I have been lurking around these forums for a few years now and have learned MANY useful ideas from the great wealth of knowledge that many of the posters possess.

I never felt the need to throw my " two cents " into the mix until I read some of the comments in this and a couple of other threads recently.

First I'd like to say to those of you who feel that the author of this book is in any way " stupid , ill-informed , not a good writer or simply another trashy gun-porn writer " I say to you that you are obviously woefully ill-informed yourselves. Mr Forstchen is not only a prolific and accomplished author, but is a brilliant scholar and one of the few authors in the world today that gets listened to and referenced on a daily basis in the upper levels of the government and the military. He didn't just decide one night that he was going to write a book about TEOTWAWKI he did exhaustive research about the plausibility and the probable after-effects of the events depicted in his book. As to those of you who question his writing ability, I urge you to search out any of his 40+ novels ( including several science fiction series that are considered tops in the genre over the last almost 30 years ) and actually read them. In addition to his novels he has written HUNDREDS of papers , reports , and short stories that have appeared in such diverse publications as Armchair General , Jane's defense Weekly , Jane's Intelligence Review , Naval Operations , Civil War Times , Scientific American and Wired. Some of his papers about the civil war and alternate outcomes of WWII and Civil War battles have been required reading at Annapolis , West Point and the US War College. For those of you who doubt his qualifications/intelligence I point out that he has a Doctorate from Purdue in History with specializations in Military History , The American Civil War and The History of Technology. He also holds degrees in Psychology and Literature. On top of his academic background he has worked as a merchantman , construction , land management and farming and on top of all that found time to teach as a Professor Emeritus of History and Faculty Fellow at a fine college in North Carolina. He usually chooses to only write of things he knows backwards and forwards such as in his newest book he wrote about a man who saved and restored an old WWII plane and used it to help the town out when they were attacked. He is a pilot and restored and owns just such a plane so he speaks from actual experience not just words on paper.

I firmly believe that his rendition of a post EMP attack on the US is not only plausible but it could end up being MUCH worse. Until recently I lived right outside Washington DC and had for most of my life minus a few years in college and the military, and I can only shudder to think what the consequences of such an attack would do to such a urban area with its hordes of people and lack of resources. I recently moved right outside Boston and though it seems a much quieter place it also teems with people unable to see past their own noses at what may very well be coming to this country.

Some of you postulate that his premise is flawed , and that the nations that are hostile to us are unable to perform the deeds he writes about. You are probably correct , but what everyone seems to forget is that there is a country with the will , the resources , and one of the most repressive governments in history still out there waiting for just the right moment to claim HUGE chunks of land in the name of "Peacekeeping" or "Aid in Force" and if the initial parts of the plan can be pulled off - we would be in NO POSITION to stop them. How hard would it be for one of the tens of thousands of Chinese freighters that are at sea every month to launch a DONFENG-11 ballistic missile over the US. This is a missile that uses solid fuel so its prep time is as little as 2 hours and its flight time to target depending on where they launched from could be as little as 7 minutes to reach a height that would affect the majority of the CONUS. Scary thought huh? What about 2 , 4 or 8 just in case some failed or where shot down ( by our non-existent Spaced based anti- missile defenses ) . Do you think we as a nation would have the ability to deal with the thousands of plane crashes , train wrecks , car accidents and all of the other catastrophes on that day along with the failure of the banking system , Social Security System, power grid , water pumping stations , Nuclear Power Plants , refineries , and all of the related bedlam in time to find out just who and what hit us and retaliate in kind? Or would we take our lumps and turn to our supposed " Allies" for help in trying to simply hold up the sinking ship?

Even if we only lost most of the post 70's vehicles and none of the Diesel Trains , and supposing we could begin to repair the millions of transformers and powerplants - it won't help - it would be over before we lifted the first wrench. If you can't feed , clothe , shelter and PAY your workforce - you don't have a workforce. I know what my priorities will be on that day ( God forbid it ever come ) but I can tell you this - I won't be reporting to work , and I'm pretty sure I won't even call them and let them know.

Mr Forstchen's book scares the hell out of me - not because it could happen - but because there would be nothing I could do if it did.

Thank you all for listening to my rant ( or whatever ) and allowing me to voice my opinion on issues , which is still the BEST reason to thank GOD that we live in the US.

- TheDarkOne