Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) caused by a nuclear explosion high over the United States - Imminent danger to the U.S. # 1
By Don Koenig 2006
Possible Causes - for an EMP. A direct attack from a nation and/or terrorist group using one or more nuclear weapons exploded at very high altitude over the United States - a blast from a meteor exploding at high altitude in the atmosphere - check out this report on the solar EMP possibility.
U.S. vulnerability - The U.S. is more vulnerable than any other nation on earth to an EMP because she has become totally dependent on electricity and electronics for just about everything used in everyday living. This vulnerability has come about in the last few decades. All of the major enemies of the U.S. are aware of this vulnerability and that this is the easiest way to cripple the United States. Russia has this capability and tested it during the cold war. Some officials from Russia suggested they could use this capability against the United States in 1999 during the Balkans conflict. China now has this capability, and U.S. intelligence sources say that North Korea and Iran are actively developing the technology and capability.
Terrorist groups could get the capability from any one of these countries or from a few other countries either directly or by theft. The weapon could be delivered by a Scud missile hidden under a tarp from a medium sized ship in the shipping lanes off the coast of the United States. Scud missiles are available in the weapons market for about $100,000. If the United States were attacked with this weapon the country may find it very difficult if not impossible to retaliate. Finding out who was responsible might not be easy especially if it was done by state sponsored terrorists or if terrorists carried it out on their own. If the U.S. responded in kind over a country like North Korea, it would not significantly change their way of life and if the U.S. nuked their cities without serious proof I can foresee a collective world reaction against the United States that would only make substantial recovery in the U.S. more difficult if not impossible. Even conventional warfare may not be possible because our military would have to be recalled to the United States to restore domestic order.
EMP Effects - total blackout - Y2K + X to the nth power – A large EMP would actualize the perceived Y2K threat of the year 2000 except the effects of an EMP would be many magnitudes worse than anyone's worst nightmare about Y2K. A large EMP would cause the immediate collapse of the North American power grid and the destruction of much unshielded electronic equipment in the area of the pulse. The extent of the pulse depends on many factors; it could hit the whole nation, a good part of the nation, or be more local. Those who would attempt such an attack would seek to maximize the extent of the damage so more than likely, the pulse would hit much if not most of the United States. The EMP pulse itself has three components with each subsequent component causing further damage. An EMP is generated when Gamma Rays from a high altitude nuclear explosion interact with the atmosphere to produce a radio frequency wave pulse that would hit everything in line of sight of the explosion. A small crude nuclear weapon exploded high above the United States could create a devastating pulse.
If an EMP hit a large part of the United States it would not cause just a temporary power outage. It could take months or even years to get power back to most of the United States. Electronic equipment and power generating equipment in power plants themselves would be damaged and there will be no way of easily replacing this equipment. Even if the equipment were not damaged the grid could not easily be brought back up. It takes a source of power to bring up modern power plants to put them back on line. Just bringing up the whole U.S. grid from scratch would take weeks or months. Even if the blackout were only for weeks, the disruption to the United States would be immense.
In a matter of hours there would be large-scale looting in the major cities and in days there would be riots in all large cities over food and water. Martial Law would be declared and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would nationalize all police forces and take control over managing the people of the United States. All available military and federal and local police forces would be following the directives of DHS as well.
A major EMP over a large part of the United States would cause all major transportation systems to break down. Most means of communication would not be possible. There would be no TV, little radio, no useable cell phone systems, no Internet system and no food or water distribution other than through the direction of Homeland Security. All essentials would be rationed. Those carrying out the DHS directives would confiscate all known critical supplies.
The civil disorder and disruptions that have taken place in New Orleans and southern Mississippi in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina are a small example of what would take place nationwide after an EMP. In that case massive aid from the rest of the nation eased the crisis but after an EMP the whole nation will be coping with the crisis and little aid will be possible.
All able bodied manpower in the United States would have to report for assignments directed by Homeland Security. All financial assets would be frozen. There would be no access to any money, the stock market would be closed and the U.S dollar would become near worthless on the world market. For weeks, months, and perhaps years there could be little gross national product in the United States. The U.S is the largest debtor nation in the world so she would be forced to default on her debt bringing about a massive world depression.
Even after the power was brought back up, it would be likely that much of the electronically controlled infrastructure systems would have to be totally replaced. This could take many years. Meanwhile, financial assets in every category either would become worthless or lose tremendous value. All financial bubbles will burst.
Likelihood of this threat occurring before A.D 2025?
If significant military action is not taken against Iran and North Korea (if they do not immediately abandon their nuclear weapons program), it is almost certain that one or more EMP attacks will be attempted with the likelihood of success being high. The possibility of a successful EMP attack before 2025 AD would in my opinion be at least a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
If Iran and North Korea no longer have nuclear capabilities, the likelihood of an attack is then much less at least for a number of years. Pakistan still will be a problem because she has nuclear weapons and a large segment of the population supports terrorism against the United States. It is unlikely that China would want an EMP to happen over the United States as long as she is getting rich exporting to the United States. (The China threat could be the reason the U.S. allows the seemingly insane trade imbalances.) If China no longer needs the U.S. because world demand for their products is more than they are capable of producing and/or if Taiwan becomes a flash point, the likelihood of an EMP attack is again extremely high unless by that time the U.S. has taken major steps to harden the infrastructure against such an attack. If a cold war reemerges with Russia, they also might see a world without the United States as being in their best interest and they also would pose a grave threat to the United States either directly or by supporting Islamic terrorists groups who would use this technology to bring the U.S. to destruction.
Non-state sponsored terrorism will continue to be a threat if they can get hold of a nuclear bomb. Some reports have indicated that nuclear bombs are available on the black market. I do not know if this is actually the case but experts who have access to intelligence say the possibility of terrorists obtaining a nuke in the next 10 years is better than 50-50.
What can be done to stop this threat?
In the near term, the U.S. can only try to stop terrorists and terrorist nations from launching such an attack. What the United States really should do in the near term is to buy some time and take out Iran and North Korea's nuclear capabilities.
If the U.S. starts in earnest now, in about five years she can have the critical infrastructures hardened enough and the procedures put in place to protect critical equipment from the second and third component of an EMP. After this, an attack would probably not reduce the United States to less than a superpower but it certainly would still cause enough damage to put the U.S. in turmoil and be a catalyst for a world depression. At this time the hardening of U.S. critical infrastructures is not taking place and I know of no plans to do so on a large scale. Another defensive tactic that the U.S. may be taking is trying to appease her enemies. This could be the secret reason for some of the foolish positions she takes in the Middle and Far East. Nevertheless, I believe appeasement is playing right into the hands of the enemies and I believe that this policy is doomed to failure.
If the United States people can get their politicians off of their duffs, she can have most of the critical infrastructures hardened against an EMP attack in about five years. This would not cost all that much to do if all new critical electronics were manufactured to be shielded and hardened. The major problem is that most politicians have their head in the sand and they are ignoring this real threat even after this threat was verified to them by the highest Intelligence sources and by their very own congressional appointed commission of scientists.
Therefore, since the danger are real, all people in the United States should have on hand or have ready access to at least six months of food and water. The sure way of escaping such a judgment is for the people of the United States to voluntarily stop all their wickedness and seek God's protection but I just do not see that happening.
Documentation that this EMP threat is very real
I am not pulling this imminent threat to the United States out of thin air. A commission of top experts was appointed by the U.S. congress right after the 9/11 attack. They were commissioned to report to them on this EMP threat. The report was given to the congress in 2004 AD. The report is below and it gives all the details you may never want to know. Other intelligence sources have also written about this grave threat to the United States.
This is the link to the Congressional report
Other references:
Nuke over U.S. could unleash electromagnetic tsunami, from World Tribune articleSenator Jon Kyl speaks of this EMP threat
Powerful Solar Storm Could Shut Down U.S. for Months
90 seconds from catastrophe from solar storm
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