Thursday, April 16, 2026
-Bill Crane-
I am hopeful and pray daily that this war with Iran will come to a lasting armistice soon. The odds of that happening in the near term—without any further nuclear weapon proliferation by Iran, as well as a free and clearly navigable Strait of Hormuz, as our White House would prefer—remain long.
Our nation has far superior forces and weaponry, but Iran and terrorists do not and will not fight conventionally. The longer this conflict continues, the greater the likelihood that Iran will bring that war to the United States.
Despite having a well-trained and armed domestic military, the civilian population in the ‘lower 48 states’ has not faced broad-scale open warfare on American soil since our Civil War. We are not ready.
IF Iranians terrorists, NOT U.S. Muslim civilians, choose to attack us here, we have many vulnerabilities, as part of having an open and free society. Our energy grid, water supplies, medical system infrastructure and yes, even Wall Street, the world’s financial capital, could all become targets if we continue this conflict with a nation that truly believes in taking an eye for an eye.
I am not writing this, nor my earlier column on the importance of being vigilant, to be an alarmist. We do have time to prepare. Iran’s leadership remains in disarray. Even their oil sales income streams are damaged, and most of their former regional allies hope for the collapse of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and regime change. But there is no alternative or regime ready to roll or even nearby in the wings. The deposed Shah’s son is an inspiration for many, but he lives safely away from the conflict in Europe.
Thankfully, Pakistan and other voices in that region are doing their best to help Iran see reason and the benefits of peace. A short cease-fire simply allows both sides to reload and tend to their people’s injuries and replinish their weapons of war. IF the Straits remain closed or unsafe for commercial oil tankers indefinitely, the likelihood of a global recession is strong.
AMERICA HAS PLENTY OF OIL, BUT WE CANNOT REFINE IT –
Yes, America now produces more oil than any country on the planet, but the lighter, sweet crude oil we are now fracking cannot be turned into petroleum by American refineries. They were built for an earlier, dirtier blend still also coming out of the ground and oil wells, while licensing and constructing new refineries can take decades. So we sell our newly sourced crude on the global market.
Our Strategic Petroleum Reserves also hold millions of barrels of older, dirtier oil, yet they are finite. And even if America were the sole source of oil and energy, that advantage can also be negated by other means, such as an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) weapon, which fries our electric grid and virtually all modern electronic equipment, not stored or protected from those EMP waves by a Faraday cage or container. Our U.S. Intelligence suggests that Iran and other adversaries likely possess that technology by now.
Iran and its existing drones and weapon systems might not pose a huge threat to America within their own region, but a country with virtually nothing to lose has much to gain by throwing out the rules of war and attacking America’s civilian population at its most vulnerable points. Remember how long we were staggered and wounded by 9/11, the thousands of American lives lost, and the deep recession that followed. Roughly 19 terrorists carried out that attack; most of them trained in America to fly civilian jet aircraft, with Osama Bin Laden as the planner and financier. Iran has had four decades to prepare its hatred for this nation, while holding the wealth of being one of the world’s top energy producers.
MANY POINTS OF VULNERABILITY IN A FREE SOCIETY –
Imagine the damage a few of those larger Iranian drones could inflict on a U.S. stadium during the coming FIFA World Cup. This year’s competition is jointly hosted by 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with 11 of those host cities located in the United States, including Atlanta. The tournament will have 80 matches, 60 in the U.S., including the quarterfinals, semifinals and final match in New Jersey, a short hop from Wall Street. One of the Atlanta matches on a Sunday in June, nearly in the middle of the tournament (Match 38), will feature Spain versus Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Royal family is known to follow and be a fan of the World Cup. What better target for Iran than the Saudi Royal family, which they now view as betrayers, along with their U.S. Ally and host?
Each Olympiad begins with a worldwide armistice. There is no such agreement in place for the World Cup.
Just as the original militia of the Revolutionary War, which became our Colonial Army consisted of trained farmers and volunteers, we now need to expand our National Guard, and entities such as the Georgia Defense Force, to ready ourselves and protect our assets and society as we know it today. I am not advocating arming every American or turning every family into warriors, but from neighborhood watches to better coordination of security camera system networks across the country, we need to take te time and make the effort, as well as plan for the shared sacrifice of the leisure time so many of us enjoy today.
BETTER SAFE…THAN SORRY –
And again, the best way to prevent these speculative tragedies from becoming grim realities is to prepare. Yes, I would love to be a fan in the stands as I am for our Atlanta United during the World Cup, but I am also willing to be trained to protect our MARTA tunnels, one of which runs east/west less than 100 feet from the eastern wall of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Are you getting the picture?
We cannot and should not expect our local law enforcement and military forces to completely handle our safety and protection in times of war. Neighborhood Watch programs can be reactivated, and again trained to look out for more than just someone unfamiliar walking down a neighborhood street at night.
SHARED EFFORT, VIGILANCE AND SACRIFICE WILL BE NEEDED –
During World War II, the American people rationed foodstuffs and raw materials of all types. War bonds largely financed the war, morphing later into the broader U.S. bond market of today, while American Savings Bonds and U.S. Treasury notes remain the world’s reserve currency since that conflict.
Because we are in an election season, talk and campaign messaging will more likely focus on affordability and attack ads. I remain hopeful that the better minds in our state and federal as well as local governments are looking at the bigger picture. And if they are not, it is again incumbent upon us as citizens, residents and Americans to raise these issues and questions now. NOT as conspiracy theory, but as points of concern, contention, planning, public safety and protection.
We can protect our water supplies from being poisoned. However, now that Atlanta has solved its ‘supply’ problem with a 2-billion-gallon reservoir in a former mine northwest of the city, a visit there on any day will demonstrate clear and easy walk up access to that same water supply…
Georgia Tech is less than a mile away for that reservoir. I would hope the geniuses and engineers there are developing additional uses for AI to monitor cameras and public spaces for detection and protection. Again, we may need to train and deploy volunteers as lookouts to protect and surround our more vulnerable points of infrastructure and attack. As a nation of over 300 million people, we will all need to share the burden and make sacrifices to maintain the peace, prosperity and many comforts of life that we both take for granted and enjoy. God bless America, get ready to roll up our sleeves again, and remember Rosie the Riveter.
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