As though the United States did not have enough problems, it is becoming increasingly evident that she now faces what could be her greatest “clear and present” danger: the threat of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack from enemy nations or terrorist groups.
Such an attack could easily knock the American electrical grid out of commission, disrupting supplies of energy, food, communication, fuel, water and more for a long period.
The consequences would include starvation, dehydration, lack of medicine, exposure to the elements, violence and social unrest, paralysis of transportation, crippled banking and communication channels, medical complications from injury, disease and damaged sanitation systems, and vulnerability to invasion from the inevitable war that would be triggered off in self defense and retaliation.
Not to mention the long-term catastrophic consequences for U.S. society and its way of life…just ask the residents of Hiroshima, Japan.
In short: utter chaos the magnitude of which most Americans have never witnessed outside the comfortable setting of a movie theater.
According to WND.com, Iran has recently announced that it will position its warships off the coast of the United States, from where they could launch a nuclear warhead to explode at high altitude to create an electromagnetic pulse. Iran’s decision to place its warships off the U.S. East Coast was prompted by the U.S. decision to place warships of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet at Bahrain, not far from Iran. And there are U.S. carrier task forces constantly patrolling through the Strait of Hormuz, which skirts Iranian territory.
Perhaps of greatest concern is that, U.S. experts seem to agree that there would be no warning and that the U.S. missile defense system would not be able to respond in time to prevent the high altitude nuclear explosion. They also believe that the ideal missile launch vessel would not be from an Iranian warship but from a commercial vessel sailing along the East Coast or in the Gulf of Mexico. This would apparently maximize the element of surprise and the overall effectiveness of the attack.
The coastal deployment plan comes as the United States and its allies are due to meet again on February 18th with Iranian officials in Vienna to come to a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.
Former Ambassador Henry Cooper, who heads High Frontier and was the Strategic Defense Initiative Director under former President George H.W. Bush, is more concerned about a nuclear attack from the south, either from North Korea or Iran – and would like to see U.S. Navy strategy aligned to effectively manage this threat.
And it’s not just Iran that the U.S nightmare would be all about: China is waiting in the wings, also preparing to strike with the same EMP strategy. However their focus is on attacking Taiwan, which would also inevitably entail an attack on U.S. warships that could defend the island.
WND.com further report that this revelation comes in an article by Lou Xaoqing who says the People’s Liberation Army sees an EMP weapon as the primary means of incapacitating Taiwan and disabling American defenders nearby. Given that such a strategy was made public in an article entitled “Electromagnetic pulse bombs are Chinese ace,” it is seen as reflecting the official Chinese government position.
According to Xaoqing, the EMP strategy would involve exploding at an altitude of 18 miles to avoid damaging civilian and military equipment on the Chinese mainland. “China is attracted to the fight against the U.S. military after the effective range, using them as a means of surprise attack or an intimidation factor,” Xaoqing said. “The United States will abandon the use of aircraft carrier battle groups to defend Taiwan.”
According to WND.com, China is giving priority to developing EMP weapons that could be used against U.S. aircraft carriers, which increasingly are arriving in the South and East China Seas as part of the new U.S. “pivot” policy toward Asia.
This approach would allow China to do what Xaoqing refers to as a “one-two punch”: In the first punch the Chinese military would disable non-hardened electronics and command and control centers, and the second punch would create certain health effects from exposure to an EMP.
He said that based on Chinese research in 2005 that assessed the effects of an EMP on heart cells, it would make peoples’ hearts unable to function as well as they should, with possible death or serious damage of the heart leading to death. Other health complications would include long term disabilities particularly to the elderly, young and unborn.
Not to be outdone is North Korea. WND.com reported early 2013 that according to the Washington Times, North Korea is now said to own an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to the United States, as demonstrated by their successful launch and orbiting of a satellite back in December 2012, the Washington Times reports. “North Korea is a mortal nuclear threat to the United States – right now.”
And that’s not all: the real concern is that North Korea now has miniaturized nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery and armed missiles with nuclear warheads that could destroy the U.S. in a single blow - with an EMP attack that would send the U.S. back to 19th century technology.
No doubt an EMP attack “poses the biggest threat to U.S. national and economic security in our lifetime.”
How many Americans know this? Another report by WND.com in June of 2013 records the result of a poll by Zogby Analytics in May. The poll results show that whether it is the threat of terrorism, an electro-magnetic pulse attack, a flood, a tornado or fire, most Americans apparently believe they are immune:
· Only one American in four (25 percent) is concerned that a disaster of some kind will affect his or her community.
· Just 36 percent, the survey said, have an established emergency response plan in place.
· In case of a national emergency, Americans are most trusting in local law enforcement in case of a shooting (58 percent), the FBI in case of a terrorist attack (53 percent), the Centers for Disease Control in case of a pandemic (49 percent), and the Federal Emergency Relief Administration in case of a natural disaster (45 percent).
However the poll shows Americans still are concerned about privacy and not always supportive of “security” measures. The poll by State University of New York Institute of Technology and Zogby was conducted online May 8th-9th, 2013 and reached out to 1,000 adults nationwide. It has a sample error rate of 3.2 percentage points.
In the event of an EMP attack, Rightsidenews.com reported in its October 29, 2013 edition that over 50% of the population of the US would die in the first year, according to the Congressional EMP Commission. And it could be many, many more.
On the global stage, any one successful EMP attack against the U.S. would certainly create a new balance of power globally in favor of Russia, China, North Korea, and Arab nations led by Iran. Once the U.S. is mortally wounded, this nuclear powered axis would feel empowered to attack and destroy Israel.
The stage is being set.
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