Huge problems for the next president

American lives may hang in the balance

By Wes Vernon

On January 21, 2009 — after the inaugural balls of the night before — regardless of whether the transition period between election and inauguration will have experienced a terrorist attack (a possibility many do not dismiss lightly), the new president of the United States will face arguably unprecedented threats to the safety of the Republic. What he decides to do may very well determine whether the United States, as we know it, is still standing by the time he leaves office.

The problems did not develop overnight. They were a long time in coming, but politicians — primarily, though not exclusively, on Capitol Hill — have been happy to kick the can down the road. These issues go right to the heart of the first responsibility of any president — i.e., to protect and defend the homeland.

Threat no. 1 — EMP

For months, this column has researched repeated warnings that Islamist radicals, terrorist groups, and rogue states are rapidly gaining the capability to carry out their fondest wish of "a world without America," as envisioned (in those words) by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — whose country goes merrily on its way to develop its own nuclear bomb.

Yes, we have been threatened before. So what else is new? Here's what —

A commission warns of a threat largely unknown or not envisioned by most Americans — the electromagnetic pulse attack (EMP).

As explained last month in the Wall Street Journal, EMP is a means of potentially destroying the infrastructure of the entire U.S. economy, "leaving millions of Americans to die of starvation or want of medical care."

A terrorist with a single nuclear weapon could wipe out the U.S. city of his choice or the entire nation. All it takes is a nuclear bomb to explode high in the earth's atmosphere. The electronic pulse generated by the blast destroys all the electronics in its line of sight. This, in and of itself, would not kill any — or at least not more than very few — Americans immediately after the blast.

Catastrophe would come within days. The commission points out that within a short time, this would impact and bring to a screeching halt almost every phase of American life. Restoring service would take months to a year or more — likely longer than most emergency supplies will last. After food spoilage and supplies run out, then what? Within a relatively short time, deaths would result on a scale far beyond normal — with the most vulnerable among us passing away first — newborns and those adults requiring electronic medical devices. Ultimately, the devastation would affect everyone.

As Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), one of three scientists in Congress (and whose role in legislation created the EMP commission) warns, the EMP asymmetrical weapon "would inflict catastrophic damage to the interrelated systems of civilian infrastructure upon which the American Armed forces and American society in the 21st Century are utterly dependent."

Congressman Bartlett cites a Washington Times report that China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran "are among the countries that by themselves are more likely through proliferation activities to contribute to an increasing number of [U.S.] adversaries who may soon have the technological capacity to carry out such an attack."

Threat no. 2 — An American Hiroshima?

The American Foundation for Counter-Terrorism Policy and Research (AFCTPR) believes Osama bin Laden does have nuclear weapons and does have plans to detonate them simultaneously in 7 to 10 U.S. cities if Israel attempts to wipe out Iran's nuclear works.

It isn't just AFTPR that is sending this information to anyone who will listen. FBI Director Robert Mueller also believes in the main claim contained in the book The Day of Islam by investigative journalist Paul Williams, who has served as an FBI consultant.

Based on the testimony of the FBI's "Forgotten Source One" — Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl — as well as other sources, the book presents evidence that Osama bin Laden has purchased highly enriched uranium in Sudan and nuclear devices from the Chechens and the Russian Mafia. Williams also shines the light on Pakistani scientists and technicians who tested the uranium and maintained the upgrade of al-Qaeda's nukes.

The FBI's Mueller says al-Qaeda's goal is clear: a nuclear attack that would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans. The director told NewsMax in an interview that at times the threat feels so real that he lies awake at night thinking about it.

The seven cities that are the prime targets, according to The Day of Islam, are New York; Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas; Miami; Boston; Houston; and Los Angeles. "Alternate" targets are Philadelphia, Chicago, and Valdez, Alaska — a key city for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline which has successfully transported more than 15 billion barrels of oil since its 1977 startup — one of the largest pipeline systems in the world.

Dr. Hugh Cort, President of the AFCTPR, tells this writer that when key people in the government are asked why Americans are not warned of this, the answer he gets is they don't want to alarm the public.

Threat no. 3 — But are we protected?

In a move supposedly to save money, a decision was made to move the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) operation away from its Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (which is charged, among other things, to pick up signs of missiles heading our way) to the basement of an office building at Peterson Air force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Bill Gertz — the Washington Times' crack security reporter — and his colleague Michael de Yoanna have collaborated in an investigation that shows the move "received insufficient government review, violated previous Pentagon directives, may have broken U.S. law, and left the United States less able to track potential threats and the operations center more vulnerable to attack."

During a final countdown at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on July 4, 2006, the Cheyenne Mountain Center's alarms and strobes "shrieked to life. Defense satellites had picked up heat-related signatures half a world away." The crews pinpointed the source as North Korea where a missile had been launched and headed east. Fortunately, the missile fell far from U.S. shores, instead landing in the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean.

The Mountain's Commander, Brig. General Rosanne Bailey (now retired), told the Times that the move was made without certifying three major concerns: (1) How to integrate NORAD's strategic mission with those missions whose tasks are less urgent (a cost-cutting factor in the move); (2) Whether training at Peterson would be as good as training for Cheyenne Mountain personnel; and (3) Whether moving from a mountain to a building would reduce security.

Threat no. 4 — Energy use brings America to its knees?

Is it just political stupidity, a deliberate plot, or a combination of both — that America is on the verge of an energy crisis that will dwarf the long gas lines of the seventies? More to the point, it is a situation which will put us at the mercy of America-haters around the world on whom we are increasingly dependent for oil supplies.

This column has delved into this threat many times in the past. You can blame ever-powerful groups that call themselves "environmentalists," but whose agenda reeks of a hatred of capitalism and the free market.

— These are the people who drive the agenda of today's Democrat Party, where all too often "go along to get along" Republicans fall in line just to get the Marxist-minded leeches off their backs.

If the next president does not want to bear the political flak of bringing back gas rationing or chaos in gas lines all over America, he will have to face up to the current dilemma — even if that new president is Barack Obama, whose campaign is backed by these groups.

In 30 years, we have had no new refineries built in this country...No nuclear power plants in 30 years..No offshore drilling for 30 years..No major work on electrical power grids for 30 years to keep pace with increasing demand...No new power plants built for years — going back to Jimmy Carter's mantra of "lowered expectations."

Environmental Marxists have pressured Congress to blend more than 20 "green" kinds of fuel — all of which add nearly a dollar a gallon to your cost at the pump (according to Lee Bellinger's American Sentinel ).

The New York Times reports that state-owned oil companies worldwide are forcing private oil firms to renegotiate contracts on "less-favorable terms." That also threatens "stability" here at home where gas prices have already sky-rocketed, although they've been slightly subdued (temporarily, in the view of most energy analysts.)

China and India are adding mightily to the already huge pressures on the oil market.

Investment guru Warren Buffet (you and I may not like his politics, but he knows where — and where not — to put his money) has said, "If we required another 10 million or 12 million barrels a day in the next 10 years, I'm not sure where it would come from or at what price."

We quoted Tom DeLay a couple of columns ago as saying the Pelosi "drilling" bill would be 1 percent drilling and 99% stupid. As we explained then, the measure was written to get the Dems past this election. After that, the total anti-drilling agenda of the extremists will be re-imposed.

In the end

There is legitimate concern that we are being fattened up for the kill by radicals here and abroad who hate America. The next president — fairly early on, we dare say — will be forced to deal with these realities.

And notice we have not even begun to talk about the outcome of the credit crush "solution," or the looming bankruptcy of Medicare and Social Security. Pleasant dreams.

© Wes Vernon