A Terrorist’s Dream, An American Nightmare (How to destroy a civilization with one bomb)

FrontPageMagazine.com ^ | December 6, 2005 | Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu

[Old Student]

"And enclosing items to be protected in steel would probably work, even if it is overkill."

As long as it's sealed, surge suppressed, and grounded, yep. I suspect all the modern cars with computers would still crap out, however, despite being more or less wrapped in steel. I suppose I wasn't posting so much just to you as to anyone interested, and not well educated on the subject. I was an electronics technician my last 12 years in the USAF, and didn't find many people who knew what a Faraday cage was, for example.

I suspect lead would work, too. The boxes I wrote of in my previous post were made of copper screen, for example, and many of the older electronic devices I used to play with had steel cases, and monel-metal shielding on CRT's and such. Lead would certainly make the stuff less portable, though, wouldn't it? That 50lb boom-box one of my neighbors insists on walking down the street with would be a LOT quieter if shielded with enough lead!

[The_Reader_David]

Yes, and that was a 1.5 megaton fusion bomb. AQ, Iran and NK are all still working on fission bombs and years away from serious fusion weapons.

Still, it's worth hardening infrastructure, mounting a missile defense and prosecuting the war vigorously (the latter two for other reasons as well).

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Here ya go, John!

http://www.digitalfox.com/digitalfox/johnf-ingkerry/foilhat.htm

[USMCPOP]

Here's more info on conventional EMP bombs: http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/kopp/apjemp.html

[Aquinasfan]

Why should we be even more mega affraid now ?

On the plus side, I could die tomorrow from choking on a chicken bone.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

For the doubters: Could we test the theory on Iran?

[Edgerunner]

I guess our military has never heard of this EMP thing, and are not rad hardened at all. Guess we're doooooooomed I guess...

[Washi]

Also, they had bigger things to worry about with 1/3 million people vaporized instantly.

Only about 50,000 died on the first day (from the blast.)

The Hiroshima memorial lists fewer than 300,000 total (radiation poisoning, disease, etc.) victims, but that includes people that died more than 50 years after the fact.

That's still a heck of a lot of people for a single weapon, but not as many as most people think.