What If Terrorists Nuked Washington DC?

by Wayne Flaherty

Suppose the worst happened and terrorists did detonate an atomic bomb in Washington DC. Several predictable things would happen. The military would establish Martial Law around the area. That's the kind of thing you do when your espionage structure fails to warn you of the terrorist plot.  It makes it look like you are genuinely concerned with the safety of the public. It gives you a highly visible media presence and almost unlimited access to the media. This might also be seen as a chance to impose Martial Law on the entire country. Even worse, local groups who feel they have sufficient strength will attempt to impose their own form of Martial Law. This has already happened in Paris, France when Muslims took over entire neighborhoods and imposed Sharia Law in the area under their control. Religious fanatics, foreign terrorist groups, and local fanatics come to mind.
 
Next, politicians would immediately begin to fill the void left by the dead government officials. Nature abhors a vacuum but politicians see a vacuum as an opportunity to gain power and feather their own nest at the same time. They would immediately begin a series of meetings to reestablish a central government with each member at the meetings expressing his or her willingness to head that government.

The liberal media would continue as before and mount an all out effort to blame conservatives. On-site photo ops and interviews with remaining liberals would attempt to turn speculation and supposition into facts as the media would have you believe them.

Those who formerly made their living from welfare and food stamps would panic and be willing to listen to any demagogue who claimed to know what to do. Not wanting to blame themselves for their own laziness and stupidity they will listen to any opportunists who will give them a straw man to blame. Worse, they will listen to anyone who says they have a God given right to take whatever they need to survive. They will roll out into nearby communities and loot, pillage, and destroy. Not happy to take they will also destroy every business they gut. The police will be powerless to stop them and they know it. Gun shops will be emptied as the pharmacies who house the drugs they crave. All food will vanish instantly from grocery store shelves as panic stricken shoppers rush to stock up their normal 1 week supply of food. Most of these shoppers will probably not bother to pay since they will have won their ill-gotten goods in hand to hand combat.
 

Bank vaults will be emptied and money will be in short supply as most Americans live hand to mouth. Precious metals will skyrocket in value and become the currency of choice by those who have something wanted or needed by the public. Barter will flourish as hard goods will be exchanged for the necessities of life. Salaries will go unpaid for those who still have jobs as companies will be unable to get money with which to pay them. Social Security will cease to exist. Pension checks may still be sent but no one will cash them.

Every government contract will instantly become worthless as there will be no one to disburse payments.
 

Some will flee to the perceived safety of the countryside. Those who do not have relatives in these areas will seek shelter in parks and rest stops. If they are lucky their relative will have food, water, and space to house them. If they are lucky the relative will also have the ability to defend everyone. In a worst case scenario the relative will be no better prepared than his visitors and they will all sit and wait for the gangs to move out of the central cities and into the countryside.

Hospitals will go into emergency mode as their emergency rooms become inundated with the injured, the disabled, and those who have no place else to go.

Those who believe in gun control will become the first and the easiest victims since they will have nothing with which to defend themselves. Next to suffer will be the uninformed who know nothing about what is happening or how to survive. Next come the unbelievers who swallowed the liberal media propaganda that the government would always be there to protect them. Then come the casual gun owners who can probably find their weapon but can't remember where they put the ammunition for it. These gun owners will be totally unprepared and no match for mobs with semiautomatic and high powered weapons.

The only ray of hope in all this mess will be the survivalists who have food, water, and arms with which to defend themselves and their families. Scattered throughout the nation, they will be called on to hold the fort until some segment of order is restored. They too will be put to the test. When the unprepared think you have something they need, they will come and ask for it. When they are denied, they will return the next day and demand what they want. When denied again, they will return the next day armed and determined to take what they want. Still, the survivalist must stand his ground for he will be unable to fill the demands of his unprepared neighbors no matter how much he may sympathize with them.

It will be a time of great tribulation. Many will suffer. Many will die. Misfortune will befall many of those who made every effort to be prepared if they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. God only knows who will be left standing at the end of the day. Perhaps it will be the end of the world as Armageddon descends on the human race.. Then, nothing matters since the die will have already been cast and the fate of each of us will have already been determined.