North Korea’s launch Wednesday (Tuesday in the U.S.) of an intercontinental ballistic missile should focus our attention on the threat of the rogue nation launching an electromagnetic pulse attack that could wipe out the electric power grid serving millions of people in the U.S. and Canada.
Such an attack has been downplayed by some and made the subject of fear-mongering by others over the years. But while it sounds like the plot of a science fiction movie, an electromagnetic pulse attack has become a larger issue in the past few months due to North Korea’s missile tests and stated goal of developing the capability to mount such a devastating strike.
An electromagnetic pulse is a side effect of an atmospheric nuclear detonation that could potentially damage or destroy all electrical devices and the electric grid within the line of sight of the blast. The higher the explosion, the wider the effect. A North Korean missile carrying a nuclear weapon exploding over the U.S. could cause an electromagnetic pulse.
The result of an electromagnetic pulse wouldn’t just mean no iPhones for a few hours. If enough electric power transformer stations are affected, it would mean no power to millions of people for weeks or even many months. Such an attack on a densely populated area like New York City or Los Angeles would dwarf the power shortages in Puerto Rico caused when Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck in September.
It all starts to sound very post-apocalyptic when you realize this means no lights or other electric-powered devices in homes and businesses, no water filtration, no regional food hubs, no transportation grid – none of the things we take for granted in modern civilization.
For awhile, the concerns that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un would launch an electromagnetic pulse attack were mostly tangential and hypothetical. There weren’t that many signs the North was planning such a strike. That changed in September, when Kim’s regime launched its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date.
But most reporters missed a key threat that appeared at the bottom of Kim’s public statement, when he bragged that North Korea had harnessed “a multi-functional thermonuclear nuke with great destructive power which can be detonated at high altitudes for super-powerful EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack according to strategic goals.”
So now we know. Launching an electromagnetic pulse attacks against its enemies is one of North Korea’s strategic goals. And for North Korea, the United States is the top enemy.
Following yesterday's missile launch from North Korea, Senator Lindsey Graham joined CNN's Wolf Blitzer to warn that the U.S. is "headed to war" with the "crazy man" in North Korea "if things don't change." Here are some excerpts from the interview via RT:
The US will go to war with North Korea "if things don't change," Sen. Lindsay Graham said, acknowledging that "a lot of people would get hurt and killed." Meanwhile, Russia and China have once again urged for both sides to exercise restraint and dialogue.
"If we have to go to war to stop this, we will," the Republican senator told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday. "If there's a war with North Korea, it will be because North Korea brought it on itself, and we're headed to a war if things don't change."
Graham stated that neither he nor US President Donald Trump wants a war, but stressed that "we're not going to let this crazy man in North Korea have the capability to hit the homeland."
When asked by Blitzer about civilian casualties that would occur in a war with North Korea, including in the densely populated South Korean capital of Seoul, Graham said: "It's not lost by me what a war would look like with North Korea. One, we would win it, but a lot of people would get hurt and killed..."
However, he stressed that "the president's got to pick between homeland security and regional stability." He noted that when it comes to that decision, "the president is picking America over the region and I hope the region will help us find a diplomatic solution."
"He is ready, if necessary, to destroy this regime to protect America, and I hope the regime understands that if President Trump has to pick between destroying the North Korean regime and the American homeland, he's going to destroy the regime. I hope China understands that also," Graham said.
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