A new report suggests the United States power grid is vulnerable to an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) attack and that should scare the hell out of you.
When it comes to the cost of American lives, an attack like this would make 9/11 look small. If a large portion of the United States was deprived of electricity for a significant amount of time, millions would die of starvation, a lack of access to modern medical care and the collapse of law and order.
Daniel Wiser reports at the Washington Free Beacon:
Report: United States Increasingly Vulnerable to Potentially Catastrophic EMP AttackThe threat of a devastating electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States is increasing just as American infrastructure has become more vulnerable, according to a new report.“Our nation has further increased its reliance on technologies that depend upon the availability of electricity and digital electronics to manage and monitor the network of systems that deliver our basic goods and services,” said the report from the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA).As a result, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack “could severely disrupt everything we take for granted, from food and water distribution to functioning sewer, medical, healthcare and banking systems.”EMP events can be generated by natural causes, such as a solar storm, or an intentional attack through a cyber assault or the detonation of a nuclear weapon above earth’s atmosphere. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are all said to be developing EMP weapon technology.Some experts have suggested that an EMP assault “could kill 9 of 10 Americans through starvation, disease, and societal collapse.”
FOX News interviewed an expert on this subject a few months ago. Peter Vincent Pry is the executive director of the Force on National and Homeland Security:
Mark Weatherford of the Washington Examiner offers some perspective here:
Preparation, not panic, is best way to meet threat of potential EMP attackIt’s an unsettling scenario: An attack on the U.S. homeland in the form of an electromagnetic pulse — a massive blast from a high altitude (most likely nuclear) weapon intended to cripple our electrical control system infrastructures and the electronic devices we depend on. In this digital age, where electronic technology is prevalent in nearly all aspects of our daily lives, it’s a threat that must be monitored closely — by government and industry leaders alike. As frightening as this doomsday scenario sounds, most experts consider it a low-likelihood event where consequences can vary significantly depending on how such a weapon is delivered.As with any emerging threat, it’s unknown how an attack of this magnitude would be executed and what effect it would have on society. Our country’s infrastructure faces threats equal to, or greater than, an EMP attack on a daily basis.
This is part of the reason it’s so maddening to hear candidates asked about Fantasy Football in presidential debates. America is facing major security threats which many people haven’t heard of and don’t understand.
Featured image via YouTube.
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