Issue in Depth:
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack
The threats posed by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack are not widely known by the average American, but present a huge danger to U.S. National Security. Nevertheless, this issue receives far too little attention in Congress. An EMP is a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy. In an attack, these particles interact and send electrical systems into chaos. The effects of a ballistic missile equipped with an EMP device would be devastating. With the electric grid fried by the resulting electromagnetic pulse, banks, air traffic, hospitals, and running water would all be compromised, leading to unprecedented crises. The threat makes the need for a comprehensive missile defense system that much more vital. The implementation of such a sys¬tem would serve to prevent an attack by dissuading those who wish to carry out such actions and sending a clear message that the U.S. takes this threat seriously. Please see our most recent research on the dangers of an EMP attack in this week's National Security Update.
Latest Research:Independent Working Group: Countering the EMP Threat: The Role of Missile Defense
Among the threats facing the United States are short-range ballistic missiles launched from vessels such as freighters, tankers, or container ships off our shores to detonate a warhead that could have catastrophic Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) consequences for the United States. No national strategy addresses either the EMP threat or underwrites a serious program to counter the delivery of EMP by a ballistic missile launched from a vessel off our coasts.The Heritage Foundation: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: A Preventable Homeland Security Catastrophe
A major threat to America has been largely ignored by those who could prevent it. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack could wreak havoc on the nation's electronic systems-shutting down power grids, sources, and supply mechanisms. An EMP attack on the United States could irreparably cripple the country.The Heritage Foundation: Time for an EMP Recognition Day
On March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan gave a famous speech where he outlined his plans for the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), aimed at protecting America from a nuclear missile attack using land- and sea-based missile defense systems. On the anniversary of this famous oratory, however, America faces another threat, one that requires Congress's immediate attention: an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.The Heritage Foundation: Congress Starts Thinking Seriously About Cybersecurity - but More Thinking Needed
Given the need to develop a cohesive strategy for tackling the security challenges posed by the cyber domain, it is essential that Congress digs into the difficult issues and finds smart solutions—drafting the two bills is an important first step. But even more work is required from Congress if America's cybersecurity challenges are to be successfully met.More Blogs:
The Foundry: Don't Let the Lights Go Out: Defend Against EMP
We've been warned. In 2004, the Commission to Assess the Threat of the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) reported that "EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences."The Foundry: Iran's 'World Without America' and the EMP Threat
Recent reports indicate Iran could have a nuclear bomb by 2015, if not earlier. What has been largely ignored is Iran's ability to acquire an equally destructive device, an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon. Clifford D. May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and I recently penned an article describing how Iran can achieve its destructive ends — "a world without America."The Foundry: Rethinking the Defense Budget...Yet Again
Washington's latest over-used phrase—"rethinking the defense budget"—has, for many policymakers, come to mean "what can we cut next?"
More Events: July 28, 2010, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Location: Washington, DC
The Heritage Foundation: Keeping America Free, Safe, and Prosperous: Counterterrorism in the Obama Administration
Join us as Representative Peter King (R-NY) addresses counterterrorism in the Obama Administration and the future of homeland security.
July 29, 2010, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Washington, DC
The Heritage Foundation: Skating on Stilts: Why We Aren't Stopping Tomorrow's Terrorism
Drawing on his experience, former Homeland Security official Stewart A. Baker argues for building prudent new security measures around these key information networks.August 24-25, 2010
Location: Washington, DC
National Defense University: The Economic Element of National Power: Economic Security is National Security
This symposium seeks to illuminate and promote informed discussion on the ways in which government and commercial sector leaders must work together to reform and revitalize our national economy to support enhanced national security. Featured speakers include government officials and a wide range of private sector experts.The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400
Monday, July 26, 2010
Fwd: National Security Update – Lights out for America? The Threat of an EMP Attack
Fwd: Morning Bell: An Admission of Failure
07/26/2010
It is established practice in Washington that if you have to release bad news, it is best to do it on a Friday ... the later in the day the better. So not only did the White House schedule the publication of the "Mid-Session Budget Review" for last Friday, but they then released it three hours late to ensure that as few reporters as possible were left in the nation's capital to cover it. But Heritage's dedicated budget team patiently waited the Obama administration out, and their analysis shows that this year's mid-session review is nothing short of a complete admission of failure of the White House's economic policies.
When President Obama sold his $862 billion economic stimulus to the American people, he promised that, if enacted, it would prevent unemployment from ever rising above 8%. With unemployment currently at 9.5%, the American people are now well aware that the President's stimulus has been a complete failure. But Friday's report was the first time this Administration was forced to admit just how long Americans will have to suffer for their failed economic policies. According to Friday's report, the Obama administration now projects that unemployment will average 9% throughout all of next year and 8.1% throughout 2012.
And if that news wasn't bad enough, the report pegs this year's budget deficit at $1.471 trillion, or 10% of the entire U.S. economy. In nominal dollars, it's the largest deficit in American history; and as a percentage of the economy, it's the largest deficit since World War II. To pay for that $1.471 trillion hole, our government will borrow 41 cents of every dollar it spends. And the Obama Administration concedes that these large deficits are here to stay. It projects another $1.42 trillion deficit in 2011, which is $150 billion worse than previously predicted. Looking ahead, the President's budget includes deficits that never fall below $698 billion and leaves our children with $18.5 trillion in debt by 2020. And all this assumes the economy will grow 4% from 2012-2014. The only times the economy performed that well in the past thirty years was from 1997-2000 and from 1983-1985.
These future deficits are driven almost exclusively by rising spending. As Heritage Foundation analyst Brian Riedl noted earlier this year: "Before the recession, federal spending totaled $24,000 per U.S. household. President Obama would hike it to $36,000 per household by 2020 — an inflation-adjusted $12,000-per-household expansion of government." There is a way out of this deficit nightmare: stop spending. If the federal government managed to return to the per-household spending level of the Reagan administration, the budget would be balanced by 2012 without any tax hikes. Too ambitious? Just returning to the per-household spending levels that existed before the current recession would balance the budget by 2019.
But that is not the route this President wants to take. President Obama wants to close the gap between what our government spends and what it takes in by raising taxes by $3 trillion. His Treasury secretary was on television yesterday claiming this massive tax tsunami would have no effect on economic growth. After last Friday's Mid-Session Budget Review exposed the failure of this Administration's economic stimulus claims, does anybody believe anything this Administration says anymore?
RECENT ENTRIES
House and Senate Cloakroom: July 26-30, 2010
North Korean Threats Show Need for Robust Defenses
White House Confirms Continued Trillion-Dollar Budget Deficits
DISCLOSE Act Assault on First Amendment Continues
What's 2 + 2? When the Russians Say 3, START to Worry
QUICK HITS
Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) identifies Eight Problems with New START at NRO.
The day before President Barack Obama spoke to leftist activists in Las Vegas last weekend, former White House aide Van Jones told the same conference not to worry about deficits, that there are plenty of rich companies to raise taxes on, and "the only question is how to spend it."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the same leftist activist conference, "We're going to have a public option, It's just a question of when."
Former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) who is not a lawyer, has earned millions of dollars working for a lobbying firm, but still has not registered as a lobbyist.
China has given Brazil $10 billion to develop offshore oil drilling projects and plans to invest another $240 billion.
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