Russia is a relatively large nation with abundant natural resources,
but nothing like they commanded as the heart of the old Soviet Union
(empire would've been a better term). They lost the cold war, and much
of their power, prestige, and commanding place in the world, but many of
their leaders remember, and regret, what was lost.
Make no mistake, Russia is taking aggressive, active steps to recover their world influence. Not with tanks and planes, because they really cannot compete with us militarily, but with something massively less expensive but likely far more effective: cyber warfare. And not only by successfully influencing elections throughout Europe and the US, which has and is creating chaos and weakening nations and alliances (which is their goal) but against hard targets that make our society possible.
Recent news stories by real journalists tell us there are some dangerous things going on. In this clip from the Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel interviews a NYT reporter on Russian hacks against US infrastructure, and US intelligence agencies warning companies about these hacks. If you doubt that Russia would do such a thing, one part of this report refers to a cyber attack last year in Saudi Arabia, where this intent was not to disrupt or disable - the goal was to cause an explosion. Click here to read "A Cyberattack in Saudi Arabia Had a Deadly Goal. Experts Fear Another Try."
Make no mistake, Russia is taking aggressive, active steps to recover their world influence. Not with tanks and planes, because they really cannot compete with us militarily, but with something massively less expensive but likely far more effective: cyber warfare. And not only by successfully influencing elections throughout Europe and the US, which has and is creating chaos and weakening nations and alliances (which is their goal) but against hard targets that make our society possible.
Recent news stories by real journalists tell us there are some dangerous things going on. In this clip from the Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel interviews a NYT reporter on Russian hacks against US infrastructure, and US intelligence agencies warning companies about these hacks. If you doubt that Russia would do such a thing, one part of this report refers to a cyber attack last year in Saudi Arabia, where this intent was not to disrupt or disable - the goal was to cause an explosion. Click here to read "A Cyberattack in Saudi Arabia Had a Deadly Goal. Experts Fear Another Try."
If all this doesn't terrify you, it should. Our power grid is ancient,
crumbling, and it doesn't take much to push pieces of it into a failure
mode. (Google "squirrel power failure.") Push enough small sectors into
failure and soon you have a cascade failure across a wide area. Imagine
all the things in your daily life that you couldn't do without
electricity - and try to think beyond checking your email. Food. Water.
Health needs. Air conditioning. Business records. Banking records. And
so much more. Yes, you'd be fine for a day or two, but how about a week
or two? Months?
A widespread, systemic power failure would be devastating to all aspects of our society, and we would start to crumble almost immediately. The Russians have actively targeted our power systems, among other major infrastructure systems. We can no longer live without these things - our society is built around them. If Russia triggers a major power outage at the right spot at the right time, they could take out our nation, and we would die by the millions before the damage could be repaired.
Want a terrifying preview of how this would look and what could happen? Read the book "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen, about an attack that destroys our electrical infrastructure. This fiction story is based on a real world threat that has been studied by the Pentagon for decades.
This is not a partisan issue. This is a genuine threat to our national security and survival, and our leaders must take immediate steps to defend us from this and protect us in the future, something our current administration has been totally unwilling to consider.
A widespread, systemic power failure would be devastating to all aspects of our society, and we would start to crumble almost immediately. The Russians have actively targeted our power systems, among other major infrastructure systems. We can no longer live without these things - our society is built around them. If Russia triggers a major power outage at the right spot at the right time, they could take out our nation, and we would die by the millions before the damage could be repaired.
Want a terrifying preview of how this would look and what could happen? Read the book "One Second After" by William R. Forstchen, about an attack that destroys our electrical infrastructure. This fiction story is based on a real world threat that has been studied by the Pentagon for decades.
This is not a partisan issue. This is a genuine threat to our national security and survival, and our leaders must take immediate steps to defend us from this and protect us in the future, something our current administration has been totally unwilling to consider.
