[papertyger]

And if losing two buildings in New York dislocated our economy for a couple of years what would losing just five percent of electronic devices across the country.

You were talking 20 km and ipods before. Now you know that's obviously wrong.

Western civilization will still exist if America gets knocked back a hundred years, but what IS Western civilization if America is too busy getting back on her feet to be a player on the world stage for a few years?

[SampleMan]

And if losing two buildings in New York dislocated our economy for a couple of years

It did? What is your proof of that? I don't see that 9-11, Katrina, Andrew, Hugo, or any other single localized event has been able to knock our economy off course.

You were talking 20 km and ipods before. Now you know that's obviously wrong.

First I said 20 miles for a small yield nuke (no need to exaggerate). It was then changed to a very high altitude detonation. For which I readily agreed that a much larger area would be impaired to some degree. I still think that a prediction of total failure over such an area is hyperbole.

Western civilization will still exist if America gets knocked back a hundred years,

That's a concession of my point, if you care to recheck the thread. Iran cannot end Western Civilization by the direct application of a handful of nukes. I am not saying that means we have nothing to worry about. Far from it. I was pointing out the Iranian hyperbole/delusional-ism.