Bongzilla

Check this out, please tell me I am not the only one a little freaked out by this:


WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration has activated Cold War-era plans for a "shadow government" consisting of 75 or more senior officials who live and work secretly outside Washington in case the nation's capital is crippled by terrorist attack, a senior government official said Thursday night.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the operation has been in effect since the first hours after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but has evolved over time.

Originally designed to help the government withstand Cold War nuclear threats, the shadow government plan was activated out of heightened fears that the al-Qaida terrorist network might obtain a portable nuclear weapon. U.S. intelligence has no specific knowledge of such a weapon, but the risk was great enough to warrant the activation of a plan dating to the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the official said.

Under the classified "Continuity of Operations Plan," first reported by The Washington Post, high-ranking officials representing their departments have begun rotating in and out of the assignment at one of two fortified locations along the East Coast.

The Post said the first rotations were made in late October or early November, a fact confirmed by a senior government official late Thursday.

Officials who are activated for the duty live and work underground 24 hours a day, away from their families, according to the Post. The shadow government has sent home most of the first wave of deployed personnel, replacing them most commonly at 90-day intervals.

A government official who spoke to The Associated Press said the groups usually number 70 to 150 people, depending on the level of threat detected by U.S. intelligence. He said Bush does not foresee ever needing turn over government functions to the secret operation, but believed it was prudent to implement the long-standing plan in light of the gathering war on terrorism and persistent threats of future attacks.

The team, drawn from every Cabinet department and some independent agencies, would seek to prevent the collapse of essential government functions in the event of a disabling blow to Washington, the official said.

The underground government would try to contain disruptions of the nation's food and water supplies, transportation links, energy and telecommunications networks, public health and civil order, the Post reported. Later, it would begin to reconstitute the government.

The government-in-waiting is an extension of a policy that has kept Vice President Dick Cheney in secure undisclosed locations away from Washington. Cheney has moved in and out of public view as threat levels have fluctuated.

As next in line to power behind President Bush, he would need help running the government in a worst-case scenario

"We take this issue extraordinarily seriously, and are committed to doing as thorough a job as possible to ensure the ongoing operations of the federal government," Joseph W. Hagin, White House deputy chief of staff, told the Post, though he declined to discuss details. "In the case of the use of a weapon of mass destruction, the federal government would be able to do its job and continue to provide key services and respond."

According to the Post, the backup government consists generally of officials from top career ranks, from GS-14 and GS-15 to members of the Senior Executive Service. The White House is represented by a "senior-level presence," one official said, but well below such Cabinet-ranked advisers as Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Many departments, including Justice and Treasury, have completed plans to delegate statutory powers to officials who would not normally exercise them, the Post said. Others do not need to make such legal transfers, or are holding them in reserve.

The report said civilians deployed for the operation are not allowed to take their families and may not tell anyone where they are going or why.

The two sites of the shadow government make use of local geological features to render them highly secure, the Post said. They are well stocked with food, water, medicine and other consumable supplies, and are capable of generating their own power.

HappyMan

Why are you freaked out by that?

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Daniel

Don't you think that this was a responsible thing to do?

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HappyMan

Many people can't seem to get over their fear of the federal government.

Niteshift

Why is that scary at all?

If, God forbid, a device was detonated in D.C. and the govt. was wiped out, everyone would ***** that there should have been plans in place before it happened.

These plans date back to the 50's. They've been shaped and modified by Democrats and Republicans both. The Soviets had similar plans. So does the UK and Canada. It's just good planning.

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Bongzilla

No one finds it slightly alarming that a secret government was created without anyone knowing? Think about what other policies and agencies we don't know about and probably won't find out about.

And it isn't like they created this to 'help the American people' - it is to keep their ideology in power no matter what.

I may be leaning on the side of not trusting the government (where is the evidence not to?) but I think many of you seem to have a lot more faith in them, especially on a website that is basically against a policy that they firmly believe and enforce.

Daniel

No one finds it slightly alarming that a secret government was created without anyone knowing?

Well, if we knew, it wouldn't be a secret would it?

Think about what other policies and agencies we don't know about and probably won't find out about.

Think about how many time the us government has saved people that will never know it and probably will never find out.

And it isn't like they created this to 'help the American people' - it is to keep their ideology in power no matter what.

Who's ideology are you talking about? The American ideology? Good Lord, I believe that the original plans were in the IKE administration... No parinoia with you, is there?

especially on a website that is basically against a policy that they firmly believe and enforce.

Remember that the US constitution defends the right to free speach. This web site is defended and supported by our government.

HappyMan

It's common knowledge that the Federal Government has contingency plans in case of nuclear war. One such plan is for the continuation of power. This really shouldn't even be news it’s a foolish non-issue.

If the Federal Government would cease to exist, who would make the trains run on time?

Niteshift

"No one finds it slightly alarming that a secret government was created without anyone knowing? Think about what other policies and agencies we don't know about and probably won't find out about."

We DID know about it.....at least anyone who cared did.

These plans were designed during the 1950's, during the Cold War. All Bush did was put them into motion. The plans were around before most of us were born.

The media is using the word "secret" but it's not a secret. Hell, the History Channel has done a couple of shows about the contingency plans............and they did them before 9/11.

This is NOT a big deal.

KWhite

I gotta agree here.
Hell an alternate chain of command is set up clearly in our governemt.

Or where do yu think Cheney was while all the excitement was going on?

Where he was supposed to be, ready to take up the reins if the President got it.
Would also not do a lot of good to make a second team and then provide that information to anyone who might have reason to harm them.
I have ay lot of disagreements with the shrub, but this one is not one of them.

Kelly