Economic and social catastrophe in the USA may follow attack on Iran - a plausible scenario detailed

I’ve found a moving piece of apocalypic writing, detailing a plausible scenario for worldwide economic meltdown and martial law within the USA, to follow shortly after our impending attack on Iran.

The writer postulates that the leaders of the USA already know that such a scenario is likely, and yet they will proceed regardless. The writer suggests that the President will proceed despite the likely consequences, because the President views his mission as God-given.

The following link will take you to a fascinating essay, as dramatic and engrossing as a fine piece of writing by one of the major thriller writers of our time.

The writer has devoted a great deal of thought to the steps and events that he believes will likely follow our attack on Iran. The attack will have a cataclysmic effect on the worldwide price and supply of oil. The oil effect will snake through all of society in a few days, shutting things down, closing stocks markets worldwide, leading to a fundamental change in our lives as Americans.

Here are some brief excerpts from a finely written cautionary tale. Chilling and forceful, and worthy of a complete read.

End of USA as we know it, if we attack Iran - a step by step review of likely catastrophe

…

Thunder

When the day finally arrives, we will watch round-the-clock coverage on television as the first wave of US attacks begin to hit Iranian targets. We will see maps on the screen with names of places like Esfahan and Natanz. We will see Donald Rumsfeld and General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stand at a podium in the Pentagon describing target packages and bomb damage assessments. We might hear the Secretary and the General say that, contrary to “wild speculation” prior to the start of hostilities, nuclear weapons are not being used. They will no doubt strongly caution the Iranians against any form of retaliation for the US offensive … Operation Ponderous Code Name Here is a success. Iran’s capacity to retaliate has been degraded, the resolve of its leadership shaken.

And then, at some point, will come the first reports of Iranian retaliation.

…

Lightning

Day two of the war. Accounts from the Gulf tell of Iranian Shahab and Scud ballistic missiles striking ports, refineries, and oil fields in Saudi Arabia. The US assault, massive and unrelenting though it was, couldn’t get all of Iran’s missiles. Nothing in war goes precisely according to plan.

…

The American onslaught still appears to be going well. White House sources hint the US will soon issue an ultimatum to the Iranians: accept a cease-fire and new international inspections of nuclear facilities, or face continuing US attacks. GOP operatives gloat that the White House has regained the political initiative. The price of oil on world markets rises to “only” $80 by the end of the second day. …

Then new reports, late on day two and into day three. Iranian shore based Silkworm and Sunburn missiles hit two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. They’re both on fire. One of them is sinking. Here too, the American forces didn’t achieve 100 percent success — because no attacking force ever does. US cruise missiles and carrier-based aircraft go after the Iranian missile batteries again. …

World oil markets explode, as reports of the shipping disruptions and the firestorm at Ras Tanura drive prices to $110 per barrel.

….

Cataclysm

Day four. In Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr calls upon all Iraqi Shiites to wage immediate, all out war against United States occupation forces. His al-Mahdi Army and other Shiite militias attack US troops in Baghdad and across southern Iraq. In the first day of fighting, more than 100 American soldiers are killed, by mines, improvised explosives, mortars, rocket propelled grenades, and truck bombs, as well as in house-to-house firefights with Shia guerrillas. Oil pipelines in southern Iraq are blown up in multiple places.

…

Oil prices reach $130 per barrel. Gasoline prices in the United States approach $6.00 per gallon.

…

Day five.

In Iraq, US supply lines on the roads from Kuwait suffer sustained attack by Shiite insurgents. Mortar bombardment of airfields hamper American transport planes. US Central Command simply doesn’t have enough troops to provide the necessary security in the face of a widespread Shiite uprising. …

Emergency crews trying to fight the massive Ras Tanura fire in Saudi Arabia are attacked by guerrillas wielding rocket launchers and automatic weapons. It isn’t clear whether the attackers are Iranian paramilitary forces or indigenous Saudi insurgents aligned with Al Qaeda.

Shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf has come to a complete halt.

…

Apocalypse

Day six.

Oil prices approach $180 per barrel on world markets. Major losses on world stock markets have accelerated into a freefall. The Dow Jones has lost 4000 points since the war began. The slide of the US dollar, underway since the start of hostilities, is also beginning to pick up steam, threatening to become a collapse.

Gasoline prices in the United States have reached $8.00 per gallon in some areas, despite optimistic statements from President Bush that energy disruptions will be temporary. Long lines continue at gas stations. Schools and businesses are beginning to close or run on reduced hours. Employees are having more and more trouble getting to work. Shipments of critical goods and supplies are drying up as gasoline prices begin to hamper the trucking industry. And now, for the first time, reports come in of panic buying at supermarkets around the country. What had been temporary open spaces on shelves, thanks to trucking delays, have now sparked a mass run on food. Transportation bottlenecks, and the explosion of costs in petroleum derivates used for manufacturing, have ignited an inflationary explosion in consumer goods across the board.

And then, late in the morning, cable news broadcasts flash the first reports of terrorist attacks inside the United States.

…

Judgment

After midnight, in Washington DC, the President uncharacteristically holds a late-night emergency meeting of the National Security Council to deal with the unfolding catastrophes. Everyone at the table, the architects of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, agree that the current conflict has to be brought to an end as quickly as possible and emergency measures taken to halt the incipient collapse of the national economy. … Social order itself verges on complete breakdown, with the delivery of food, fuel, and essential services throughout the country now open to question.

…

The White House, operating through the executive branch apparatus, will assume complete control of the national economy, prioritizing the distribution of personnel and resources to assure restoration of essential services. … The FBI will execute nationwide arrests of all individuals named in watch lists as actual or potential terrorist suspects. Special detention facilities will be set up for processing and interrogation. The Federal Communications Commission will assume direct supervisory authority of all television, radio, newspaper, and Internet media services. … Key leaders of the Democratic Party will be summoned to the Oval Office and invited to give their support to the President. They will be strongly cautioned against failure to support the Commander-in-Chief in a period when the existence of the nation is in doubt.

Dawn comes to the United States. Day seven. The former things are passed away.