Snip from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle today, by James Sterngold:
As concerns grow that terrorists might attack a major American city with a nuclear bomb, a high-level group of government and military officials has been quietly preparing an emergency survival program that would include the building of bomb shelters, steps to prevent panicked evacuations and the possible suspension of some civil liberties.
Many experts say the likelihood of al Qaeda or some other terrorist group producing a working nuclear weapon with illicitly obtained weapons-grade fuel is not large, but such a strike would be far more lethal, frightening and disruptive than the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Not only could the numbers killed and wounded be far higher, but the explosion could, experts say, ignite widespread fires, shut down most transportation, halt much economic activity and cause a possible disintegration of government order.
The efforts to prepare a detailed blueprint for survival took a step forward last month when senior government and military officials and other experts, organized by a joint Stanford-Harvard program called the Preventive Defense Project, met behind closed doors in Washington for a day-long workshop.
Link (thanks, Bunker Buster)
Reader comment: Andrew Fischer says,
I thought you and your readers would like to know that not everything is in the planning stage. Terre Haute, IN will be the site of a massive dry run of a nuclear attack response. In a massive military operation involving 3,000 individuals and 2.6 million pounds of equipment the military is going to simulate a response to a 10 kiloton nuclear device detonating in Indianapolis, IN.
More information here: Link.
[redacted] says,
In today's climate you can't even question the MSM/GOP's position on
terrorism without being labeled as un-American. You're either for
whatever the MSM/GOP says, or you are a terrorist yourself.We aren't having any frank public discussions about what to do in the
event of another large attack. And even if we try, any dissenting point
of view is silenced.If we the governed don't talk now about the impact on our civil liberties,
the economy, transportation, food, law, etc. that another terrorist attack
will have, then we are doomed to be at the mercy of the decisions of those
who are in power. And right now, our government is playing right into the
terrorists' hands by operating on a fear-based agenda.
Look at our country before 9/11 and then look at it now. Habeas Corpus
gone, torture ok, extraordinary renditions, internet and telephone
eavesdropping, national ID cards, secret air travel laws… This is a less
than inclusive list of things our government has implemented in order to
"keep us safe" that contradict the principles spelled out in our
constitution and the other written word of our Founding Fathers.If we've already done this damage to the fabric of our nation, what damage
will be done in the event of another terrorist attack? We need to ask
this question. And more importantly, we the people need to try to answer
it. But most importantly, we have to fight anyone who stands in the way
of this discussion.
