Why is he hyping this? For several weeks all we hear from him when he isn't banging the drum for more government regulation is nuclear bombs and al qaida.
Instilling fear, promoting fear, and using a horrible concern for political gain.
Hmmm.
I do recall these concerns for 8 years of Bush and 8 years of Clinton - that it was very credible then, NEST made several statements through the 90s - it was not if, but when. Did the left take any concern? NONE. The Republicans were hyping the fear for political gain. When Bush's ratings sank, he'd pull out the old fear factor ...... Hmmm.
What if Bush had said on September 9, 2001 - If we are ever attacked and a city is leveled, you should expect to wait for several days.
What if, as Katrina was about to hit land, Bush had said - Good luck, we won't be there for 72 hours.
The reality is, within 24 hours the first federal forces arrived in New Orleans, but the major force didn't arrive for 72+ hours. As quickly as they could be sent. So what is Obama's reason.
And by the way - who would it be who would detonate a nuclear weapon on US soil? Swedish feminists? How about Russian farmers? And what happened to - al qaida is all but destroyed and they are not a threat any more and we can pull out of everywhere and there is no war against terrorists anywhere in the world ...
Stupid fuckers will end up getting hundreds of thousands of Americans dead.
Nuclear blast victims would have to wait
April 14, 2010
By Steve Sternberg, USA TODAY
The White House has warned state and local governments not to expect a "significant federal response" at the scene of a terrorist nuclear attack for 24 to 72 hours after the blast, according to a planning guide.
President Obama told delegates from 47 nations at the Nuclear Security Summit on Tuesday that it would be a "catastrophe for the world" if al-Qaeda or another terrorist group got a nuclear device, because so many lives would be lost and it would be so hard to mitigate damage from the blast.
A 10-kiloton nuclear explosion would level buildings within half a mile of ground zero, generate 900-mph winds, bathe the landscape with radiation and produce a plume of fallout that would drift for hundreds of miles, the guide says. It was posted on the Internet and sent to local officials.
The document is designed to help local officials craft plans for responding to a nuclear blast. The prospect is anything but far-fetched, says Rick Nelson of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Do I think in my lifetime I'll see the detonation of a nuclear device? I do."
One challenge he says, will be to persuade survivors to stay indoors, shielded from dangerous radiation until they're given the all-clear or told to evacuate. "In all likelihood, families will be separated," he says. "It's going to be scary to sit tight, though it's the right thing to do."
The government's planning scenarios envision a terrorist strike in an urban area with a 10-kiloton device, slightly smaller than the roughly 15-kiloton Hiroshima bomb. A 10-kiloton device packs the punch of 10,000 tons of TNT.
The chaos that would inevitably follow such a blast would make it difficult for the federal government to react quickly. "Emergency response is principally a local function," the document says, though "federal assistance will be mobilized as rapidly as possible."
The "Planning Guidance for Response to a Nuclear Detonation" was developed by a task force headed by the White House Homeland Security Council. It was circulated to state and local government officials and first responders in January 2009.
The report has never been formally released to the public, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro says.
It offers practical guidance to first responders and advice on radiation measurement and decontamination.
Disaster experts say local governments aren't prepared for a nuclear attack. "There isn't a single American city, in my estimation, that has sufficient plans for a nuclear terrorist event," says Irwin Redlener of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
The message for families is simple, he says: Stay put. Wait for instructions. If you've been outside, dust off, change, shower. "What citizens need to know fits on a wallet-sized card," Redlener says. "A limited amount of information would save tens of thousands of people."
nuke
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