Weekly Terrorism Spotlight

Volume 1, Issue 21 (August 18)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Iran Practicing Nuclear EMP Strike on U.S.

Iran has been practicing how to launch a nuclear Electro-Magnetic Pulse attack on the U.S., a former science advisor to President Reagan warned the House Armed Services Committee on July 10. An EMP attack involves the detonation of a nuclear weapon at high altitudes which would disable electricity and equipment dependent upon modern technology. Such an attack, warned the expert, could cripple the infrastructure of the United States.

“I’d have to say that 70 to 90 percent of the population would not be sustainable after this kind of attack,” warned Dr. William Graham during his testimony. Graham also heads a government commission to study the EMP threat.

Should such an attack be launched, telecommunications, automobiles, and the infrastructure to deliver water, gas, electricity, food and government services would be shut down, he said.

Graham testified that the commission viewed copies of Iranian military texts that discussed the use of an EMP attack to strike at the United States. Recent Iranian missile tests involving the launching of ballistic missiles from ships can only be explained as preparing for this scenario, Graham said. Launching such a weapon from a ship makes it far more difficult to prevent, eliminates the need for advanced long-range missiles that can reach across continents, and makes it more difficult to identify the attacker.

Graham warned that, in addition to Iran, potential enemies such as China and possibly North Korea could have similar capabilities by 2015. Representative Roscoe Barlett, R-Md., also said that Russia had developed a “super EMP” weapon.

DefenseNews.com reported that only a “handful” of the members of the House Armed Service Committee attended the session, and most did not stay until the end.

“No one seems to be concerned about it,” the report quoted Rep. John McHugh, R-N.Y., as saying after noticing that few seats weren’t vacant.

Ryan Mauro