I find this EMP article to be a little extreme. I'm aware of EMP, but I thought a single warhead could only cause localized damage. I don't see how one or even several warheads could damage the whole nation's power grid. Maybe a couple of cities...but not the whole nation.
And I believe the grid had enough redundancy in it that repairing or replacing power to a few cities would not take more than a few weeks at most.
Can someone convince me that I'm wrong on that?
Actually, the problem doesn't just come from taking out the power grid. An EMP of sufficient strength would disable computers, TVs, Radios even the computers in newer cars. Pretty much most electronic devices. While nobody has ever tested a device, the theory is pretty much proven. And, a regular nuke will do it, but there's simple ways to enhance the effect. A good sized EMP device, at sufficient altitude COULD take out large portions of the country. One over/near each coast could cripple the majority of our infrastructure.
From a miltary perspective, I think our problems lie with the way we've chosen to fight, ever since Vietnam, and Afganistan, Iraq and potentially Iran and North Korea. and its a
HUGE moral dilemma. We've chosen to try to minimize or negate civilian casualities. This makes it very difficult to "win".
In WWII, once we started massive bombings of Germany (Yes, we targeted military/industrial targets, but civilian casualties were quite high, and even the psychological effects of constant bombardment were devastating), it had a significant, if not deciding impact on the war in Europe. And, of course, many thousands of civilians died when we bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it ended the war in the Pacific, pretty darn quick. Once people (even in a totalitarian state) have bombs raining down on them, they tend to lose interest, in fighting or supporting a fight their government started.
Heck, today, and with our technology, we could simply issue an ultimatum, to Iran, warning all civilians out of Tehran for example. We'll give you 48 hours to evacuate, and sometime after that we're simply gonna turn it into a parking lot. The can rattle their sabers all they want, but once the B-2s and Cruise Missiles start flying, its all over.
Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't just go all imperialist, and just take over these places...Hey we need the oil!
Random musings, take 'em for what they're worth
