It has the feel of the Bioweapons presentation Powell made ......BUT how can you ignore this stuff

Iran's high-altitude test was 'consistent with EMP attack' on U.S.

WASHINGTON -- A congressional commission warned that Iran is developing an advanced missile and a nuclear warhead meant to paralyze the United States.

The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse has concluded that Iran was planning to conduct a nuclear attack that could disable U.S. infrastructure.

The commission said Iran could install a nuclear warhead on a Shihab-3 missile that would result in an electromagnetic pulse that would destroy power, software and electronics.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seen here in 2007, said the country will not retreat in the face of demands by world powers for Teheran to halt sensitive nuclear work. AFP/ISNA

"Iran has also tested high-altitude explosions of the Shihab-3 a test mode consistent with EMP attack, and described the tests as successful.

Iranian military writings explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States," commission chairman William Graham said. "While the commission does not know the intention of Iran in conducting these activities, we are disturbed by the capability that emerges when we connect the dots."

In July 10 testimony to the House Armed Services Committee, Graham said Iran has already conducted missile tests from ships in the Caspian Sea. He said Iran could achieve the capability to conduct an EMP attack from a freighter in international waters off the coast of the United States.

"A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication," Graham said. "For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high-altitude. Terrorists sponsored by a rogue state could attempt to execute such an attack without revealing the identity of the perpetrators."

The commission said a relatively low-yield nuclear weapon, including one installed on a Scud B, can be employed to generate an EMP attack over a huge area of the United States. The panel said Iran and other countries could acquire foreign assistance to complete development of a nuclear weapon.

"Potentially hostile states, such as North Korea and Iran, may also be developing the capability to pose an EMP threat to the United States, and may also be unpredictable and difficult to deter," Graham said. "With a Scud B, they could cover the east coast and the west coast [of the United States]."