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Letter Re: Updated Nuclear Targets in the United States
Jim,
This letter is in response to your posting today regarding potential nuclear
targets. Overall, a very good question by DFer, and your wise and reasonable
response is much appreciated. As one of the few people on the Internet who
actually discuss potential US nuclear targets, based on historical government
documentation, I'm glad to see you and a few others (Shane Connor, Joel Skousen,
etc.) not letting this important point of history be forgotten. It's another
visit to an
old post of yours in June of 2006.
Lawrence's response in that post was "old 1960s era targeting maps will
still give the survivalist a good idea of where not to be when TSHTF".
That still applies. Discussion on your site and many others about other places
not to be (mass gatherings such as sports events, malls, national monuments
and the like) is also worthy of consideration, in our current trend of monthly
terror threats, such as today's announcement of Osama Bin Laden's latest video
threatening Europe. (And yes, .mil is very concerned on both sides of the pond).
I have had a few "unofficial" e-mails from government contacts in
the last couple of years (since 2005...most [of them] working on government
contracted publications for internal use) who have asked for some of my non-public
collected
data information on targeting, and the short online Q&A with them has led
me to believe that the pot of hot water we frogs have been living in has had
the heat turned up, meaning this...new and updated lists of potential worry
are prepared, and probably still being tuned and polished up, as the daily
world threat thermometer rises and falls.
I seriously doubt the general public will see these lists, maps, locations,
and target types for many years to come, since the external threat to US soil
is still at such a ragged and ever concerned pace. It took only two years to
get the National
Attack Planning Base 1990 released from FEMA by the FOIA, thanks to a
friend of mine who found my document wish list a few years ago. While just
over 20
years old, it's still the measuring
stick for any reports that follow.
FEMA 196 is still the only consumer document available directly from FEMA that
ever gave fairly detailed info (to a generalized county level) of potential
US targets, and since US threats have risen greatly since 9/11, it may well
be the only document that FEMA, or succeeding agencies, ever produce on that
subject. What we can learn from the currently available info, is why the original
targets were targets, and what might make new locations future targets. It
takes a bit of work on our part, but it's not any more difficult than basic
I've expanded the
target list on SurvivalRing a bit with more discussion of
what makes a target, and have added a comments section to the web page to answer
specific questions that readers and visitors may have about the old targets,
and potential new targets. SurvivalBlog readers might like to discuss our current
target list, or have more info they'd like to bring to the table.
Since I'm still attending college full time, I have a lot of my site projects
on the back burner, but one near the top of the list is a mashup of my blogging
software, with Google Maps, extended interactive areas, and a lot deeper discussion,
research, and updating on targeting, safe areas, and all the details you mention
in your response (weather patterns, population demographics, etc). I'm finishing
up an atmospheric science class this semester that really opened my mind to
global weather patterns more than ever, and the work that Shane Connor did
with Transpacific Fallout is going to be seeing an update from me in the spring.
Keep up the great work, and thanks for all you do. You're one of the most rational
minds I've found on the web when it comes to the simple work of helping others
understand why we need to think about dealing with whatever the future brings.
- Rich Fleetwood, Founder of SurvivalRing.org
