An America Without Power

Clever adversaries use “asymmetric warfare” to defeat more powerful foes. Today, even weak enemies can exploit our most obvious – and perilous – vulnerability.

In recent weeks, there have been attacks on the critical infrastructures that generate or distribute electricity. In the Mexican state of Michoacan, a gang shut off the electric grid to facilitate the killing of their rivals. In Yemen, al Qaeda shut off the power nationwide.

In Arizona, a bomb nearly took out a key transformer substation near Nogales. And a senior Obama administration official has said that reports of sabotage against our grid are a weekly, if not a daily, occurrence.

We’re on notice: We must take steps now to protect our vital infrastructure against all hazards – or risk an America without power, and a world without America.