[Main Street]

The Mega Threat: EMP Attack

http://www.warfooting.com/LookInside/default.asp?PageID=6

The Problem

A massive current of EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) could be unleashed with catastrophic effect on the United States if a nuclear weapon is detonated high above the earth's atmosphere. The energy of this pulse would interact with the Earth's magnetic field, affecting - and possibly destroying - every piece of unshielded electronic gear and power grids in line-of-sight of the detonation, all at the speed of light.

What is more, the higher the altitude of the weapon's detonation, the larger the affected area would be. At a height of 300 miles, the entire continental United States would be exposed to EMP attack, along with parts of Canada and Mexico.

As a result, America could be transformed from a 21st Century superpower into a pre-industrial society almost instantaneously.

This sounds unbelievable. But a blue-ribbon commission created by Congress confirmed this danger in a report submitted in August 2004. Thanks to the almost unimaginable power of an EMP wave unleashed by a properly configured nuclear weapon - approximately a million times as strong as the most powerful radio signals on earth - the devastation caused could make the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina look modest by comparison.

Given the magnitude of the danger it is astonishing that EMP is hardly ever mentioned when threats to this country from Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) are discussed. This might be considered the ultimate WMD - yet practically the only people aware of its potential for harm are our enemies.

In fact, the congressionally chartered commission discovered that knowledge about EMP is widespread in such places as: China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Saddam Hussein's Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, and Russia. Several of these nations, and perhaps terrorists that they sponsor, could launch a nuclear-capable ballistic missile from a ship - the sort of attack that poses an especially grave threat to the United States.

What Needs To Be Done

EMP attack poses a clear and present danger to our national security, our technological society, and our democratic and cosmopolitan way of life. The EMP Threat Commission has presented a blueprint for protecting both US military forces and the United States homeland from EMP attack.

The Commission's plan includes three focused efforts.

1. Deter EMP attacks. Make it difficult and dangerous to acquire the materials to make nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. This will require:

vastly improved intelligence
the capacity to perform clandestine operations, throughout the world
assured means of retaliation in the event of attack
2. Defeat EMP attacks.

Protect critical military capabilities and civilian infrastructure from EMP effects. We must re-build our neglected scientific and technical base for conducting EMP tests of military and civilian equipment.
Deploy a comprehensive defense against ballistic missile delivery systems.We know that a catastrophic EMP attack can be mounted only by putting a nuclear weapon into space over the United States - using a ballistic missile.
Enhance the capability of existing defenses. We need widely to deploy anti-missile defenses on the Navy's fleet of more than sixty AEGIS air defense ships.
3. Reduce our vulnerability to EMP attacks. We must prepare for the consequences of an EMP attack, in the event that deterrence and protection fail. The EMP Commission plan provides detailed recommendations for protecting the nation's critical infrastructures, in four key areas:

Electric power grid
Telecommunications
Transportation
Food and Water
This will require close collaboration between government at all levels and the private sector. We must also ensure that we have, on-hand and properly protected, the equipment and parts needed to repair EMP-damaged systems.

4. Extend the life of the EMP Commission for four years. The Commission's report has so far received little serious attention - from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, the Congress, or the media. With a renewed mandate and public and official support, the Commission can play a vital role in overseeing the implementation of the required corrective actions.

Contributors: Reps. Curt Weldon and Roscoe Bartlett

[Waco]

So? Why wait? Kill 500 million arabs and get this thing on the road. We don't really need to be putting up with these axxholes. They wanna see something destroyed? Show em!

[mukraker]

A massive EMP pulse? It's been done, about a hundred years ago. Ever heard of Nikola Tesla?

[John Valentine]

An American detonation, Starfish, over Johnson Island, had the unpredicted side effect of knocking out street lights, alarms, and power generation facilities in Oahu almost 100 miles distant.

Let's set a few facts straight.

First of all, it is about 1000 miles, not 100, from Oahu to Johnston Island. That's 10 times farther than alleged. Big difference.

Second, I was in Honolulu when the referenced tests took place and they were followed with keen interest in Honolulu. The explosions were well above Honolulu's horizon, and the one I remember was quite spectacular. But, nothing was "knocked out" - not power generation, not streetlights, not telephone service, not anything as far as I know. Alarms did not go off as a result of the burst. Certainly there was no talk of any such thing among the people - and we would have noticed.

What did happen is that the ionosphere was severely affected and long-range radio transmissions that require an effective ionosphere reflection were disrupted for quite some time. Back in those days, there was a heavy reliance on radio communication.

The writer of this article won't be able to make his points effectively by relying on egregious distortions and misstatements of fact.

[DB]

I still think this is BS.

First, it isn't easy to make a high yield EMP device.

Second, if they had such a big nuke to do it with, they'd use it to kill us, not knock out our electrical systems. Much more grand to vaporize a large city...

Third, the energy density falls quickly as you get away from ground zero. I cannot believe that even a nuke would be able wipe out everything electrical over more than a few hundred miles.

Then back to number two...

[Roscoe Karns]

We're talking this morning via satellite from an undisclosed location with Number
One, head of operations for SMERSH. He agreed to be on our show on the
condition we not show his face. Good morning, Number One.

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A pleasure, Mr Russert.

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Our producer tells us, Number One, that you came here today because you
wanted to address the President of the United States and the American people. Is
that correct?

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That is correct, Mr Russert. We demand that President Bush resign by noon
tomorrow or we shall annihilate three of your major cities with nuclear weapons.

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A very serious ultimatum, Number One.

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A deadly serious ultimatum, Mr Russert! A very deadly serious ultimatum, Indeed!
Bwahahahahahaha! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

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Forgive me for interrupting , but we seem to have temporarily lost our picture.
What?... We have our signal back? OK. Please continue, Number One.

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As I was saying , Mr Russert, your snippy little, election-stealing president must
leave by...

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Al Gore!? Is that you?

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Er, no, Tim, it's me, Number One. Remember?

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We can all see your face in our studio monitors, Al.
Well, that's our show. Remember, if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.

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HE PLAYED ON OUR FEARS!!

[son of caesar]

i love the line about al queda having a modest fleet of merchant ships. WHAT THE HECK IS OUR NAVY BEING PAID TO DO? the correct line should read thusly. al queda had a few merchant ships, but since its being paid, the us navy did its job and sunk all of them. end of discussion.

[DTogo]

Sounds like a fear-mongering excuse to create a new government agency to (attempt to) protect the nation from such an attack and spend a few billion $$ doing so.

Meanwhile our Southern Border remains wide open and terrorists could much more easily sneak in here, buy some legal firearms with fake IDs, and create a Beslan II hostage/slaughter scenario in any small town in the US.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

An effective attack would require shooting a really big warhead (multi-megaton) to a height of 300+ miles.

This would require the sort of equipment not readily available from Fry's Electronics...

[lmailbvmbipfwedu]

No one mentioned the nonnuclear EMP generators. They come in sizes from hand grenade to artillery rounds. Effective ranges, of the EMP, is hundreds to thousands of meters. Now these devices won't wipe out state or region sized areas, but used in the right place sure will put a kink in someone's day and one he** of lot easier to build, handle, place, and detonate than a nuke......

[quant5]

A great offense to stop our enemies from deploying WMD is a true statement, but I also feel that if we have a strong civil defense network, our enemies will not feel they can bring us down even if one or a few cities are torched. Every American should have sixty days of food and water. The earth is a violent place from man to nature. None of us truly know when a major disaster is going to occur next. As the writer suggests, more people die from a break-down of infrastructure of society then the disaster itself. I have also found this to be true.

A conquest of America is unlikely because of our armed civilian population. The Soviets were repelled from conquering Afghanistan with a thin but heavily armed population of light weapons and RPG's. A rifle can be used to hunt with in any part of the country if push came to shove. I like to stay education on this kind of information, but the agenda is to create fear to create long-term budgeting which is something I do not like.

[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...