Our huge, bloated Defense Department conducts eternal overseas wars that we never win and defends countries that need no defense. We even have troops in Germany, despite the fact that no nation on Earth could invade Germany if the Germans were willing to defend themselves (which, apparently, they are not). Meanwhile, we leave our own borders practically wide open and our King Hussein is inviting in hundreds of thousands of Muslims from nations that support terrorism. And we have been left vulnerable to another deadly threat, in addition to terrorism and nuclear holocaust — natural or nuclear electromagnetic pulse. Either a massive solar flare or a nuclear warhead detonated in orbit over the United States can generate a magnetic pulse.

A powerful, nation-wide pulse, reaching our countless thousands of miles of power lines, will generate an induced electric current surge, which, while of brief duration, can fry most of our computers and communications systems, destroy our massive main transformers, and even melt some power lines. We even have a term for it: High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse, or HEMP. A 1.44 megaton thermonuclear weapon was detonated 250 miles over the Pacific in 7/62, and did considerable damage to the electrical infrastructure in Hawaii, 898 miles away. Bear in mind that the electrical systems of the time were more robust than the more complex systems we have today, and that even a medium yield fission bomb is as deadly as a larger thermonuclear device, because the initial fission reaction (used to trigger the secondary thermonuclear reaction) ionizes the air and protects against the secondary explosion.

The U.S. depends on some 300 large transformers in our electrical grid, and these have no surge protection. We have no extras stockpiled, and it takes up to two years to build one, and, weighing up to 100 tons, they are hard to transport. In 2013 someone (quite possibly Islamic terrorists) shot out several medium-sized transformers in California’s Silicon Valley, and even these took months to replace. Of course, with our grid knocked out and much of our overall infrastructure wiped out, the few US factories making these transformers would be out of business anyway, and most of their workers would be dead. For we depend on our grid for all our banking and finance, pumping oil and gas for transportation and heating, our streetlights and much of our mass transit, food processing and storage and transport, and pumping and purifying our drinking water. With the grid knocked out, people would swiftly begin to die of heat and cold, thirst, starvation, and water-borne diseases, especially in our cities. Some estimates place the ultimate death toll at up to 90% of our population within a year. Of course, with the water off and food scarce, the different ethnic and religious groups, which King Hussein has divided, would war over what was left.

Our dear friends, the tire-heads ruling Iran either have nuclear weapons or will have soon, and are developing long range ballistic missiles, which are only good for delivering nuclear warheads. Meanwhile, the fat little king (third in a People’s Dynasty) of North Korea already has fission bombs and has launched a satellite, whose inclined orbit carries it over the U.S. The North Koreans may have placed a fission bomb in the satellite (if they have been able to build one that is not too heavy) or can do so in some other satellite in the near future. What is to stop a clique of madmen (remarkably similar to our own leaders) from detonating it in orbit over Kansas? Do they fear harsh criticism from King Hussein, or a US gunboat filled with girls and girly men? I think not.

The U.S. has a proven ability to destroy satellites in orbit; on 2/20/2008 the U.S.S. Lake Erie used a SM-3 missile to destroy one of our own satellites, a malfunctioning spy satellite launched by the NRO. Weather permitting, it is likely that some of our laser systems could do the job. Remember that heavy, multi-staged rockets are needed to get a satellite above the atmosphere and then accelerate it to orbital speed — well over 17,000 miles per hour depending on the orbit — but a rocket used to intercept it need only reach the necessary altitude, not an equivalent speed. It may be rocket science, but it’s not that difficult. But depend on it; King Hussein will never order the destruction of any North Korean satellite, even if we have good reason to suspect that it carries a nuclear warhead.

Congress has “studied” the threat and issued reports and recommendations — they are good at that. DHS and DOE and several states have done likewise, and the military has actually hardened some of its systems. Protecting the entire country would cost but a fraction of what we spend on foreign aid to dictators who despise us, but, count on it, nothing will be done. Our glorious leaders will continue to “defend” us against imaginary threats and ignore the real ones.