Re: Scenario behind "Waking up displaced"

Presumably the hardened nuclear command bunkers would be effectively
shielded due to the large amount of mass (and they may even have
actual faraday cages for EMP protection).  Nuclear silos would
possible be shield too (do the personel sleep at the facility?)

These would be people who would get the reports of people falling
asleep and also notice that none of their personal who are quarted in
the protected areas are unable to wake up.  They could still come to
the conclusion that it is a disease though, since their air could be
isolated.  However, the fact that it affected the entire country
instantly would say otherwise.

I wonder if they would launch a nuclear strike.  If the President/VP
and cabinet are all incapacitated, can a general order a nuclear
strike?

One issue is that they wouldn't know who to attack.  They would likely
have limited reports as radar stations and such go silent.  However,
they would likely be able to keep them up using stimulants, at least
for a while.

If they assume that they will not be able to find a cure before 95% of
the population starves, they could reasonably interpret it as the use
of a bio-WMD and thus the use of nuclear weapons would be justified.
Even if they have no proof, they might just level China and Russia to
be sure.