Karna Small Bodman discusses risk of EMP attack

WASHINGTON - May 20, 2014 - PRLog -- In her latest book, former National Security Director Karna Small Bodman examines the possibility of an EMP attack on the US. Although the book is fiction, she says the threat is all too real. Bodman speaks eloquently about a variety of timely topics including:

The national electricity grid is vulnerable to attack, both domestic and foreign. An EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) attack would “fry” all electronics and has become an increasingly big issue. News reports have followed up on the attack on the Silicon Valley grid by armed men who have yet to be caught.

Recent news stories emphasize the threat of an EMP attack on the US or our allies that could result from a small nuclear device detonated high up in the atmosphere or by solar flares. Such an EMP event would fry all electronics on the ground. We’d have no electricity, internet, communications, refrigeration, transportation, sanitations – it would effectively set us back to the year 1910.
Countries such as Iran have been testing “delivery vehicles” which are types of missiles that could enable such an attack. Russia and China have also been researching EMP-like weapons.

The US has developed our own EMP type weapons – smaller versions using non-nuclear materials such as the one we used at the beginning of the Iraq war when we knocked out Saddam’s military communications. The US has had EMP commissions that made recommendations to Congress to harden our systems, but Congress has done nothing so far except talk about it. There are estimates that it could be done for as little as $2 billion. We do not have replacement parts for the grid stored somewhere; we do not even make the parts, Japan does. It could take over a year to order replacements. We should do that NOW.

Utility companies do not want to foot the cost to protect their grids. They argue it’s a national security issue and the government should pay. There are smaller things individuals can do to protect things – e.g. “Faraday” cages (like stashing a computer in a microwave for example). Contact your utility companies and your Congressman and request that we harden the grid and take steps to protect our country, including expanding our missile defense sites here and abroad.

Bodman knows of which she writes. She served in The White House, first as Deputy Press Secretary and later as Senior Director of the National Security Council. At the time of her departure, she was the highest-ranking woman on The White House staff. She also spent 15 years as a reporter, television news anchor and political commentator in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The widespread power outages affecting the United States after a severe windstorm are just a taste of what might happen if terrorists set off an electromagnetic pulse – as happens in the plot of Karna Small Bodman’s newest thriller, Castle Bravo. Even former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich sees parallels, issuing a similar statement on Twitter about the blackout.

When Bodman’s books were shown on THE TODAY SHOW, they said, “Instead of calling them ‘fiction,’ perhaps we should call them ‘faction’!” For more information, visit www.karnabodman.com.

Reviews and interviews upon request.