Guerrilla Theatre

Did you read in your local newspaper about this study of what a terrorist’s sized nuclear device could do to a major U.S. city? (See below)

Instead, the Washington Post featured another “simulation”: 13 members of the Iraq Veterans Against The War, which claims a membership of 400 (out of the over 500,000 servicepeople who have served there) ran around Washington, D.C. making believe they were searching for enemy combatants. According to the WP’s report, “they wanted to bring the war home to Washington.”

Perhaps, the Democrats in Washington see the guerrilla theatre as more entertaining, or their efforts to hamstring our efforts to stabilize Iraq as worth their efforts, but should take the other simulation -- and their responsibilities to Americans -- more seriously.

A new study by researchers at the Center for Mass Destruction Defense (CMADD) at the University of Georgia details the catastrophic impact a nuclear attack would have on American cities….The study, which the authors said was the most advanced and detailed simulation published in open scientific literature…“The likelihood of a nuclear weapon attack in an American city is steadily increasing, and the consequences will be overwhelming” said Cham Dallas, CMADD director and professor in the UGA College of Pharmacy. “So we need to substantially increase our preparation.”… Dallas and co-author William Bell, CMADD senior research scientist and faculty member of the UGA College of Public Health, examined four high-profile American cities – New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta – and modeled the effects of a 20 kiloton nuclear detonation and a 550 kiloton detonation. (For comparison, the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in the 12 to 20 kiloton range). Bell explained that a 20 kiloton weapon could be manufactured by terrorists and fledgling nuclear countries such as North Korea and Iran… Among the study’s findings:
A 20-kiloton detonation would leave debris tens of feet thick in downtown areas with buildings 10-stories or higher. Roughly half of the population in downtown areas would be killed, mainly from collapsing buildings. Most of those surviving the initial blast in downtown areas would be exposed to a fatal dose of radiation.