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Phil Tanny's avatar

As you say, imagery likes this is widely available, almost pervasive, but none of it seems to do much good. There are thousands of books and papers on the subject too, and they also seem to have little effect upon culture wide nuclear weapons denial. As best I can tell, this is just too big of a subject for human beings to grasp in the abstract. Nothing meaningful is likely to happen on nuclear weapons until after the next detonation, at which point anything can happen, for the better and the worse.

I get the focus on NYC given what an iconic American city it is. And of course it was the target of the 911 attacks, which makes it seem more real. That said, Washington DC seems a much more inviting target. Here's a list of the federal agencies that might be put out of commission in an nuclear attack on Washington DC.

General Services Administration

Office of Personnel Management

Department of Education

Department of Veterans Affairs

Internal Revenue Service

National Archives and Records Administration

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Securities and Exchange Commission

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

United States Mint

Small Business Administration

National Endowment for the Arts

Commission on Civil Rights

Administrative Office of the United States Courts

Federal Labor Relations Authority

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Commerce

Department of Homeland Security

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Office of Management and Budget

International Development Finance Corporation

Natural Resources Conservation Service

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Export–Import Bank of the United States

Department of State

National Labor Relations Board

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

Department of Justice

Department of the Interior

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of Labor

Department of Health and Human Services

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Federal Trade Commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Library of Congress

Department of the Treasury

AmeriCorps

Federal Maritime Commission

Defense Intelligence Agency

Department of Agriculture

Federal Bureau of Prisons

National Security Council

Legal Services Corporation

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Department of Homeland Security

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Department of State

Department of Justice

Defense Intelligence Agency

The White House

The Capitol

The Supreme Court

Pentagon

CIA

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