lab~rat
2005-11-23 12:38:34 UTC
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051121-103434-8775r.htm
U.S. seen vulnerable to space 'pulse' attack
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 22, 2005
The United States is highly vulnerable to attack from electronic
pulses caused by a nuclear blast in space, according to a new book on
threats to U.S. security.
A single nuclear weapon carried by a ballistic missile and
detonated a few hundred miles over the United States would cause
"catastrophe for the nation" by damaging electricity-based networks
and infrastructure, including computers and telecommunications,
according to "War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in
the War for the Free World."
"This is the single most serious national-security challenge and
certainly the least known," said Frank J. Gaffney Jr. of the Center
for Security Policy, a former Pentagon official and lead author of the
book, which includes contributions by 34 security and intelligence
specialists.
An electromagnetic-pulse (EMP) attack uses X-rays and gamma rays
produced in a nuclear blast in three separate waves of pulses, each
with more damaging effects, and would take months or years to repair,
the book states. The damage to unshielded electronics would be
irreversible.
The EMP danger was highlighted recently by a special congressional
commission that has received little public attention and is considered
a unique way for rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, or other
enemies such as al Qaeda, to use nuclear weapons in the future.
Al Qaeda is known to be seeking nuclear weapons, according to
documents uncovered at the terrorist group's facilities in
Afghanistan.
The group could use a freighter equipped with a short-range
ballistic missile to fire a nuclear missile over the United States,
the book said, noting that North Korea sells its own version of the
Scud for around $100,000.
North Korea, in recent nuclear talks in Beijing, threatened to
export its nuclear weapons, and Iran already has tested a Scud-missile
launch from a ship.
An EMP attack would damage the national power grid, unprotected
computers and all devices containing microchips, from medical
instruments to military communications, and knock out electronic
systems in cars, airplanes and those used in banking and finance and
emergency services.
"An EMP attack potentially represents a high-tech means for
terrorists to kill millions of Americans the old-fashioned way,
through starvation and disease," the book said.
"Although the direct physical effects of EMP are harmless to
people, a well-designed and well-executed EMP attack could kill
indirectly far more Americans than a nuclear weapon detonated in our
most populous city."
North Korea has been learning about EMP weapons from Russia, which
is believed to have worked on EMPs for decades. China is also working
on EMP arms, according to a recent Pentagon report.
The book calls for taking 10 actions to protect the free world
from an array of 21st-century threats, including hardening U.S.
infrastructures against an EMP attack and countering Islamist fascism
through ideological counterproposals.
--
lab~rat >:-)
Do you want polite or do you want sincere?
U.S. seen vulnerable to space 'pulse' attack
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 22, 2005
The United States is highly vulnerable to attack from electronic
pulses caused by a nuclear blast in space, according to a new book on
threats to U.S. security.
A single nuclear weapon carried by a ballistic missile and
detonated a few hundred miles over the United States would cause
"catastrophe for the nation" by damaging electricity-based networks
and infrastructure, including computers and telecommunications,
according to "War Footing: 10 Steps America Must Take to Prevail in
the War for the Free World."
"This is the single most serious national-security challenge and
certainly the least known," said Frank J. Gaffney Jr. of the Center
for Security Policy, a former Pentagon official and lead author of the
book, which includes contributions by 34 security and intelligence
specialists.
An electromagnetic-pulse (EMP) attack uses X-rays and gamma rays
produced in a nuclear blast in three separate waves of pulses, each
with more damaging effects, and would take months or years to repair,
the book states. The damage to unshielded electronics would be
irreversible.
The EMP danger was highlighted recently by a special congressional
commission that has received little public attention and is considered
a unique way for rogue states such as North Korea and Iran, or other
enemies such as al Qaeda, to use nuclear weapons in the future.
Al Qaeda is known to be seeking nuclear weapons, according to
documents uncovered at the terrorist group's facilities in
Afghanistan.
The group could use a freighter equipped with a short-range
ballistic missile to fire a nuclear missile over the United States,
the book said, noting that North Korea sells its own version of the
Scud for around $100,000.
North Korea, in recent nuclear talks in Beijing, threatened to
export its nuclear weapons, and Iran already has tested a Scud-missile
launch from a ship.
An EMP attack would damage the national power grid, unprotected
computers and all devices containing microchips, from medical
instruments to military communications, and knock out electronic
systems in cars, airplanes and those used in banking and finance and
emergency services.
"An EMP attack potentially represents a high-tech means for
terrorists to kill millions of Americans the old-fashioned way,
through starvation and disease," the book said.
"Although the direct physical effects of EMP are harmless to
people, a well-designed and well-executed EMP attack could kill
indirectly far more Americans than a nuclear weapon detonated in our
most populous city."
North Korea has been learning about EMP weapons from Russia, which
is believed to have worked on EMPs for decades. China is also working
on EMP arms, according to a recent Pentagon report.
The book calls for taking 10 actions to protect the free world
from an array of 21st-century threats, including hardening U.S.
infrastructures against an EMP attack and countering Islamist fascism
through ideological counterproposals.
--
lab~rat >:-)
Do you want polite or do you want sincere?