Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.
Trending News
OSAMA-releases his-WISH LIST for America. EMP attack maybe?
9 November 2008: On November 5, 2008, the day after the US Presidential Elections....
Osama and the Brigade of Al-Quida made a worthy promise (America will not live in safety).
He wrote extensively about the blackout across the northeast US and Canada some years back and indicates this will happen again.
They claim that they indeed caused the outage and will do it again.
Below are excerpts from the text.
In implementing the orders of the Emir of the mujahedeen Osama bin Laden -Brigades of Abu Hafs al-Masri find it important to strike a second time (facilities supplying) electricity in the eastern U.S., including the most important economic cities of America and Canada as America's ally in the war against Islam (the city of Toronto and New York) and (areas) around them. (In their first strike) they caused the strike to prevent electricity for more than fifty million people.
Further text indicates possible things that these people have on their terror "Wish- List" for the USA and Canada.
(We will) hit the main stronghold of the American economy
(international exchange). For your information, the American economy depends entirely on investor confidence.
The arrest (takeover) of seven major airports, a blow to the airlines.
Disable nine nuclear reactors and this has not happened before is a strong economic, as the reactors, nine are in the states of New York and New Jersey, Ohio, Michigan.
Disruption of transportation: trains, cars and trucks .... etc., causing heavy casualties.
Disruption of the Internet, which depend upon (Internet data transfer) in commercial transactions.
Disruption of global banks based in New York.
Losses (financial due to) to a massive deployment of police and security forces.
The economy that will lose electricity in the United States and Canada will cost the U.S. Treasury at least ten billion U.S. dollars. Deterioration of the U.S. dollar against other currencies.
WHAT IS AN EMP ATTACK? EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW THIS!
I feel the only way he can possibly do all he says Al Quida will do is by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the American homeland...
Few if any people would die right away. But the loss of power would have a cascading effect on all aspects of U.S. society. Communication would be largely impossible. Lack of refrigeration would leave food rotting in warehouses, exacerbated by a lack of transportation as those vehicles still working simply ran out of gas (which is pumped with electricity). The inability to sanitize and distribute water would quickly threaten public health, not to mention the safety of anyone in the path of the inevitable fires, which would rage unchecked. And as we have seen in areas of natural and other disasters, such circumstances often result in a fairly rapid breakdown of social order.
American society has grown so dependent on computer and other electrical systems that we have created our own Achilles' heel of vulnerability, ironically much greater than those of other, less developed nations. When deprived of power, we are in many ways helpless, as the New York City blackout made clear. In that case, power was restored quickly because adjacent areas could provide help. But a large-scale burnout caused by a broad EMP attack would create a much more difficult situation. Not only would there be nobody nearby to help, it could take years to replace destroyed equipment.
Transformers for regional substations, for example, are massive pieces of equipment that are no longer manufactured in the United States and typically take more than a year to build. In the words of another witness at the hearing, "The longer the basic outage, the more problematic and uncertain the recovery of any [infrastructure system] will be. It is possible -- indeed, seemingly likely -- for sufficiently severe functional outages to become mutually reinforcing, until a point at which the degradation . . . could have irreversible effects on the country's ability to support any large fraction of its present human population." Those who survived, he said, would find themselves transported back to the United States of the 1880s.
This threat may sound straight out of Hollywood, but it is very real. CIA Director Porter Goss recently testified before Congress about nuclear material missing from storage sites in Russia that may have found its way into terrorist hands, and FBI Director Robert Mueller has confirmed new intelligence that suggests al Qaeda is trying to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction. Iran has surprised intelligence analysts by describing the mid-flight detonations of missiles fired from ships on the Caspian Sea as "successful" tests. North Korea exports missile technology around the world; Scuds can easily be purchased on the open market for about $100,000 apiece.
A terrorist organization might have trouble putting a nuclear warhead "on target" with a Scud, but it would be much easier to simply launch and detonate in
26 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
I googled it and found the EMP attack here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A577...
And Al-Quida/Osama's wish list here:
http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/20081109RT
DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR AND READ IT- or what she's written!
It's VERY REAL and coming to your doorstep soon !
Source(s): I'VE POSTED THE LINKS for you LYDIA. Thanks for the informative post. At least it shows you care! WATCH THIS VIDEO AND YOU'LL UNDERSTAND what EMP is ALL about! Protecting America .... It's up to us! http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1274... - NancyLv 45 years ago
So what else is new? An EMP attack has been know to be the first stage in an all out nuclear attack for a long time. However, take "heart" in knowing that before the weapon even detonated our own nukes would be on their way to obliterate the launching country. Of course, an EMP attack would have no affect on nuke subs, so we'd always be able to respond.
- kaththea sLv 61 decade ago
I would certainly like to believe that it's alarmist, but I'm sure they would if they could, and they have already proved that they can. Whether the results would be as widespread and devastating as the article predicts, it is impossible to accurately estimate. But it could certainly get bad, and recovering would depend upon the ingenuity and determination of the people involved. In New York, I fear they would rather sit and wait for someone to come help them, which would not be time-practical.
But what distresses me even worse is the same kind of stupidity which resulted in 911, that is blithely certain it can't happen here, despite evidence in the past decade that it certainly can. Not that I want everybody hysterical at the mere possibility, but any sane and provident citizen would give good thought to how they would deal with such a circumstance, both short and long-term. Faith is fine, but to ignore the possibility in the irrational confidence that somebody somewhere has it covered, is unpardonably optimistic. i wouldn't want to see such a thing happen, but I would never dream of ignoring the possibility that it might.
It is only prudent to be aware of what's coming down the pike, and to make plans to carry on as best you might in the worst case scenario. A shame so many people would rather jeer at the bell-ringer for a fool, then whine when the worst befell, wailing that nobody told them.
I do hope America hasn't devolved entirely to such effete and dainty types, ill equipped even to care for themselves in difficultry, let alone to come to the aid of their country.
- 1 decade ago
An EMP could effectively damage anything within range if the intensity were high enough. The most susceptible items are field effect transistors, particularly the metal oxide variety. After that, sturdier forms of semiconductors and in the case of a really powerful EMP, powered by a fision engine for example, anything conductive would be at risk. I don't see bin Ladin being able to produce a serious threat with this technology.
If you are concerned, you could always build yourself a Faraday Cage.
- How do you think about the answers? You can sign in to vote the answer.
- just meLv 41 decade ago
It's time to take out Osama bin Laden.
It also gives new meaning to the below conversation:
Q Mr. President, in your speeches now you rarely talk or mention Osama bin Laden. Why is that? Also, can you tell the American people if you have any more information, if you know if he is dead or alive? Final part -- deep in your heart, don't you truly believe that until you find out if he is dead or alive, you won't really eliminate the threat of --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Deep in my heart I know the man is on the run, if he's alive at all. Who knows if he's hiding in some cave or not; we haven't heard from him in a long time. And the idea of focusing on one person is -- really indicates to me people don't understand the scope of the mission.
Terror is bigger than one person. And he's just -- he's a person who's now been marginalized. His network, his host government has been destroyed. He's the ultimate parasite who found weakness, exploited it, and met his match. He is -- as I mentioned in my speech, I do mention the fact that this is a fellow who is willing to commit youngsters to their death and he, himself, tries to hide -- if, in fact, he's hiding at all.
So I don't know where he is. You know, I just don't spend that much time on him, Kelly, to be honest with you.
- jagsfanLv 41 decade ago
I highly doubt terrorist would have the technology for an EMP attack. I don't even think the U.S. military does, at least nothing short of blowing a nuke at high altitudes above a target area.
EDIT: This story is a bit sensationalistic IMO. Let's say they do somehow manage to assemble a nuke without being detected. How would they be able to detonate it above our airspace in a timely and precise fashion? I mean, I guess a nuke exploding in a city is possible but not in the air and causing an EMP. It's not like a nuke can just be smuggled on to an airplane.
EDIT: Whats kinda disconcerting is that it is mostly my fellow Republicans here actually believe this is highly probable. I mean, it's possible but highly highly highly improbable. This is like the Democrats and their Gorebull warming.
- Noah HLv 71 decade ago
Anything is possible, but in the end somehow we'll manage. Admittedly, Americans are soft and squishy these days, but if pounded on they tend to toughen up with remarkable speed. So we take a hit...big deal! We'll learn to live without I-Pods and Blackberrys and even computers. If we have to go back to carrier pigeons, hand carried notes and semaphore flags we'll do it. Real Americans, and that's all of us, can do anything, get every job done and come up grinnin'. Bin Laden can take his threats and stick 'em where the sun don't shine. In the end it's bums like him that will be hanging out to dry. King George couldn't do it, Kaiser Bill couldn't do it, Tojo and Hitler couldn't do and we'll even get passed George 'The Decider' Bush. We're Americans...pull Uncle Sam's beard your @ss is grass and we're the lawn mower! Come on Bin...show us what 'ya got!
- MacLv 61 decade ago
An EMP attack is extremely unlikely. But I do share your concern, and it is no coincidence that bin Laden, from whom we haven't heard in 4 years, suddenly has this big announcement the day after the election. (True, People, it happened.)
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Dang, if not for God Bless America's post, I would've totally not believed you. Everyone, take a look at God Bless America's post for all the links. One is from the Washington Post and the other is from Homeland Security (trustworthy sources, in my opinion).
- 1 decade ago
And where is Osama getting resources to make weapons for such an attack?
You have to have a nuclear bomb explode high in the sky, which emits a wave of excited electrons that will come down and destroy all computers and computerized objects.
So, how is Osama getting the resources? You need to check the facts on your "source."
