This article on the dangers and effects of an EMP is quite informative. I wrote on this issue a few time already but I think we had all better become more aware of this danger.
A EMP attack is probably the prime event that could eliminate the U.S. from being a factor in end time Bible prophecy. When you read the below article take note that Dr. Graham thinks a EMP could reduce the population of the U.S. to about 30 million people. Dr. Graham is not a crackpot he is the foremost expert on EMP’s. He knows what he is talking about. The EMP will not kill anyone directly but it will make all our critical infrastructure systems fail without any hope of a recovery for months or years. We simply could not support most of our population and people would be dying in days.
This is not idol speculation. This danger is well known by our military and our government but congress just cannot seem to do what is right to protect America.
This article indicates that Iran is preparing for an EMP attack against America and if they had such a capability does anyone doubt that they would use it? For this reason alone we must NEVER allow Iran to ever build nuclear weapons. Some may say they would not dare launch an EMP against the U.S. because it would be the end of them. Well maybe that would be true if you were dealing with sane people. These people think that the Maudi would come and fight for them. Iran could also give a nuke to terrorists and it could be launched from a freighter. So then do we nuke Iran without proof that they were even behind it? So Iran must NEVER be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Some people say they would not be a threat to our nation but these people are not seeing the EMP picture. An EMP could bring the end of this nation.
We also could be done in by a single EMP weapon from China, Russia, or even North Korea. China and Russia have both reminded us of that possibility within the last decade. There are other dangers as well such as Pakistan and non state sponsored terrorist organizations.
I do have to disagree somewhat as to what is the defense against an EMP. This article only talks about a missile shield. An anti missile might intercept a missile fired from another state but it is not likely to intercept a missile from a ship near our coast. It also should be obvious that no state is going to launch an EMP attack on the U.S. and then announce that they did it. So, even if Russia or China were to launch a single missile or two fired from a sub or a surface vessel they will promptly destroy the evidence before we could determine who was behind the attack. So then do we attack everyone with a EMP capability?
Besides stopping unstable nations from getting nuclear weapons material the single most important thing we can do to protect ourselves from an EMP attack is to harden all our critical infrastructure from the effects of an EMP. It would not cost that much to do. It is simply putting a metal shield around electronic and electrical devices as they are being built. It could be largely accomplished in 5 to 10 years if we started now. However, this EMP threat has been known for decades. After the 9/11 attack Congress commissioned experts to report on the EMP threat and that report was given to them four years ago but nothing since has been done. The report reads much like this article but it goes into much more detail.
So with that in mind I would say we can expect an EMP anytime within the next decade and I would say we will still be completely vulnerable to an EMP attack because our government is irrational and it is not likely that they will take the action necessary to make our infrastructures survivable.
I will also say that this is most likely the way that America will be eliminated from end time prophetic events. That might be a bleak announcement but the probability of an EMP happening and causing the destruction of our population is more likely than not. Especially now that the U.S. government and most people in this nation are denying the God that made the U.S. prosper and endorsing debauchery.
Newsmax.com – U.S. Intel: Iran Plans Nuclear Strike on U.S.
“They’ve got [test] ranges in Iran which are more than long enough to handle Scud launches and even Shahab-3 launches,” Dr. Graham said. “Why would they be launching from the surface of the Caspian Sea? They obviously have not explained that to us.”
Another troubling group of tests involved Shahab-3 launches where the Iranians “detonated the warhead near apogee, not over the target area where the thing would eventually land, but at altitude,” Graham said. “Why would they do that?”
Graham chairs the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, a blue-ribbon panel established by Congress in 2001.
The commission examined the Iranian tests “and without too much effort connected the dots,” even though the U.S. intelligence community previously had failed to do so, Graham said.
“The only plausible explanation we can find is that the Iranians are figuring out how to launch a missile from a ship and get it up to altitude and then detonate it,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you would do if you had a nuclear weapon on a Scud or a Shahab-3 or other missile, and you wanted to explode it over the United States.”
The commission warned in a report issued in April that the United States was at risk of a sneak nuclear attack by a rogue nation or a terrorist group designed to take out our nation’s critical infrastructure.
“If even a crude nuclear weapon were detonated anywhere between 40 kilometers to 400 kilometers above the earth, in a split-second it would generate an electro-magnetic pulse [EMP] that would cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure,” the report warned.
Within a week or two of the attack, people would start dying, Graham says.
“People in hospitals would be dying faster than that, because they depend on power to stay alive. But then it would go to water, food, civil authority, emergency services. And we would end up with a country with many, many people not surviving the event.”
Asked just how many Americans would die if Iran were to launch the EMP attack it appears to be preparing, Graham gave a chilling reply.
“You have to go back into the 1800s to look at the size of population” that could survive in a nation deprived of mechanized agriculture, transportation, power, water, and communication.
“I’d have to say that 70 to 90 percent of the population would not be sustainable after this kind of attack,” he said.
America would be reduced to a core of around 30 million people
Rep. Trent Franks, R, Ariz., plans to introduce legislation next week that would require the Pentagon to lay the groundwork for an eventual military strike against Iran, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and EMP capability.
“An EMP attack on America would send us back to the horse and buggy era — without the horse and buggy,” he told the Claremont Institute conference on Saturday. “If you’re a terrorist, this is your ultimate goal, your ultimate asymmetric weapon.”
Noting Iran’s recent sea-launched and mid-flight warhead detonation tests, Rep. Franks concluded, “They could do it — either directly or anonymously by putting some freighter out there on the ocean.”
Sounds like we should be stockpiling food!! Thoughts?
Saw this article and it looks like many folks already are.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=70281
I think you should have about 6 months food for everyone in your family. Do more than that and someone is going to just come and take it away. If an EMP happens the worst place to be will be in big cities. I also do not go along with the 30 million figure of Dr. Graham that sounds a bit low. I think the survivors will be more like 80 to 100 million mostly those in rural areas. But after the worst runs its course we will find it necessary to join with Mexico and Canada into the NAU.
An Iranian Operation GoldenEye? Let’s hope not. But I too fear that it’s likely they really are working on this and will eventually manage to carry out an attack thanks to the stupidity and sheer naivety of the postmodern = self-destructive West. How much longer are we going to tell ourselves this vicious lie that the fight is not one against Islam but “fundamentalist” Islam?
Whether or not the Iranians succeed in all this will depends entirely on the West. How much longer are we going to keep deceiving ourselves and wasting our time “negoticiating” with the Islamic Republic of Iran, an enemy of Liberty? The longer we talk, the more time we are giving the Iranians to keep working on their nuclear program and possibly providing terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East with nuclear arms?
It’s time for some serious action! We are running out of time. Either we act now or regret later.
I have a significant electrical engineering background, and I take the article pretty seriously, but I think the author overestimates the damage done to military systems. Systems that are not based on Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components have probably been hardened already — that is, they probably already have “Faraday cages” as part of their enclosures. (Certainly, Tempest-rated equipment does.)
That said, I’m seriously considering renewing my Ham license and purchasing a six-meter transceiver. The six-meter band is just above CB and has medium range capabilities with low powers. (It’s actually just above the CB spectrum-slot.)
I’m also about to build some “Faraday cages” for some of my electronic equipment. See: http://www.unitedstatesaction.com/emp_and_faraday_cages.htm . I’ll put some of the solar panels that I have in there as well.
I’m kind of torn as to whether I should invest the time and “treasure” into these things.
Of course, I could make all these preparations only to have them confiscated later!
Here’s an interesting article of some authority. It’s somewhat technical, but I think it will still be useful to readers here.
http://www.qsl.net/n9zia/emp.html
Hi Brett,
Here is my original article on the EMP threat and it has the link to the official report given to congress as well as two views of leaders.
http://www.thepropheticyears.com/comments/Imminent%20danger%201%20-%20Electromagnetic%20Pulse%20explosion%20(EMP)%20over%20the%20United%20States.htm
I agree that most military battle field weapons are hardened. They could not fight a nuclear war if they were not. If we have any problem on the military end it is in the support and communications field. However, the military is not asleep they are working on any vulnerabilities.
I must have missed something because I believe the civilian vulnerability to an EMP was the real point of this article. Our society could not now survive a well placed EMP. Order would break down and it would be dog-eat-dog survival of those who have the weapons or a total police state. It would be much like what was shown on the TV Jericho series.
You people in Europe better wake up as well. Your probably more vulnerable then we are. Iran does not need a sea vessel to put an EMP over Europe. Iran already has a missile that is capable of doing that. Now all it needs is a crude nuke. For that reason I do not even know why Europe is not leading the effort to stop Iran from developing nukes? Are you ready to go back to the horse and buggy days without your horses and buggies? I guess you will let Israel take care of the immediate threat and then true to form you will blame Israel for the attack that protected you.
Another thing everyone might consider is that it is irrational for any country to totally depend on electricity for survival. There are others things that could take out the electric grid. A massive solar flare would have much the same effect as a nuclear EMP. A large meteor strike could do it. Earthquakes, storms and even conventional wars can take out the power to whole regions for weeks or months. If emergency aid was not possible because these things were happening on a large scale you would be up a creek without a paddle.
We need to stockpile essentials like we did in the 50’s. Just-in-time inventory is a recipe for civil disaster. It might save some on storage costs but it might also cost many their lives.
Sorry. I guess the link is too long for the comments section you will have to cut and paste the link into your browser address bar. That works I tried it.
Yes, a bad situation is definitely brewing.
I think I remember the author lumping military and civilian vulnerability together, but it might have been my “selective comprehension,” as I’ve read several articles of this nature.
Don, you bring up a good point about the sun: coronal-mass-ejections can do the same thing. The last really bad such event back in the days of the telegraph caused some of these stations to actually catch fire! It’s interesting that we should be at the peak of the next sunspot cycle around 2015; I’ve read rumors that’s it’s expected to be a “biggie.” Also, sun observers seem to be getting a bit antsy that this new cycle seems to be off to an unusually quiet start — it seems out of the ordinary (though I understand that it’s still within statistical norms).
Brett, that flare happened in 1859 and if we had a flare like that today we would be in big trouble. We had a smaller flare in 1989 that caused the power grid to collapse in Quebec Canada. I wrote about this as part of the following article.
http://www.thepropheticyears.com/comments/The%20Handwriting%20on%20the%20Wall%20Reads%20%20Prepare%20for%20the%20Apocalypse%20Now.htm
Some scientists have said that this solar cycle will be an unusually violent one. So far the quietness of the sun has everyone scratching their head. The 11 year cycle is supposed to peak around 2012 if the eleven year cycle actually even gets started. If it does not we better get ready for global cooling and crop failures.
I find it hard to believe that we would build an infrastructure system that could become totally useless after an electromagnetic pulse when most of us could not survive if it should happen. The greatest danger to the U.S. and Europe is not global warming or even a economic collapse it is an EMP and we had better wake up and address the issue before we wake up and find ourselves without electric, food, water, money, transportation, and communications. I guess if government is not going to take action each one of us is going to have to take our own action and provide for are own security.
Interesting stuff, Brett. Thanks also for the links.
I usually don’t watch much TV except but I did watch Jericho last year. I thought it was a pretty interesting series. It’s rather frightening when you realize that cars are not supposed to be working after an EMP either. They did work in the Jericho series.
Don, as you know I’m not in the US. An EMP strike on Europe always seemed unlikely to me because Europe is considered less of a threat by the Iranians than the US or Israel. However, even though Europeans don’t like to admit, we are still rather dependent in many ways on the US. We might become an easy target for the Iranians or the Russians if the US is paralyzed.
France is Europe’s only nuclear power and it has an operating blue water navy. They’re pretty much the only European nation that has been quite consistent in its opposition to Iranian development of nuclear weapons and the Foreign Minister has said they can’t rule out a military strike on the country. That has not been the case with the UK, Germany and most other European nations.
So currently things don’t look too well. Many European nations continue violating the sanctions by allowing their companies to do business with Iran. Thus far only the French energy company Total has said it will freeze its investments in the country (if it will actually do this is another matter). The British Forgein Minister doesn’t want a Israeli strike and wants to solve the problem by diplomatic means. So you can see that the “problem” according to the Left is Israel again, not islamofascist Iran. Also, the German gov’t recently made a $100 million natural gas deal with the Iran in spite of the diplomatic tensions.
I think they’re all hoping desperately for Obama to win the US elections because he says he will dialog with Iran. So in the meantime the EU doesn’t want to provoke the Iranians because that might jeopardize the “possibility” of a diplomatic agreement between Iran and the US under a Obama presidency. Which is of course absolutely ludicrous.
Welll, looks like I better get myself an EMP-proof laptop case like the one that CIA agent had in the Jericho series. In case they need any recruits, I’d be happy to volunteer. Rather that than just having to sit around here waiting for the Western “leaders” to commit collective suicide.
Sorry, I meant to say that Total is currently the only major European company that has said it will freeze its investments in Iran.
Bad typing day, today.
I prayerfully spoke with my wife about this issue and my thoughts about renewing my ham radio license and setting up an inexpensive (hardened) field station.
We’re agreed to increase our food stores.
We both have significant disaster-response and first-aid training already, so we’ll be re-certifying that too.
(I meant to add, that she’s also agreed that it would be good for me to get back involved in ham radio with a focus on emergency operations.)
Correction. I was mistaken, the British navy is actually a blue water navy as well. France is the only nuclear power that is a EU member state and their military is the largest within the EU. But the British navy is still an operating blue water navy. Strictly speaking, Russia is also a “European” nuclear power though as we all know they are not part of the EU and they back Iran.
However, my point was to say that France currently remains is the only EU member state with significant military *and* nuclear abilities that might consider military action against Iran. I do hope they keep it that way and harden their stance against Iran but I’m rather pessimistic about it though. It’s more likely that they will let the EU dictate foreign policy towards Iran again: loads of carrots, but no stick (or hardly)…
Brett, we need all the hams we can get. Not fresh hams we need canned hams that will keep for awhile.
Okay, never mind that correction. I’m so confused today, I can’t even seem to remember correctly what I wrote just two minutes ago. It’s probaby because of a lack of sleep… Sorry!
el nasrani, if you keep correcting your corrections we are going to go to fall asleep before you do. We know your a foreigner and that English is a second language. So you have been granted literarry rights to make errors. Thanks for all your excellent observations and inputs from the EU perspective.
Now what is my excuse? Probably early lead poisoning.
Okay, I should learn to hit the “submit” button only after I’ve double-checked my comments. But I think it’s just that I’m being rather absent-minded today though. And being a perfectionist I have a natural urge to correct my mistakes. 😉
I do that and it often does not help. I simply read over my errors with ease. Lets just say that errors are allowed on this forum. The main thing here is getting your point across.
Some questions about storing up:
Many people simply do not have the means to do this. They live paycheck to paycheck. They have no storage space. In my neighborhood, nobody has a basement or an attic with room for storage. We cannot afford to find alternate cooking or heating methods than electricity or gas, both of which will be in short supply. We don’t own guns and could not defend ourselves against either roving gangs or government confiscation. In short, we’d all dearly love to move to an island and live off the land, but it isn’t possible for millions of people.
There must be more than individual plans for dealing with these things. There needs to be immediate action by the few with means, to help the many without. All of this is just academic unless there are plans underway to provide these services to all who request them.
And BTW, haven’t you guys heard of TinyURL? http://tinyurl.com/
I guess if you cannot store up you may have to totally rely on government for your survival. I do not think cites will be very survivable in any case. Even Homeland Scrutiny suggests that everyone have three months supply of food on hand.
All that means is a well stock cupboard or a few cardboard boxes full of stuff. For example you can have a few dozen essentials that don’t have to be heated or refrigerated. for example nuts, crackers, peanut butter, ready made soups, canned meat, self canned stuff in season etc. You can keep turning these over once a year or so to keep them fresh.The whole stash can keep people going for months at a cost of a few hundred bucks. You do not have to do it all at once, spend whatever you can each month until you get what you think you will need.
Only in this generation did people totally depend on supermarkets to get them through all crises. The supermarkets will be empty in two days. So think more like the Amish and prepare for a long winter and maybe also for a summer crop failure.
I know people who live pay check to pay check but they also have the latest car, TV, digital phones, high speed internet access etc? Maybe some people just really need to get their priorities straight. Many others choose to live under the false assumption that it could never happen here. It can! I think in the next ten years Americas are going to have to learn to live on half of the income they have today even without an EMP..
Of course the poor are already near the bottom but a lot more people will be joining them. We are in for at least a decade of inflation and wages and entilements are not going to keep up with costs. Already one half of the world is struggling with inflation so why should we think we are exempt when we have 60 trillions dollars worth of bills coming due?
The main action that needs to be taken is by our government to protect our infrastructure from an EMP. Because if one should occur food is just going to be one a whole lot of deadly problems.
I Never heard of TinyUrl but I heard there are ways of shortening Url’s. I don’t think I want another middle-man website in my posts and the url’s wording actually carries some weight with search engines searches. So I think I will pass.
Don..
I’m not sure if you will get this email or not since this is an old thread… Do you think a small 1000 watt inverter generator would be a wise purchase? I have many of the basics covered with water, 3 – 4 months food… a means of self protection….We have basic hand tools.. but more important.. friends in the rural areas that would put us up if needed… Are you thinking we will go to a pre-electric style of living? Do you recommend any good websites for prep lists etc? Thanks you..
Tom
Hi Tom,
No matter how old the post is I still get all comments.
I think a generator is a wise investment for many reason. The main reason I would say to have a generator is to keep your meat frozen until you can use it and maybe use your well. Your not going to have enough fuel stored for more than a few weeks of continual use. Generators are always nice to have because even in the best of times the power can go out for days or even weeks due to storms or earthquakes.
We certainly could go to pre-electric style living for a year or more if there actually is a nuclear EMP over America. That is documented by the congressional commission.
The problem with websites with prep lists is they always are selling something like dried food that costs a lot or Gold that will become illegal. I do not think you need to do that. The non perishable goods you can find on any store shelf will last a couple of years. You just need to rotate it as you use it. Gradually they will get the electric back up for the people who survive but it could take a year or so in many areas. If you still want to find sites that have survival lists just do a search on Google using the appropriate keywords.
My advise is to learn from the Amish. Learn to grow and can your own food, it will last for years. Have a source of wood for heat, cooking and boiling water. Also keep in mind that chain saws will be useless without gas.
The best advise I can give anyone is to get out of big cities if at all possible and keep a catch of food and supplies on hand just like they did before electricity. Your actually better off today because food is packaged to keep for awhile and is not in bulk like in the 19th century that breed bugs really quickly.
It could be possible for a EMP to hit us around 3yrs or so since Panetta is the head of the CIA.
It has been a year since any comments on your site. The danger and information about what we face has been on the increase. I believe that community meetings need to be held by people who live in outlying areas to help them to prepare to survive. Is there anyone out there who reads this site or is preparing? I am. I would like to get more dialog going on how to survive the inevitable mass death that some of the most informed say will occur.
Howard
Hi Howard,
I have mentioned the dangers of an EMP on more then one post but you are correct there needs to be more discussion about it. Here is a more recent post and there is 29 more comments on this one. Perhaps you can add to the discussion there.
https://www.thepropheticyears.com/wordpress/prepare-for-the-great-american-blackout.html
i want to believe that we are realy in the end time period,watching all that is happening around the world
It’s been nice knowing you guys. 😛
(and by ‘knowing,’ I mean ‘living in America at the same time and both being believing Christians’)
I’m considering moving to one of the Great Lake states after college and acquiring some hunting and other wilderness paraphernalia. I’m thinking I’ll move north and hunt various kinds of deer for sustenance after the food stockpiles disappear.
Just hope the EMP doesn’t happen before I move there. Within the next 5 years would confound my agenda, I hope it doesn’t come but within the next 10 years.
The future is bleak. Well, the earthly future. The future is hopeful, but only after we die…and I don’t feel like dying right yet.
🙂 blessings
Don’t know why you need college to be a wild man. They have game laws up North so you’re going to be arrested for poaching and don’t expect game to be available when everyone else is hunting it. Ever try to get a dear a few days after dear season opens? Game will be mighty rare and even hunt out of existence within a month of a EMP that actually took down the national power grid.
By the way, a EMP over the lower 48 would not take out Alaska. If I was a young man I would consider moving there for many reasons.
All of this is so interesting. I must admit that I have just recently heard about EMP and how they can occur and I can say that it really scares me. After I found out about it, I started to research a lot and I came across this radio show type of thing. Every Wednesday they have one and they have guests that know what they’re talking about. I’ve noticed that a lot of people actually don’t know what they are talking about, so it’s refreshing to be able to really rely on the information they give me. Curtis Birnbach is going to be on the radio show this Wednesday (tomorrow) and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been told that he is an expert on the topic of EMP. If you guys wanna check it out, here’s the link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/empact-radio/2011/06/01/empact-radio-with-dr-peter-vincent-pry