By Cliff May
If you don't live in Washington, New York or another big city, you may think: 'Even if the terrorists do strike again on American soil, my hometown and my family probably aren't in danger.' Think again.
In 2001 the U.S. government established a commission to 'assess the threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack.' The commission recently reported to Congress that if a nuclear warhead were to be detonated at high altitude over the American mainland the blast would produce an EMP -- a shockwave so powerful that it would 'cripple military and civilian communications, power, transportation, water, food, and other infrastructure.'
Lights would go out. Telecommunications would fail. Computers would crash. Bank accounts would disappear. The stock market would cease operation. Refrigerated food warehouse would shut down. Sanitation and emergency services would be crippled.
Before long, millions of Americans would, as the Wall Street Journal flatly phrased it, 'die of starvation or want of medical care.' Any number of terrorists groups would be proud to carry out such an attack. But, as the EMP commission also reported, only Iran (1) is attempting to develop nuclear weapons, (2) has recently conducted multiple missile tests of its nuclear-capable Shahab-3 missiles, (3) has done so from cargo ships in the Caspian Sea, and (4) also has detonated those missiles at high altitude. What's more, the CIA has translated Iranian military journals in which EMP attacks against the U.S. are explicitly discussed.
The terrorists learned from those experiences -- America's political leaders did not. They failed to imagine or prepare for what the terrorists might do next -- what the terrorists did do on Sept. 11, 2001.
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.
ALSO read EMP threat not being addressed by U.S.
