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Nuke just has to explode in space to destroy a country
The Heritage Foundation ^ | April 10, 2009 | James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

Posted on 05/26/2009 5:56:11 PM PDT by LiveFreeOrDieUSA

Sunlight fills the bedroom. It's past 8 a.m., and it's cold. Why didn't the alarm go off? The bathroom lights are out. The house is without power. The battery-operated radio plays nothing but static. The phone is dead. What on earth has happened?

In fact, what happened was not on Earth. It was above it. A nuclear weapon has detonated high over North America, an explosion so far up that neither the flash nor bang disturbed anyone slumbering in darkened bedrooms across the United States. Electrical systems and computers from New York City to San Francisco cease to function. City streets turn into chaos. Fires break out, and no communications are available to send trucks to fight them. The sick and injured perish in overwhelmed, energy-sapped hospitals. Survivors, unable to fill their gas tanks, slowly walk away from the dead zone, unsure where to go or what they will find.

This scenario may sound like the plot of a science-fiction movie, but Bill Graham, former science adviser to President Reagan, says it's a realistic portrayal of what would happen to the United States after a massive electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion.

(Excerpt) Read more at heritage.org ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: apocalypse; bhonukes; country; emp; heritagefoundation; nuke; nukes; proliferation; tm
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To: buccaneer81

Well, we shall see (or hopefully not). I think you will be surprised by our recuperative power. If not, I will light a lantern.


21 posted on 05/26/2009 6:22:45 PM PDT by lafroste (gravity is not a force. See my profile to read my novel absolutely free (I know, beyond shameless))
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To: richiep

“Anyone interested in this possibility should read “One Second After.” A VG quick read about a community in the US during the year following an EMT attack.”

This community in the story is actually MY little town. Even more powerful to read about this from that perspective.
Bill Forstchen, the author, lives here and is a professor in military history and technology.


22 posted on 05/26/2009 6:25:20 PM PDT by smartymarty (When you know why you believe what you believe, leadership is inevitable.)
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To: LiveFreeOrDieUSA

From the article:

The former deputy administrator for NASA now chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States From Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. In July 2008, Graham testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the commission’s latest report. Only a handful of the committee’s 60 members showed up for the hearing.


23 posted on 05/26/2009 6:25:53 PM PDT by LiveFreeOrDieUSA
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To: Krankor
A nuclear explosion in space will only release prisoners in the Phantom Zone.

I can picture Obama kneeling before Zod.

24 posted on 05/26/2009 6:26:13 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: LiveFreeOrDieUSA

I’m thinking it would be bad but not so bad as to bring about the destruction of America. Some folks would die as a result of not having electricity but I think things would begin to return to normal fairly quickly.


25 posted on 05/26/2009 6:27:06 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: Sola Veritas
Such an EMP attack would probably precede a conventional one.

Probably so. Paralyze, then pulverize...

26 posted on 05/26/2009 6:28:25 PM PDT by NoPrisoners ("When in the course of human events...")
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To: Sola Veritas
Such an EMP attack would probably precede a conventional one.

:look to our strengths. We are surrounded by huge natural barriers. We are rich in intrinsic wealth. An invasion would end in catastrophe for the invader. We might suffer, but they will die by the millions (assuming they could get them here at all).

27 posted on 05/26/2009 6:30:08 PM PDT by lafroste (gravity is not a force. See my profile to read my novel absolutely free (I know, beyond shameless))
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To: LiveFreeOrDieUSA
i believe most systems have been rad hardened by design for quite some time now, military anyway...
28 posted on 05/26/2009 6:30:46 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist - Obama is basically Jim Jones with a teleprompter)
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To: cripplecreek

“I’m thinking it would be bad but not so bad as to bring about the destruction of America. Some folks would die as a result of not having electricity but I think things would begin to return to normal fairly quickly.”
______________________________________________________

Its not as simple as you think. Hospitals, Gas Stations, Stores, Water, everything will be knocked out. And the EMP will be folowed by a real Air-to-ground nuclear attack.


29 posted on 05/26/2009 6:31:08 PM PDT by LiveFreeOrDieUSA
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To: Sola Veritas

Our real enemies lie within our borders.


30 posted on 05/26/2009 6:32:45 PM PDT by lafroste (gravity is not a force. See my profile to read my novel absolutely free (I know, beyond shameless))
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To: LiveFreeOrDieUSA

Then you’re talking about an outright nuke attack which is a far cry from an emp.


31 posted on 05/26/2009 6:34:09 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: richiep
Anyone interested in this possibility should read “One Second After.”

Very good and absolutely scary as hell to contemplate.


32 posted on 05/26/2009 6:34:48 PM PDT by Wyatt's Torch (I can explain it to you. I can't understand it for you.)
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To: tacticalogic
“The question is, who has the capability, and doesn't care about the retaliatory strike from the SLBMs that's going to come right after it?”

Bingo!

That's what those who worry about an EMP forget. To destroy a large area of American territory, the nuke must detonate high in space... and we would know who launched the missile. A nuke over the US is cause for retaliation by Strategic Command.

33 posted on 05/26/2009 6:36:59 PM PDT by GAB-1955 (I write books, love my wife, serve my nation, and believe in the Resurrection.)
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To: LiveFreeOrDieUSA
Why does every idiot fall for the idea that one nuke can destroy, nay evaporate, entire countries? They can barely take out entire COUNTIES, and that's only if they are the biggest nukes.

A 25-megaton nuclear airblast only has a viable destruction radius of about 30 miles. After 20 miles, "Residences are moderately damaged. Commercial buildings have sustained minimal damage. Twenty-five percent of the population between the [20 and 30 mi radii rings] are injured, mainly by flying glass and debris. Many others have been injured from thermal radiation -- the heat generated by the blast. The remaining seventy-five percent are unhurt."

A 20 mile radius (1256 sq mi) barely covers the state of Rhode Island (1212 sq mi). Exactly how does that equate to eliminating entire nations?

And again, that is for the biggest nukes. Pakistan has, as its largest nuke, a few 36-KILOton nukes. That means they need 695 such nukes just to make this small impact of a 30-mile radius with an airblast. (Hint: they don't have 695 of them. Estimates say 30-55 total.)

Further note: A 1-megaton surface blast has an effective radius of about 7 miles. The Pakis need about 28 of their top nukes to match just that. Again, the earth doesn't crumble away when these things go off. With a global total of only 5000 megatons, we can barely fully-evaporate Texas (266,000 sq mi), and that's only if we space the nukes out perfectly. The globe won't even have a divot the size of the Grand Canyon if we, as a global community, go all-in against the Lone Star folk.

34 posted on 05/26/2009 6:38:56 PM PDT by Teacher317
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To: cripplecreek
I’m thinking it would be bad but not so bad as to bring about the destruction of America. Some folks would die as a result of not having electricity but I think things would begin to return to normal fairly quickly. I wonder if it has been made clear that any such attack upon the US would cause the sky to be filled with SLBM's targeted at any possible responsible party regardless of their level of involvement.
35 posted on 05/26/2009 6:40:26 PM PDT by Tonytitan
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To: Teacher317

The Russian’s Tsar Bomba was designed to be a 100 megaton yield but was tested at 50 megatons. Even at 100 megatons it would have only taken out an area the size of a couple of counties. Fallout would be the biggest killer.


36 posted on 05/26/2009 6:44:10 PM PDT by cripplecreek (The poor bastards have us surrounded.)
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To: richiep

The TV show ‘Jericho’ also covered this. ‘One Second After’ is pretty much the same as Jericho when it comes to the loss of power.


37 posted on 05/26/2009 6:44:20 PM PDT by rintense (Senior Marketing / IT / UX architect unemployed and looking for work. Freepmail me if you have leads)
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To: LiveFreeOrDieUSA

Agreed. And if anyone doubts it would get bad, all you have to do is look at what happened in NOLA after Katrina. That scene should scare every single American.


38 posted on 05/26/2009 6:45:14 PM PDT by rintense (Senior Marketing / IT / UX architect unemployed and looking for work. Freepmail me if you have leads)
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To: LiveFreeOrDieUSA

Do we have an electrical engineer to comment?

Field strengh decreases by the square of the distance. In addition, the grid is not a perfect antenna and would only absorb a fraction of the EMP pulse. In addition, there are multiple ground safeties designed to take lightening pulses to the ground.

Although I have no doubt an air burst would take out regional power, I’m not sure a N. Korea sized nuke exploding in space has the ability to take out the entire U.S. grid.

Anyone here familiar with the math?


39 posted on 05/26/2009 6:46:13 PM PDT by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: Sola Veritas

No way does one EMP blast hobble the entire United States. Maybe 10-20 powerful EMP blasts would


40 posted on 05/26/2009 6:47:50 PM PDT by dennisw (Your action becomes your habit. Your habit becomes your character, that becomes your destiny)
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