A Nation Forsaken by F. Michael Maloof

You've probably read about it in a novel, perhaps One Second After by William R. Forstchen. The United states experiences an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) and power lines are fried, cars stop, airplanes crash to the ground, etc. Is it fiction or is it a real possibility?

Maloof says it is a greater possibility than we'd like to think. He reports on how easy it is to build a radio-frequency device that could deliver a local EMP, at a cost of around $400. He speculates on the damage that could result from several local attacks or a larger one, such as the bomb exploding in Forstchen's fiction. When powerful electromagnetic waves encounter electronic circuits, it fries them.

We seen this on a small scale with intense solar flares. There have been some blackouts and some satellites have gone dark when the flare was encountered. Some think a big CME (coronal mass ejection) is only a matter of time. It would fry all electronics.

“Nothing that's been invented in the last fifty years – based on computer chips,microelectronics or digital technology – will work.” (62) Most cars and trucks would not run. Pumping stations, communications, etc. would cease. No food would be delivered. No water would be pumped.

Maloof reveals the lethargy of congress. They are not taking steps to prevent the disaster from happening. We are suffering from “bureaucratic indifference and political scapegoating.” We can protect some personal items by sheathing them but on the large scale, our only defense against such an attack is our missile defense system, he says.

He has quite a bit of information on how to prepare for this disaster.

If you are interested in knowing how vulnerable we are to this kind of attack and how you can prepare for its aftereffects, you need to read this book.

I live near a naval air station that has recently seen the addition of Growler squadrons. The modified F-18s are now known as the EA-18G airborne electronic attack aircraft. They have advanced attack avionics, capable of both suppressing enemy air defenses and initiating electromagnetic pulse attacks. (101)

F. Michael Maloof was a former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He directed the Defense Department's technology security operations. After 9/11 he reported to the undersecretary of defense, preparing analysis of terrorist networks. He now serves as a senior staff writer for WND.

WND Books, 161 pages.