Guam Fliers Aim to Prepare Islanders for Nuclear War

Locals Advised to Hide Underground, Not Look at the Flash

The sudden and stark possibility of a nuclear war has reached the island of Guam. The US territory, which is hosting the air base from which US bombers would likely depart to attack North Korea, is also liable to be a target for North Korean retaliation.

The territory’s Office of Civil Defense has been handing out fact sheets with useful tips for the potentially incipient nuclear conflict, advising locals to hide in concrete or brick structures, ideally underground, and not to look directly at any nuclear flashes.

The flier goes on to advise people to take showers with “lots of soap and water” after the nuclear war is over, but warns them not to use conditioner because it might bind the radioactive material to their hair.

The stark reality of this sudden threat has some rethinking the merits of being an American territory at all, and of hosting US military bases, which have effectively put them on the front line of what could quickly be a devastating nuclear war.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.