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President Signs Executive Order to Strengthen Infrastructure from EMP Attack

posted by chromas on Friday March 29 2019, @11:11AM   
from the or,-you-know,-Carrington-events dept.

RandomFactor writes:

In what could potentially be one of the most, or least, significant actions of his term in office, President Trump Tuesday signed an Executive Order requiring federal agencies to strengthen critical infrastructure against ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) attacks.

EMPs occur for a variety of natural and man-made reasons including, most notably, Nuclear Explosions and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), either of which could potentially take out entire sections of the country's electrical grid and other infrastructure and capabilities, requiring require years or decades to recover from.

Members and supporters of the decommissioned US Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse have long warned of the possibility of an EMP attack, with some individuals, such as Peter Pry, who previously led the congressional EMP commission, asserting that an EMP attack on America could kill off 90% of the US population.

This is because a man-made EMP has the advantage of being highly asymmetrical. A small country able to pull one off would cause potentially massive disruption to a large tech dependent country such as the United States.

Past EMP related coverage here, here and here

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Original Submission

• Re:83% live in cities Re:83% live in cities (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday March 29 2019, @03:42PM (1 child)

  by Freeman (732) on Friday March 29 2019, @03:42PM (#821850) Journal

  I guess, that makes a bit more sense in an absolute worst case scenario sort of way. One would hope, that the entire USA wouldn't be effected, but that would be a pretty large assumption. As someone who could put one EMP over US soil could likely be able to deliver enough to get the job done. Which would make EMPs a much more effective weapon against technologically dependent nations than your typical Nuclear Weapon. The death of 90% of the USA population would be dependent on multiple factors, though. Not the least of which would be, the willingness/unwillingness of the rest of the world to help out and the state of the USA military after the EMP. A country faced with starvation of most of it's population may be willing to do "insane" things that they wouldn't have otherwise.

  --
  Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"

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• Oh, help. :) (Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Friday March 29 2019, @04:38PM

  by fyngyrz (6567) on Friday March 29 2019, @04:38PM (#821879) Journal

  Not the least of which would be, the willingness/unwillingness of the rest of the world to help out

  1. Russians: "We're going to help out!
  2. Chinese: "No, we're going to help out!!
  3. EMP-proof US strategic assets such as subs object to both, and the above to each other
  4. Nuclear war with big weapons ensues
  5.  Profit. 

  --
  Two men walk into a bar.
  1st man: I'll have H2O
  2nd man: I'll have H2O too
  ...
  The 2nd man dies

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