that they are able to deliver such an attack, and last September Kim Jong Un publicly admitted that North Korea intended to develop this capability

But most reporters missed a key threat that appeared at the bottom of Kim’s public statement, when he bragged that North Korea had harnessed “a multi-functional thermonuclear nuke with great destructive power which can be detonated at high altitudes for super-powerful EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack according to strategic goals.”

So now we know. Launching an electromagnetic pulse attacks against its enemies is one of North Korea’s strategic goals. And for North Korea, the United States is the top enemy.

And like I said earlier, all it would take would be a single well placed nuclear detonation to fry electronics from coast to coast. The following comes from the Daily Mail

Theoretically, a sufficiently powerful bomb detonated at an altitude of 249 miles would wipe out all electronics in the US, save the southernmost top of Florida and the easternmost states – as well as affecting Canada and Mexico.

Without power, nothing would get distributed. That means that very rapidly there would be no food, no water and no medicine available in your community. An article posted by Fox News this week used the term “post-apocalyptic” to describe what we would be facing…

It all starts to sound very post-apocalyptic when you realize this means no lights or other electric-powered devices in homes and businesses, no water filtration, no regional food hubs, no transportation grid – none of the things we take for granted in modern civilization.

Like I stated earlier, things would be relatively fine for a few days, but then once everyone realizes that the power isn’t coming back on there would be chaos on a scale unlike anything we have ever seen before. The following comes from an article by Mac Slavo

The first 24 – 48 hours after such an occurrence will lead to confusion among the general population as traditional news acquisition sources like television, radio and cell phone networks will be non-functional.

Within a matter of days, once people realize the power might not be coming back on and grocery store shelves start emptying, the entire system will begin to delve into chaos.

Within 30 days a mass die off will have begun as food supplies dwindle, looters and gangs turn to violent extremes, medicine can’t be restocked and water pump stations fail.

So what kind of a “mass die off” would we be talking about?

Well, some of the top experts in the field believe that “up to 90 percent of all Americans” could end up dead if the power outage lasted long enough…

William Graham, chairman of the former EMP commission and its former chief of staff, Peter Vincent Pry, warned the hearing that such an attack could “shut down the US electric power grid for an indefinite period, leading to the death within a year of up to 90 percent of all Americans.

Others believe that the figure would be lower, but pretty much everyone agrees that the death toll would be in the millions.

This is one of our greatest strategic vulnerabilities, and our power grid could be hardened against an EMP attack for just a few billion dollars. This is something that I am pushing very hard for, but right now it is just not a priority for our leaders in Washington.

In fact, they have actually pulled funding from the commission that was looking into the EMP threat…

On Sept. 30, the Congressional Commission to Assess the Threat of Electromagnetic Pulse to the United States of America shut its doors after a failure to secure funding from Congress.

Sometimes I find it difficult to come up with the words to describe how incredibly foolish Congress is being.

An EMP attack is a greater threat than ever before, and yet Congress didn’t even want to come up with a little bit of funding for the commission that was working on a plan to protect us.

This is yet another example that shows that we need new leadership on Capitol Hill, because right now the people that we have “representing” us in Washington seem to be completely and utterly clueless about almost everything.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Military/Veterans; Society
KEYWORDS: emp; northkorea
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To: jcmccorm

I read that one a few years ago. A sobering tale.


41 posted on 11/30/2017 9:05:41 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Ban pre-shredded cheese now! Make America Grate Again.)
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To: DCBryan1

Hear! Hear! This theoretical doomsday from EMP always feels exactly like the Y2K hysteria to me.


42 posted on 11/30/2017 9:08:25 AM PST by Codeflier (Thank you for speaking truth to power President Trump)
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To: BuffaloJack

“Scare tactics from the left” !!!

I know plenty of conservatives who are worried and concerned about this.


43 posted on 11/30/2017 9:10:14 AM PST by laplata (Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: Former Proud Canadian

BINGO!


44 posted on 11/30/2017 9:11:48 AM PST by laplata (Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Sheesh. Lib scaremongering. China knows that if NK nukes the USA, then the USA will obliterate NK, which means fallout and refugees for them. Rocketboy can rattle his sabre all he wants, but China will prevent this from happening.


45 posted on 11/30/2017 9:13:43 AM PST by rivercat
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To: MountainWalker

“Assuming that I can safely get to it, I’ll be set for a long time.”

Just you and all the others that will be coming your way ... and those after them and so on ...


46 posted on 11/30/2017 9:16:01 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: neverevergiveup
Right! Entirely that bastard Clintons fault!...well, except for Carter sticking his nose in and setting it up.

So Clinton and Carter! Those damned democrats are totally at fault!

...well...

...there was, um....

There was the part where Chimpy the Pretzel Boy was giving us his (SPOOOON!) speech about Evil Doers ((C) New England Comics) while transporting a reactor to them but thats...that wasnt really his doing....

Its not like he was president or anything.

Damned democrats!

47 posted on 11/30/2017 9:16:44 AM PST by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
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To: SeekAndFind

One of the principle reason so many find an EMP attack scary is because we in the US no longer make the turbines needed to generate power - lose one and the wait to replace in is measured in years due to the backlog in Norway (I think).


48 posted on 11/30/2017 9:18:24 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: jonascord

****Well, I’m certainly upset. I’d have to shoot all the Leftists who tried to take what I have.****

Be sure to save some ammo for the Chinese who will be coming over in container ships by the millions...


49 posted on 11/30/2017 9:20:46 AM PST by ResponseAbility (The truth of liberalism is the stupid can feel smart, the lazy entitled, and the immoral unashamed)
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To: jcmccorm

It’s very fictional and was written to generate support for grants for certain individuals/groups to do more research.

Copied from a post I made on this subject not to long ago:

There are two and possibly 5 countries with the wherewithal do successfully pull off a hemp detonation IF it was not intercepted in route—one or a few missiles head this way you can bet that there will be enough countermeasures to stop or at least limit the damage...the norks are far from able to pull this off anytime soon

Also, emp effects are based on long circuits pushing up enough energy to fry stuff....power grid is vulnerable but most vehicles, even modern, would be largely unnaffected, as would generators and other electronics that are not plugged in

I know from personal experience parts of out power grid are protected with basically giant fuses and much of it would be brought back online fairly quickly

If you want something credible to worry about then worry about the c&c systems of the power grid, banking ssytem, and toher critical infrastructure being hacked...there is stuff there that should keep you from sleeping well


50 posted on 11/30/2017 9:21:13 AM PST by Manuel OKelley
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To: PIF

That’s what you think. There aren’t too many places more remote than my bugout location.


51 posted on 11/30/2017 9:22:41 AM PST by MountainWalker
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To: jonascord

Thats good thinking...should stretch your rations for quite a while as long as you know how to smoke em.


52 posted on 11/30/2017 9:23:28 AM PST by gnarledmaw (Hive minded liberals worship leaders, sovereign conservatives elect servants.)
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To: Eddie01

Yep,if such was attempted it would not matter if it was a successful detonation or not, shortly after several long dark shadows (approximately 560 feet long) would appear in the water,close to the surface, near the Island of Japan. There soon would be a tremendous noise as each of those dark objects opened over a score of water tight hatches and multiple missile shaped objects streaked into the heavens (up to 100 for each long dark shadow) and not long after that the nation of North Korea would cease to exist.


53 posted on 11/30/2017 9:26:54 AM PST by Mad Dawgg (If you're going to deny my 1st Amendment rights then I must proceed to the 2nd one...)
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To: TheStickman

Your accusation is baseless.


54 posted on 11/30/2017 9:27:12 AM PST by Former Proud Canadian (Islam delenda est.)
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To: Eddie01

Premise number 1 is no longer functional.

Premise number 2 doesn’t matter if the US loses the bulk, even if not all, it’s electrical infrastructure.

Texas might survive it. Most don’t know this, but the Texas grid is free-standing. They may have been smart enough to buy back up transformers and mount them in place so that they can reconnect the transmission lines a day after an attack.

That’s all it would take in a lot of cases. Generation spares is another issue.


55 posted on 11/30/2017 9:32:54 AM PST by RinaseaofDs (Truth, in a time of universal deceit, is courage)
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To: Bloody Sam Roberts
I’m certain the US Nuclear Forces infrastructure is well hardened against such an attack.

Correct. And that includes the command and control segment of that infrastructure (ABNCP).

56 posted on 11/30/2017 9:33:28 AM PST by Fresh Wind (Hillary: Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect 2 billion dollars.)
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To: babygene
I don’t believe it either. It would have to be a thermonuclear detonation at that altitude. Remember, the electromagnetic wave decreases with the square of the distance.

It is not an EM emission from the nuclear device itself which causes EMP.

Rather, gamma rays emitted during the detonation cause Compton scattering in the upper atmosphere (stripping electrons off of atoms and molecules in the air).

The earth's magnetic field then accelerates these electrons to near-relativistic speeds; the moving electrons create large magnetic fields, which induce short but intense currents in electrical materials, leading to all kinds of fun.

57 posted on 11/30/2017 9:39:35 AM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: SeekAndFind

This EMP “threat” is tinfoil hat nonsense.


58 posted on 11/30/2017 9:40:10 AM PST by dinodino
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To: dinodino

RE: This EMP “threat” is tinfoil hat nonsense

I’d appreciate a more thorough explanation instead of just a one sentence response. Thanks.


59 posted on 11/30/2017 9:41:35 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Wouldn’t be too bad. The SMALL family and I are sitting on just under 30 acres on the south fork of the New River in NC. We’d get by just fine. I would miss regular dental visits though. There is little doubt, we could HOLD that hill.
This Nation is a spoiled lot. The complete ignorance of MOST of the population would really be an eye opener !!
Our population would “thin” quite rapidly and the word- medieval- would perhaps be used more.
Doubt it happens though . . . . .


60 posted on 11/30/2017 9:48:00 AM PST by snooter55 (People may doubt what you say, but they will always believe what you do)
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