Friday, February 18, 2005
You Learn Something Disturbing Everyday
The terror next time - The Washington Times: Commentary - February 17, 2005: " A blue-ribbon, congressionally mandated commission recently described an altogether different sort of nuclear attack, one made possible by the detonation high above the United States of a ballistic missile-delivered weapon. The panel was charged with 'assessing the threat to the United States from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.'
It concluded the EMP effects of such an attack at 40 to 400 miles above this country could so severely disrupt, both directly and indirectly, electronics and electrical systems as to create a 'damage level ... sufficient to be catastrophic to the nation.' Worse, the commission concluded 'our current vulnerability invites attack.'
The EMP Threat Commission recommends urgent steps taken to reduce that vulnerability by protecting electrical, water, telecommunications and other infrastructures against crippling by electromagnetic pulse. The same needs to be done with our military, also woefully unprepared for EMP attack. "
Frank Gaffney describes a weapon that "could instantly transform this country from an advanced 21st century to an 18th-century society". Not being in the intelligence community, I had never even heard of this kind of weapon, and quite frankly, could have gone without knowing. Not anticipating the threat of Al Quaeda was a blessing. What happened was bad enough without the fearful anticipation. Now, however, we are in an age where we can actually hear about these things and take them seriously. Being hit once like that in our lifetime offers us the realism to know that the truly unthinkable can and does happen. My peace of mind comes from knowing that we have a strong and serious President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and others. The thought of having Madeline Albright's "Oh, we can talk them through this" strategy with our enemies frightens me. Knowing that Condi will be swift with her verbal response and knowing that the President will back that up with swift military responses makes me feel more confident and safer. I appreciate Frank's story today, because it puts the spotlight, for the public, on a topic that is new to us. We can now understand when we begin the public discussion of how to protect against this kind of weapon. Thanks, Frank.
It concluded the EMP effects of such an attack at 40 to 400 miles above this country could so severely disrupt, both directly and indirectly, electronics and electrical systems as to create a 'damage level ... sufficient to be catastrophic to the nation.' Worse, the commission concluded 'our current vulnerability invites attack.'
The EMP Threat Commission recommends urgent steps taken to reduce that vulnerability by protecting electrical, water, telecommunications and other infrastructures against crippling by electromagnetic pulse. The same needs to be done with our military, also woefully unprepared for EMP attack. "
Frank Gaffney describes a weapon that "could instantly transform this country from an advanced 21st century to an 18th-century society". Not being in the intelligence community, I had never even heard of this kind of weapon, and quite frankly, could have gone without knowing. Not anticipating the threat of Al Quaeda was a blessing. What happened was bad enough without the fearful anticipation. Now, however, we are in an age where we can actually hear about these things and take them seriously. Being hit once like that in our lifetime offers us the realism to know that the truly unthinkable can and does happen. My peace of mind comes from knowing that we have a strong and serious President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and others. The thought of having Madeline Albright's "Oh, we can talk them through this" strategy with our enemies frightens me. Knowing that Condi will be swift with her verbal response and knowing that the President will back that up with swift military responses makes me feel more confident and safer. I appreciate Frank's story today, because it puts the spotlight, for the public, on a topic that is new to us. We can now understand when we begin the public discussion of how to protect against this kind of weapon. Thanks, Frank.
