EMP Cult of Crazy is Concerned
R. James Woolsey, former CIA director, neocon, and now director of a Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (yes, it's as Orwellian as you think it is), is joined by Rebeccah Heinrichs, a congressional staffer and long time missile defense proponent, as they take to the pages of the Wall Street Journal to warn us that President Obama's $4 billion missile defense NATO shield, planned to be located in Poland and the Czech Republic, will not shield U.S. territory from the Iranian nuclear ballistic missiles (that don't exist yet). He warns, "If Tehran were to achieve a nuclear missile capability, it could hold American cities hostage—unless, that is, the U.S. builds a robust and comprehensive ballistic missile defense." (unfortunately behind the WSJ subscription page)
Now, for some reason, Woolsey doesn't think that Iran's leaders either understand or follow the whole "overwhelming and devastating response" part of our rather large nuclear arsenal, but wait! There's another reason why we need that U.S. missile defense shield!!
If Iran were to launch a nuclear-armed missile from a ship near one of our coasts—say a primitive SCUD from a fishing boat—we would have very little warning and no protection. Defending the homeland against this threat would require a substantial deployment in and near the U.S. of the type of mobile systems that the administration plans to deploy in Europe.
Further, if the Iranians were to detonate even a primitive nuclear warhead over the United States, it could send out an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) destroying the electric grid and electrical systems across a wide swath of U.S. territory. Iranian military writings show the mullahs recognize the potential of this kind of attack. Depending on where it occurred and how large the warhead was, an EMP attack could cause large-scale fatalities and unimaginable economic devastation. Defending against this kind of threat requires defensive systems that can intercept an attacking ballistic missile while it is still ascending. But the Obama administration has no specific plans to develop and deploy ascent-phase interceptors in Europe.
Wow, if Missile Defense Agency hadn't been developing boost/ascent, midcourse, and terminal defense segments of its $9-10 billion/year ballistic missile defense system, I might be concerned, but in fact it is. The Obama plan is in fact to position SM-3 missiles in Europe as part of the NATO theater missile defense plan, which is all that Iran can threaten, assuming that it does in fact develop a nuclear weapon, minaturize it to fit on a ballistic missile, test it, and then launch it toward Europe in a state of suicidal vengence. It's all open-source, Mr. Woolsey, so please, reposition the tin-foil cap and take another slug of whiskey to steel your courage.
But really, here we go with the "Iranian nuclear missile being fired from a ship off the United States, resulting in the Collapse of Civilization As We Know It." Honestly, it smacks of the most ignorant, fear-based attacks on the American public that I know. It's an argument that's all too easy to counter, and yet the conservative Repubs delight in pulling this one out of their arsenal. Or is it just arse?
UPDATE: Wisco helpfully provides a public link to the WSJ article.
Jack Bauer will save us...
What's that?
HE WAS CANCELLED?!
WE'RE DOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!!!
"I could give a flying crap about the political process.... We're an entertainment company."
- Glenn Beck - Forbes interview; April 26, 2010
When 24 was finally
put out of its miserycanceled, I was hoping that the wingnuts would react to the news by simply shutting down completely (ala the droid army in The Phantom Menace). Alas, it was not to be..."Whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, the Republicans are not the least bit interested in solving it. They are interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it."
"... Republicans pulling this out of their arse 'n all."
Isn't that the same horror story we were told about Iraq? I remember Senator Nelson of Florida standing on the floor of the Senate after it was determined there were no wmd in Iraq and saying he was told there could be Iraqi boats off the east coast that could fire missiles into the east coast of the US. He was highly pissed he had been duped.
There are lots of "if"s in Woolsey's statements. My dad used to say, "If a frog had wings he wouldn't bump his ass every time he jumped. But he doesn't so he does."
The word "if" is not a sure thing and often it's no thing.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
I have to say I get highly pissed when I read of politicians saying this about things like WMD. I'm not an expert, just someone who pays attention, and it was obvious to me from the very beginning that the whole thing was a lie. Especially if you:
1) Knew any history. Cheney and Rumsfield were already known to be liars based on the "Team B" group in the Reagan white house that made up all sorts of threats about the Soviets (e.g., phantom subs) which all turned out to be lies
2) Listened to any real experts. People like Scott Ritter who knew first hand the weapons had been dismantled.
Which reminds me anyone know whatever happened to the sex scandal with Ritter? I always thought that seemed like it could be a setup.
... strike a deal and arrange for those non-existant drug mules in Arizona to intercept the non-existant Iranian agents and behead them before they can launch their non-existant missiles with their non-existant nuclear warheads.
And then we can dump their non-existant heads on Jan Brewer's desk.
http://www.subgenius.com/pams/pam2p1.html
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Hail Eris!
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
I have this
http://suhaimiramly.files.wordpress.com/2009/...
On my Amazon Wishlist...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
didn't Woolsey announce on FOX that we were engaged in WW lll?
Is that still going on or is it over? Is it WW lV yet?
I hate long engagements...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Ooga booga, be scared.
Republicans are liars and simply cannot be trusted.
the bigger their paychecks are.
Throw a bucket of water on them.
they speak to the reptilian brain
that knows only flee or fight
so those are always their only two options
prepare to fight .. or cut and run
right?
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
the reptilian brain Thu, 07/15/2010 - 09:52 — MountainMan23
_______________________________________________________
You forgot hump...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
...we're the ones getting screwed.
FEAR is the new crack cocaine.
on every corner.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
They're IN OUR HOMES!
"I could give a flying crap about the political process.... We're an entertainment company."
- Glenn Beck - Forbes interview; April 26, 2010
Thu, 07/15/2010 - 09:31 — Fish
Ooga booga, be scared.
__________________________________________
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw0aoVpFCDw
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
There's been a Persian empire more or less continuously in that part of the world for somewhat over 2500 yrs -- there are plenty of examples of various iterations of it engaging in offensive warfare.
The Iranian nuclear program is primarily about nationalist dick-sizing, and as such is very popular domestically. Nuclear weapons in the modern world are for showing, not using.
"Woolsey doesn't think that Iran's leaders either understand or follow the whole "overwhelming and devastating response" part of our rather large nuclear arsenal"
Or our rather large conventional arsenal, which could also obliterate Iran fairly easily, in response to a ballistic nuclear attack, or the much more likely scenario, a terrorist attack.
This is one of the reasons why I ignore anyone who brings up something like this as an example. The technology needed for such a thing would require a better industrial base than just about any country in the Mid East. But the scaredy-cats in the Republican party seem to think that all the world has the same capabilities and are all out to get us.
When angry, count four, when very angry, swear.
-Mark Twain-
Iran has an industrial base capable of building nuclear weapons, and has fired plenty of homegrown ballistic and cruise missiles in anger. Responding to fear-mongering with cheap racism is foolish.
I just love the idea that Iran can produce a fishing boat and crew that can navigate the Indian Ocean AND the Atlantic Ocean, while carrying a nuclear weapon, and then pull up to our shores and fire it off.
Hi-larious.
a boat like the Andrea Gail, a crew of dedicated sword fisherman, and a courgeous captain like George Clooney? Shoot, he also proved in Syriana he has the middle eastern contacts to pull this off himself and is of questionable loyalty.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
we could just call in Michael Clayton and have him fix things up.
to sell out to the Iranians in the first place.
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
a fishing boat , they will disguise it as an oil skimmer .
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
The Iranian government intends to build nuclear weapons, and they have the support of a majority of the populace. They have the industrial base to do so. However, Iran is run by smart religious fanatics, not suicidal morons. In a nuclear world, the strategic purpose of nuclear weapons is forcing negotiations, not destroying cities. They're about national prestige and dick-sizing and all that fun stuff.
I will not worry about Iran having
ICBMs until, I am sure we have sold
them some.
Iran launched a satellite on a homegrown launcher this year, which proves their aerospace industry is capable of building ICBMs.
There is NO WAY to "protect America" from every conceivable
attack that could come from every conceivable adversary
anytime in the inconceivably vast future.
And we can spend ourselves into oblivion attampting to
achieve that impossible goal of "national security."
Finding a way to get along with the rest of the world is
the ONLY way we'll ever have national security, not by
attempting to dominate every single square inch of this
planet and all of the space that surrounds it.
Besides, is that the kind of a life we want to live,
cowering in fear at every imaginable threat?
Much better things to do, I think.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
protecting the earth from aliens and their death rays! (or BP Executives...)
"I could give a flying crap about the political process.... We're an entertainment company."
- Glenn Beck - Forbes interview; April 26, 2010
is for real, the silicon chips that are the brains of all sorts of things used in everyday life (autos, washing machines, control systems for the power grid) fry pretty easily, they are sensitive to micro volts; when working on circuit boards you have to wear grounding straps because static can blow them.
all that being said, all these yahoos are doing is looking for more money for the already bloated defense budget. there is no doubt that there are human rights abuses in Iran, but that is not what they are talking, except occasionally, they are creating this "threat" out of thin air. we should be talking about human rights for the people of the world, not fantasy.
Now, what other connections does Mr. Woolsey have? Like, maybe, in Tel Aviv? Who want to upset the Iranian apple cart sooooo bad...but can't without US sanction?
So we get more neo-con inspired boogeymen, like we did with Iraq and the 'mushroom clouds'.
Enough BS already.
We really need to spend billions of dollars on missile shields to protect us from that military juggernaut in Iran, that's for sure. I mean, we'd be fools not to worry after the way they obliterated... um... er... wait, they have already launched unprovoked attacks on someone haven't they?
Let me see... um...
OH, YEAH. What about their DEVASTATING campaign against the poor helpless regime of... um... oh, was that Saddam? Oh.
What? He attacked THEM? Oh.... and we put him up to it?
Oh.
WELL, ANYWAY! You still can't discount the way they keep bullying... um... (help me out here)...
Wait a second. I know! They were REAL ASSHOLES when they were called PERSIA! I saw "300". I know!!! Buy the missile shield before they blot out the sun with their arrows!!!!
-ep
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Inside of a nuclear conflagration, no one can hear you scream.
The christian zionists sure love killing muslins for the zionist jews don't they?
missile, and does it bow to Mecca daily?
“Why would anyone with a functioning brain believe this guy?”
Some guy with an eating disorder
dyeing muslins. Do they do batik?
Hasa Diga Eebowai
But what if Tehran build their nuclear silos on the moon?? Quick, neocons, invade the moon! And Mars, just to be sure.
...actually, I heard there's an Iranian invasion force amassing on the surface of the sun! Quick, get over there as fast as you can.
...as usual they would just send the children of poor people to do that for them, and tell them it was honorable...
Chicken Little!! Oh, oh, the sky is falling!! Run! Hide!
IF Iran developed a nuclear weapon, they would still need to spend a LOT of time and a LOT of moeny to shrink it down until it fit on a ballistic missile.
IF Iran got a nuclear-armed ballistic missile, they would need to spend a LOT of time and a LOT of money to fit it on a boat.
Before they did either of those things, they could just research how the drug traffickers bring their product into the U.S. on boats, load 10 big clunky bombs onto 10 cheap boats and they would probably be able to drive 6 or 8 or even all 10 of them into the harbors of major coastal cities and do a lot more damage than any missile.
But even if they were crazy enough to use nukes on the U.S. and to do so in as inneficient a manner as Senator Coburn described, we would need to have hundreds of missile defense sites costing trillions of dollars to have any chance at all of stopping the kind of attack he is suggesting.
I'm going to be selling my own billion dollar super duper defense shield to the governement soon. It will stop everything the bad guys have - including stuff they haven't invented yet.
And yes we definitely need it, because you never know what their evil little brains will come up with?
Here to support my claims is James Woolsey, director of the "Keep Democracy Safe Foundation." James is strictly here for credibility, not because the TaxtheRich group pays him $$$$$$$ to speak for them.
We better hurry though, they may be thinking right now!
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
The WSJ op-ed is reprinted here:
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=...
For those who need a working link.
...I wouldn't have to worry about President Obama sitting on his ass for seven minutes as it drew near.
* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.
I get it Reagan's missle sheild would have worked, Obama's won't. What more do you need to know?
Forrest Gump. The danger from a putative Iranian nuclear weapons program was never a missile launch. That would be the national equivalent of copicide. The only real potential threat would be from the Iranians supplying nuclear materials to someone else to use and that is sufficiently remote as to give diplomacy all the time it needs to address the issue.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
...which is really all about making more right-wing/right-wing libertarian drones. Case in point, the co-author of the article, Rebeccah Heinrichs. She graduated from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio (pop. 26,000). Glenn Beck was their honored speaker just a couple years back. Bill Kristol is on their Board of Directors. You get the picture...
This young woman was Rebecca Ramey before she got hitched (and has also gone by Rebecca(h) Ramey Heinrichs in some other places) and since she's so young, one needn't look back very far to see the quality and depth of her thinking, and see how she was just perfect to become a little gung-ho hawk nut-job. Some samples:
"Condi's Hot New Uniform" - (about how Condi's fashion says so much about her character or something):
http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/guest/05/ram...
"I Don't Want Mr. Rogers, I Want John Bolton" - May 2005
Speaks for itself:
http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/guest/05/ram...
"Colloquium to Crumbs" - how waitressing helped her understand Nicomachean Ethics (but didn't teach her how to spell it, apparently) - full of great lines, like:
"The night slowed down as suddenly as wheels on a racecar."
See if you can hack it:
http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/respub/v12n1...
I bet we'll see her hosting a show on FoxNews in no time, pumping up Palin for 2020 or whatever...
Anything Woolsey writes is not worth the ink it's printed with. He's a neo-con criminal as much as any in the Bush and Obama administrations.
I can't understand for the life of me how these people are "tough" and "serious"..
Anyone with half a brain would see that we'd have a "overwhelming and devastating response" immediately after such a detonation.
Yes. The Iranian government is composed of religious fanatics, not suicidal morons.
"If Iran were to launch a nuclear-armed missile from a ship near one of our coasts—say a primitive SCUD from a fishing boat—we would have very little warning and no protection"
Wait a minute - Don't we have the Coast Guard to protect our shores from such an admittedly far-fetched threat? Secondly, firing a scud from a fishing boat would require a pretty large boat, no? That would attract some attention, wouldn't it? And wouldn't launching the missle pretty much fry the boat and everyone aboard? Conclusion: this scenario is a fucking joke, as is the guy promoting it (Woolsey - oh yeah, wasn't he the guy calling the Iraq War WWIV?) If, if, if... that's all these cut-rate fascists have - bullshit fantasies. As my dear departed mother would say: "If your aunt had a cock, she'd be your uncle".
If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're gonna get selfish, ignorant leaders.
George Carlin
1) Yes, we do have a Coast Guard as well as a Navy for that sort of thing. They don't go have a chat with every vessel that approaches within 100 miles of the US, tho.
2) Pretty large by the standards of a private yacht, yes. By the standards of a national government, not so much. 150-200 ft should do it, and there are a lot of ships that size knocking around the world's oceans. They don't attract special notice unless they are doing something obviously anti-social.
Launching the missile wouldn't necessarily sink the vessel or make it inoperable. However, it would be an easily caught sitting duck as soon as the missile was away. If one takes this threat seriously at all, it's much more likely that an attacker would just skip the missile and sail the attack vessel straight into the target port and detonate the weapon. Suicide mission either way, of course.
The reasons to dismiss this movie plot threat have little to do with technical realities and everything to do with political ones.
I'm pretty sure they need to cite their theory to its actual sources. Specifically, the video game "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2," which is where I'm 90% sure they could have gotten this idea from, because it's the only place I could imagine anyone taking an EMP over the United States seriously.
(For the uneducated, in "Modern Warfare 2," a nuclear device is detonated over the east coast of the United States, triggering an EMP pulse that wipes out all unprotected electronics. The twist is, the GOOD GUYS fired the nuke as an act of desperation. Why? Well, in the story, Russia is invading the USA, and the detonating of this pulse drops every single one of their helicoptors out of the sky, taking away the air advantage they had over the U.S. They also don't shy away that the U.S has been hit by this too, and it did also likely lead to a lot of U.S deaths along with the Russians.)
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