The dirty bomb myth

Is fear worse than the fallout? Does exaggerated dread helps terrorists sow panic — while handcuffing our military and security options?

By Lawrence Solomon, published by The Epoch Times

Bombs are scary. Bombs laced with radioactive materials—so called “dirty bombs”—seem even scarier. But the fear is misplaced. Exaggerated dread of dirty bombs and low-level radiation in general only magnifies terrorists’ power to sow panic while needlessly constraining U.S. military and homeland-security options.

Summary

The fear of dirty bombs has influenced U.S. defense policies, discouraging military actions against countries like Iran due to concerns about radiation. Domestically, the Department of Homeland Security has focused extensively on preparing for dirty bomb attacks, treating them as unique threats rather than recognizing them as mass-disruption events, as opposed to a mass-casualty one.

The “no safe level” myth has been pushed by ideology, not science. Bucking conventional wisdom, hundreds of studies show surprising results. Low doses of radiation have extended life, and one real-world test in Taiwan bears this out.

Continue to the publisher’s website here to read this commentary in full.

Lawrence Solomon, founding columnist at Financial Post and managing director of Energy Probe Research Foundation, is the author of seven books, including The Deniers.

Contact us to book Lawrence Solomon for an interview or to subscribe to our newsletter: probe.opinion@gmail.com. For more by this author, follow: https://lawrencesolomonuncensored.substack.com/.

About Lawrence Solomon

Lawrence Solomon is one of Canada's leading environmentalists. His book, The Conserver Solution (Doubleday) popularized the Conserver Society concept in the late 1970s and became the manual for those interested in incorporating environmental factors into economic life. An advisor to President Jimmy Carter's Task Force on the Global Environment (the Global 2000 Report) in the late 1970's, he has since been at the forefront of movements to reform foreign aid, stop nuclear power expansion and adopt toll roads. Mr. Solomon is a founder and managing director of Energy Probe Research Foundation and the executive director of its Energy Probe and Urban Renaissance Institute divisions. He has been a columnist for The Globe and Mail, a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, the editor and publisher of the award-winning The Next City magazine, and the author or co-author of seven books, most recently The Deniers, a #1 environmental best-seller in both Canada and the U.S. .

View all posts by Lawrence Solomon →