I’m going to play the devil’s advocate here and describe the worst possible terrorist attack scenario that could happen: A multiple city nuclear attack on US soil. I’m not saying this is what will happen. But it is what could happen. If I make those tasked with the responsibility of ensuring your safety think about it, this is a start. And if it gets the emergency services planning how to deal with terror attacks plan for the worst, perhaps this will help save a lot of lives. Most of all, I hope to make you start thinking about the unthinkable.
Leave aside the Iraq and Iran issues for the moment. I don’t believe they are where the real threat lies. The rhetoric coming out of Washington trying to paint Iran as the devil sounds too much like the lying justifications they trotted out for starting the Iraq war. No, I think the real threat comes from Afghanistan. With the resurgence of Al Queda in Afghanistan, rumors are surfacing that predict a nuclear attack in America. How credible is this threat?
Al Queda is training more terrorists right now. Soon, there will be dozens, if not hundreds, of fanatics ready to die for their lost cause. They will be ready to bring the war to America. And that attack will most likely be nuclear. What better way to inflict the most harm? After 9/11, only a nuclear attack could be more devastating.
Ever since 9/11 it has been glaringly obvious to everyone that the emergency services in the US are woefully ill prepared for almost any emergency involving more than a few dozen people. Worse, they don’t have contingency plans ready for a terrorist nuclear attack.
Before I go into that, let’s examine what form a nuclear attack will take.
We tend to think of nuclear bombs like those in military arsenals. Getting or building one of those is no easy task. Even the Iranians, given a head start back in the 1950’s by the US, have not been able to produce enough fissionable material needed to produce a bomb. The terrorists don’t have access to the sophisticated machinery or facilities needed to make a real nuclear wepon. Their only chace is to steal one, or buy one on the black market; not an easy task.
But the terrorists don’t need a real military-style nuclear bomb. They just need to make a nuclear explosion. And for that, all they need is a few ounces of nuclear material.
It’s easy enough to build a small, ‘dirty’ bomb. No need for a sophisticated device. The terrorists will have to smuggle in the nuclear material to America; they don’t need much. They will also have to build the bomb in America, so they will need to use easily available materials. If they can create a simple bomb loaded with nuclear material, even degraded materials will do, that would be enough.
The bomb need only be big enough to distribute the nuclear material in the explosives so that it is blown out and onto the wind where it can spread far and wide. The easiest way to do this is to pack a small plane with the bomb material and explode it a few thousand feet or so above a city. It is unlikely that they would explode just one plane over a city, either. They will probably explode at least 4 or more to ensure wide coverage. Their aim will be to inflict as much damage and suffering as possible, and to sow fear and terror in the populace. There will be no warning. They will just explode their bombs. Once the nuclear material drifts down onto the populace, the real terror will start.
We have already seen that they are capable of coordinating several teams for the attack on the Twin Towers. They have had more than enough time since then to plan their next attack. The 9/11 attack was bad enough. It has already sapped too much confidence and strength from the American people. Imagine what a coordinated nuclear attack on several US cities would do.
Given this scenario the next question is, where will they explode the bombs?
Letting off a single bomb would be terrifying. But letting off bombs in 5 or 6 cities would be devastating. What US cities would make the best targets then?
My guess is New York city, Washington DC, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles: New York because it is the financial center, and the very ‘heart’ of the US. It is also compacted into a small enough area that any bombs would effectively destroy Manhattan Island and seriously affect the surrounding areas. Millions of people would die. They wouldn’t die all at once. In fact, the initial number of dead will be small in any explosion. But as the nuclear affected dust spreads, the numbers of dead and seriously ill will grow rapidly.
Washington is an obvious choice. Kill the seat of power, and you kill the country.
Chicago and surrounding areas are thickly populated. Millions would die there. Kill Chicago and you kill the US car industry. No cars, no demand for oil, and the terrorists would get their wish to return to their medieval lifestyle while America sinks into chaos and oblivion.
Miami could be a target because so many people flock there. It also has a reputation as a vice-ridden city, and the terrorists are all moral people who want to stop us enjoying our lives, aren’t they?
An attack on Dallas, the center of the oil industry, would seriously affect America’s oil industry and probably stop the country’s reliance on oil. This would take the country back to the dark ages, something the terrorists fully understand.
Las Vegas and Los Angeles are both seen as centers of sin and vice. If the terrorists want to reinforce their point, they have to target these two cities.
Can America Cope? Would it Recover?
As it stands now, emergency services would not be able to cope at all. Where are the plans for this type of attack? Has anyone undergone any training to deal with huge numbers of people afflicted with nuclear maladies? What about hospitals or emergency treatment stations? Who is responsible for organizing this type of emergency response?
The first step would be to try and clean up the radioactive material. This will be extremely difficult. The explosions will pulverize it and spread it in a fine dust for miles around. It will drift down and lodge everywhere and anywhere.
People and animals out in the open will inhale it. These will be the first casualties. As more people are exposed to affected surfaces, they will also fall ill and die. The wind will drift the fine nuclear particles over a wide area. It will be impossible to find it all, so the effects will be cumulative for a long time to come.
Recovery? Perhaps, but those left behind would face a vastly different future than the one we all love and enjoy now. It would be very dangerous to step outside without being fully covered, and then undergoing decontamination before stepping inside again.
Solutions?
There is a simple solution, but so far none of the politicians in Washington has even mentioned, much less discussed, how to go about it.
We all know that the terrorists are hiding out and training in the eastern regions of Afghanistan and the Pakistani border. General Musharraf claims to be against terrorism. He knows where the terrorists are, but he is doing very little to combat them. Bush is afraid of upsetting Musharraf, so nothing gets done. This just gives the terrorists even more time to perfect their plans.
The obvious solution is to send fleets of bombers into the areas where the terrorists are and bomb them flat today. No quarter given. These people are all terrorists, even if most of them are not actively participating in the war. If they are supporting the terrorists, they must take the consequences
Women and children will be killed as well you say, throwing your hands up in horror at the idea?
Think about this. Those very same women are the wives and mothers of the terrorists. They believe in the same agenda. Their children will grow up to believe the same thing and continue the terror. These people are like a cancer on mankind. There is only one way to treat a cancer. You cut it out and eliminate it from the body using whatever method is the most effective.
So what if Musharraf bleats and complains? If he was really serious about his promise to stop the terrorists he would have taken severe action already. He hasn’t, so let him complain!
The US already has the planes and bombs in place in the Persian gulf. But instead of allowing Bush to start a war with Iran, we must demand that he sends the bombers after the terrorists. The bombs must keep on falling until every last man, woman, and child terrorist is dead. There can be no half measures in this war. Then send in the troops to secure the area and provide aid so that poverty is eliminated and ordinary people have a chance to lead better lives.
A More Effective Long-term Solution
Why have so many Muslims turned to terror in the last 30 years?
There is no simple answer to this, but there are some obvious reasons.
The biggest problem is America’s continuing blind support for Israel. The Arabs see this as a grave injustice. The Israelis are constantly belligerent. They have been attacking Arabs ever since their country was born. The Americans supply sophisticated weapons to the Israelis so that they can ‘protect’ themselves. But protect themselves from what? Gangs of stone-throwing youths? Gunmen with small arms or rockets? Human bombs? Sure, the Arabs are doing this, but what about the Israelis? They use the latest weapons supplied by the US to kill Arabs indiscriminately. And once they occupy a Palestinian area they move in and bulldoze the Palestinian’s homes so that they have nowhere to live.
Imagine if the Israelis lived next door to America and they kept on doing this, wouldn’t Americans fight back with everything they have? Wouldn’t Americans be angry?
The second problem is that most Arab states have paternalistic, strong governments that keep the common people down and poor. Even though many Arab countries have unimaginable wealth very little of it filters down. Everywhere you look in the Arab world you see poverty, a lack of basic amenities, and no social services to help their citizens.
Saudi Arabia, America’s strongest ‘ally’ in the Middle East, is the worst offender in this regard. Yet, because it has so much oil, the American government turns a blind eye to the barbaric methods the Saudi’s employ to govern their people. The executioner with his sword is lauded publicly on TV for the wonderful job he is doing chopping off people’s hands and heads.
Women are treated like animals. They are not allowed to drive, or even to venture outside unless the man of the house gives them permission. They must cover themselves from head to toe when they do go out.
The religious police are everywhere, watching to make sure that everyone abides by the strict rules imposed on them by their dissolute rulers under the guise of religious purity. Yet, many of those same rulers act totally depraved when they leave their own country. They go to places like Pattaya in Thailand, or Amsterdam, where they hire prostitutes and drink themselves senseless every day.
These are the real problems that face the Arabs. This is why the Arabs are angry, and why they see America as the Great Satan. Because Americans don’t know and don’t care.
It’s time for Americans to wake up and start demanding a major shift in political policy. Instead of wasting all the money currently being spent on arms and men to fight in Iraq, funnel the money to the Arabs instead. But not to their governments. The money must be spent on helping the poor. It must be used to encourage self-sufficiency and a desire for freedom from tyranny. Once the Arabs see their lives improving, they will demand more from their leaders. Eventually, social and political changes will encourage a better life for all instead of the select few in power.
Before this can happen, though, the American people need to educate themselves on what is going on in the Arab world. They need to go there and see for themselves. Perhaps a new and revitalized Peace Corps would be the first step. Send young Americans out to work with the people and learn for themselves. With knowledge comes power, and that power could be channeled towards building a better world.
America is running out of time, and out of options. Even now, the terrorists are plotting another attack. The current Bush government has been a disaster. Yet, despite this, the politicians would rather sit on their hands and do nothing than implement impeachment. There is only one choice if America is to withstand the assaults on its freedoms from within and without. The American people must wake up, open their eyes, and determine to become the true torchbearers for democracy and freedom they once were.
If we do this, there will be no need to worry about preparing for a nuclear holocaust on American soil. So what’s it to be? The decision is yours. Make sure your Congressman knows that you want a safe America, and a safe world.