The Obama administration has a problem, according to a New York Times article by William J. Broad. It turns out, if you stay put after a potential nuclear attack, in a basement or even a car, your chances of survival jump by over 50%, according to a new series of studies. However, the Obama administration is hesitant to begin a campaign to educate the public of this, at the fear of sounding paranoid and alarmist.
Which is probably what the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs of the world would say, sure. However, speaking for myself and probably many others, I think that, even if there is an infinitesimally small chance of a nuclear strike occurring on American soil, the public should probably be as well prepared as possible. I would rather think my government was over preparing the population that under preparing it. As the article mentions, the natural tendency of people is to run away from danger, which, in this case, would all but ensure your death from radiation poisoning. Having the knowledge not to run could save millions of lives, even if the chances of something like this happening are almost zero. Hey, Jack Bauer of 24, as much of a hero as he is, still had two separate nuclear bombs go off on American soil during the 8 seasons the show was on the air.
“It’s more survivable than people think” was a quote from a anonymous official close the project. I’d want to remain anonymous too, if I were saying things like that.
However, maybe, as the article suggests, that’s just the remnants of a Cold War mindset, that “unrealistic sense of fatalism” about nuclear attacks. Regardless, as the great sage George W. Bush put it in 2002, “History will judge harshly those who saw this coming danger but failed to act”
