New START Turns Blind Eye To Rising EMP Threat

EMP. Those three little letters represent one of the most devastating threats facing the United States today.

EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse, and according to a congressionally appointed threat assessment commission, it presents that rarest of all security risks: an attack that can deliver a devastating blow to our military and kill tens of millions of U.S. civilians in the bargain.

The idea is as simple as it is horrific. Explode a nuclear device in the air. The explosion sends out an EMP, which shuts down all electrical systems in the broad, multistate region below the explosion. In the modern United States, hardly anything works when the electronics go down. No transportation, no heat, no lighting, no communications . . . no nothing. Hospitals cannot function. Food, medical and other supplies are immobilized. In a matter of days, masses of people start dying.

EMP attacks could come in several varieties. There's the so-called "Scud-in-a-bucket" scenario. Iran's Shahab-3, an advanced scud variant, can carry a 10-kiloton warhead about 1,000 kilometers. It couldn't reach the United States from Tehran, but it doesn't have to. As Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) notes: "A terrorist organization might have trouble putting a nuclear warhead "on target" with a Scud, but it would be much easier to simply launch and detonate in the atmosphere. . . . Just launch a cheap missile from a freighter in international waters -- al Qaeda is believed to own about 80 such vessels -- and make sure to get it a few miles in the air."

This is no mere theoretical risk. Iran has simulated an EMP attack, conducting tests in the Caspian Sea to determine whether its ballistic missiles could be detonated at a high altitude by remote control. Currently, the United States does not have adequate missile defenses to protect against this type of attack. And that's not the only EMP threat we face.

The EMP Commission ominously warned that "China and Russia have considered limited nuclear attack options that, unlike their Cold War plans, employ EMP as the primary or sole means of attack."

Indeed, Russian, Chinese, and Iranian military writings abound with references to EMP strikes against the United States.

To protect against ballistic missile threats, including an EMP attack, the United States needs a multi-layered missile defense system capable of shooting down missiles in all phases of flight, especially the boost or ascent phase. We don't have one now. And under the New START treaty with Russia, currently under consideration in the Senate, we aren't likely to be able to build one.                                             

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