Recent revelations have indicated that Iran is about to complete the installation of enough centrifuges to produce sufficient enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb. This reality, together with reports that the USA is now very vulnerable to a mega terror attack involving nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, makes many people wonder if governmental authorities have been making any efforts to protect their citizens in the event of such an attack. While sealed rooms were the norm for providing personal protection during the 1991 Gulf War, just what could be done to offer adequate protection in the event of a nuclear attack.
The answer to this question may seem shocking, and depressing, to most people, but the truth is very plain to see; and that truth in regards to personal security is absolutely nothing!
Seems unbelievable, doesn’t it? But this is the said reality of what the average citizen can do to keep from being turned into radioactive dust or ash, or linger for days before eventually succumbing to the effects of radiation sickness. Buildings in Israel, except possibly a few luxurious new projects who may be offering their residents special underground fall out shelters, have no adequate protection at all against the calamitous effects of even a nuclear bomb the size of the ones which devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, 1945. Mind you, it might be said that in this example, the only nuclear blasts on human targets since the creation of these horrendous devices, the unfortunate residents of these two densely populated cities had no prior warning that this would be their fate; and thus, not advance preparation had been made to provide them with even the most minimum protection. Furthermore, in those days, many Japanese dwellings were constructed from a flimsy combination of wood and paper materials which burned profusely in the resulting fire storms created by the bombs’ detonations.
Many Israeli residential dwellings are constructed out of reinforced concrete and cinderblock, which could offer some protection against fires but not against the tremendous force of the blasts from devices which could be much more powerful than the 20 kiloton “A-bombs” that were dropped on Japan. There are virtually no community bomb shelters that could offer suitable protection against the heat and shock waves created by a nuclear blast, or the radiation that would follow and linger in the area for months – even years! Furthermore, no advance preparation would help, even if done so on a national basis.
Like many Americans my age, I distinctly remember when as a high school student during the Cuban missile crises of October, 1962, the threat of global nuclear war was very real; so real in fact that my father had devised a plan to evacuate us from Oklahoma City (a major target due to it being close to Tinker Air Force Base which provided maintenance for the B-52 bombers of the American Strategic Air Command) to my uncle’s home in Healdton Oklahoma, about 120 miles away. My fellow students and I had also been subjected to a series of self defense drills, including such nonsensical ones as being under our desks, on in the school hallway, in case the bomb went off during school hours. Obviously, those “defense measures” would not have worked; and as for leaving the city in time, well, that would have also been difficult as the highways would have been choked with the cars of other people trying to flee as well.
So to put it bluntly, there really isn’t much one can do in advance to be adequately protected in the event of a nuclear attack – except possibly one thing as I saw framed once on the wall of the bathroom or WC of a friend’s home. The message read like this:
What to do to protect yourself against a nuclear attack while sitting in the loo (toilet)
1. Make sure there is no obstruction in front of you.
2. Take two pieces of toilet paper and put them on yor forehead
3. Bend down with your head between your knees and……….
4. Kiss your arse good-by!
As absurd as this advice my seem, there is really some truth in it, as about all you can really do is kiss your”arse” good-by when the bomb goes off. Perhaps this might inspire the governments of all countries, including the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is that prevention is perhaps the only real protection we all have. After all, this has enabled the world to continue for more than 63 years after the only nuclear attacks, caused by the U.S.A., occurred. As has been shown in both the real thing and in a number of dramatic movies produced over the years, the consequences of a nuclear war might mean of the end of our entire civilization – “arses” and all.
