Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Study details catastrophic impact of nuclear attack on US cities





The study, which the authors said was the most advanced and detailed simulation published in open scientific literature, highlights the inability of the nation's current medical system to handle casualties from a nuclear attack. It also suggests what the authors said are much needed yet relatively simple interventions that could save tens of thousands of lives.

"The likelihood of a nuclear weapon attack in an American city is steadily increasing, and the consequences will be overwhelming" said Cham Dallas, CMADD director and professor in the UGA College of Pharmacy. "So we need to substantially increase our preparation."

1 comments:

W.M. Bear said...

Some thoughts on the possibility of a terrorist nuke going off somewhere.

1) I seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt any terrorist organization, even Al Qaeda, is going to build a "suitcase nuke" from scratch, even using bootleg uranium or plutonium. If entire COUNTRIES like Iran have so much trouble building a bomb (it even took Pakistan and India a couple of decades), I seriously doubt any organization on a smaller scale is capable of this. The difficulties are staggering. The best they're likely to come up with on their own is a so-called "dirty bomb" that would spread radioactivity around a bit but probably not cause megascale casualties.

2) HOWEVER (note my usual "big however"), a terrorist organization could CONCEIVABLY obtain a ready-made "suitcase nuke" from a country that already has nuclear weapons, the most likely candidates being North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and (possibly) India. Not that the governments of these countries would necessarily condone such a transfer but underground elements might manage it.

3) Personally, I consider it a virtually PROVEN case that 9/11, if not exactly an "inside job" was at least ABETTED by elements in the U.S. government as part of a "black op" to give neoconservatives an excuse to carry out their imperialistic designs (the very real effects of which we've seen in Iraq and may well see in Iran). For example, if Bush & Co. want to stay in power past 2008 (a not improbably scenario), they might well pull something like this to give themselves the excuse to declare martial law and postpone elections indefinitely. (Call me paranoid. I probably am.)