Posted on 03/01/2002 6:04:09 AM PST by blam
Shadow Government Ordered After Attacks, Post Says
Fri Mar 1, 1:42 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush has set up a "shadow government" to ensure that the government would continue to operate in the event of catastrophic attack on the U.S. capital, The Washington Post reported on Friday.
The newspaper said in the first hours after the Sept. 11 attacks, Bush deployed a "shadow government" of about 100 senior civilian managers to live and work outside Washington, in the first-ever activation of a classified "Continuity of Operations Plan."
The report cited three officials with first-hand knowledge of the operation as saying the Cold War era plan was enacted because of heightened fears that the al Qaeda network might somehow obtain a portable nuclear weapon.
The Post said U.S. intelligence has no specific knowledge of such a weapon, but officials thought the risk was great enough to justify the expense and deployment of a shadow government.
One participant told the newspaper that the first deployment came "on the fly" in the first hours of turmoil on Sept. 11 and that the plan has evolved into an indefinite precaution.
Under the plan, high-ranking government officials representing various departments have begun rotating in and out of the assignment at one of two fortified locations along the East Coast, the Post said.
A senior official involved in managing the program said the civilian force present in the underground bunkers usually numbers 70 to 150, and "fluctuates based on intelligence" about terrorist threats.
In the event of an attack, 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 report said.
The Washington Post said it agreed to a White House request not to name any of those deployed or identify the two principal locations of the shadow government.
Not a problem. I feel it's my duty to spur on common sense so we don't all sink into robotic apathy.
No, your thinking of Jimmy Hoffa's body and you are off by a few hundred miles.
I think that's called the fallacy of authority. When you point to an authoritative entity as if it proves your point. If you are saying it is not Constitutional.......Prove it.
Do ya think during the cold war this was an everyday occurrence? Bush is just putting back in place what the previous guy dismantled.
It's genetics, man. Here's a tube of Rogaine. That orange glow in the sky is our new night time illumination program. We did it to comfort you while you wait for the next shipment of Rogaine for Refugees. Hope you appreciate it.
Well then you wouldn't believe there was a conspiracy to crash several jetliners into our infrustructure on September 11th either then, now would you?
Get this. If you said something like this prior to 911, it might be a conspiracy theory. After 911, its fact. The only question remaining is, WHO was really behind the conspiracy.
And BTW - I wouldn't necessarily consider a bunch of civilians hunkered in a bunker ready to take over the country a "continuation of the government". Not a contstitutional one anyway. Perhaps a dictatorship though.
The bold statement above is quite a leap from reality.
If this plan were enacted, do you doubt martial law would be declared? And what is martial law?
According to websters:
1 : the law applied in occupied territory by the military authority of the occupying power
And who would be the occupying power? "a bunch of civilians hunkered in a bunker ready to take over the country"; add-in, "and the military".
Not a leap. In fact, quite sequitur.
Fair question, hell, it's the question. You've summed up the gist of this thread quite nicely. You've also provided the very reason why I question actions like this by the government, and, quite honestly, don't believe the sons 'o bitches for a minute.
It wouldn't be the first time an Administration planned a switcheroo: Abraham Lincoln did it, and his pretext was another emergency.
Bingo. It wouldn't be the first time. To blindly believe that every action done by the government is for the good of the people is to me pure idiocy. Lie to me once and your a lier. Simple as that. Lie to me and your a lier. History is rife with instances of governmental lying. But, they're not discovered until much later of course, and they're not called lies, and we're told that things had to be done that way for "the good of the people." Now, it seems we've come full circle. The governments actions are done for the good of the people, the government occasionally lies to accomplish these actions, time passes, down the road we find out that these actions didn't benefit the people after all, and the people were lied to while getting their government provided screwing.
Lie to me, and you're a lier. Simple as that.
If the scenario actually happened, and we didnt have this plan ready, we would be vulnerable to attack from any enemies - not too mention we would be in anarchy.
I applaud your understanding of the sitution. I wonder if anybody will take up the gauntlet you've thrown down?
Indeed it is a leap, Elected officials, turning complete rule over to non-elected offials.
If the concern is that the concentration of power in DC could be eliminated in one feld swoop, and the objective is to provide a contingency in this instance, then the "constitutional" contingency is to restore power back to the states. I doubt all 50 state governers would be hit by a blast in DC.
If the scenario actually happened, and we didnt have this plan ready, we would be vulnerable to attack from any enemies - not too mention we would be in anarchy.
I do not deny contingency plans should be made. But I reject the notion that a group of hand picked, unelected persons should be the contingecy.
As corrupted as the existing political infrustructure is, if contigency power were restored to state governements, at least those holding power would be elected officials. ;^ )
I agree, in times of emergency we should gather up all the key players, put them all in one building and announce the location of that building hourly so that nobody thinks we are trying to surreptitiously violate their rights.
I think the Constitutional contingency of returning power to the States - of which you speak is what you would "wish" were the case. Not what the Constitution implies. If the Constitution says this is the case, then I'd love to be proven wrong and will "go to school"
Indeed it is a leap, Elected officials, turning complete rule over to non-elected offials.
Again, "complete rule"....this is not the case...elected representative in our Republic are delegating power "in event of catastophic emergency" and it would obviously be on an interim basis until effective Republican government could be restored.
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