Russia is in the midst of choosing – organized crime? or re-Sovietization? – as they put the squeeze on former satellites.
Led by the planet’s best known basket case, the crime syndicate known as “North Korea” has claimed a successful nuclear test and a few unsuccessful long range missile launches aimed vaguely in an eastward direction. China is – with thousands of missiles aimed at tiny Taiwan and relations with old rival Japan decidedly tense – building up their military at an unprecedented rate.
Iran is working inexorably towards the day of Israel’s thermonuclear destruction. A nuclear equiped Pakistan is under threat of encroaching Talibanization, while Islamists wage terror from Thailand to Somalia to Turkey to Baghdad to Londonistan.
So, with those facts carefully considered, what better time for this?
The Air Force, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Northern Command are planning to shut down the huge underground command bunker at Cheyenne
Mountain, Colo., where U.S. nuclear war operations would be held and space
and missile tracking is done.
A defense official said Congress is being misled about the supposed cost savings for moving the mountain’s functions to other less-protected bases.
“The real cost will be billions of dollars, and we will lose the cornerstone of the U.S. nuclear command and control facilities,” said the official, who opposes the move.
Instead of placing command and tracking posts in the hardened, survivable Cheyenne Mountain, “we are going to base the deterrence for North America out of an office building.”
The official said that it took years to build the current team of U.S. and Canadian military officials at Cheyenne Mountain into “the most integrated, technologically fused, state of the art system in the world.”
“It is probably the Eighth Wonder of the World, but in six months it will be ripped asunder and nothing will be left,” the official said. “This country will be at a risk level rarely ever seen. But it’s like safety: Until something blows up, no one notices and everyone’s happy. Then you hear ‘how did this happen?’ ”
The official said an honest cost-benefit analysis was never done on closing the mountain and moving more than 250 North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command specialists to nearby Peterson Air Force Base.
The command center will be moved to a building at Peterson that is under the flight path of all commercial aircraft traffic at Colorado Springs airport and easily within target range of a terrorist with a shoulder-fired missile. The same building experienced two power failures last summer that “brought Northcom to its knees” while the command center at Cheyenne Mountain continued operating under generator power, the official said.
To move the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, the Space Control Center and the Missile Warning Center will cost $1.2 billion. To avoid drawing the attention of Congress, military leaders devised a plan to keep the mountain “open” but in reality “remote” all their systems to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado and Peterson.
“There will be no cost savings for anyone; in fact this entire process will end up costing the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars to move and then millions a year to keep up systems both in Cheyenne Mountain and at the remote facilities in three separate sites,” the official said.
A spokesman for Northern Command said Cheyenne Mountain will be placed in a standby mode over the next two years as its functions are moved.
“While the cost and security analysis studies are still being conducted, moving Cheyenne Mountain to an alternate command center status makes the country safer,” the spokesman said. “The GAO has released a preliminary report on the realignment and confirmed that the decision to move functions from Cheyenne Mountain significantly increases operational effectiveness for command and control in the homeland.”
Outgoing Northern Command commander Adm. Tim Keating told reporters in a press briefing in Colorado yesterday that the Cheyenne Mountain transformation proposal is “a sound plan that will save us money.”
Kate , I got an Internal Server Error trying to comment on the Now WE Dance post .
I’ll have a whiskey, then a tango, followed by foxtrot.
Got that?
WHISKEY, TANGO, FOXTROT. Come fly with me.
And Matilda? Well she waltzes.
Look out Aussies in the house! Check your rabbit guns at the door.
WHAT? Why aren’t they moving it to Mexico or some other place that they can access cheap labour–that would save billions. Or maybe they have already sent it to India or China and this is just spin to make taxpayers all warm and fuzzy? This is unfathomable–the only other reason I can think of for doing this is that maybe the real threat isn’t from ‘terrorists’ but their own citizens finally waking up. Now if they can plead ‘unpreparedness’ because the ‘terrorists’ struck while they were moving operations, that would serve a purpose–wiping out millions of Americans that are otherwise spewing out CO2 and not believing all the lies?
it has long been admitted by the DOD that the Cheyenne mountain base would NOT be able to withstand a nuclear attack. circa 1978. so… ummm thirty years of keeping that thing running could be considered, ummm, i dont know, cost saving, right? of course, i mean stocking the base for the next thirty years. because colorado state government officials have been blocking the shutdown of the base for 15years because of the jobs it provides.
anyone know if the Canuck Hole In North Bay is still operational ??
” An attack is possible, but not inevitable” was the quote, I think. Still dreaming. The way things are going I’ll put my money on “inevitable”; much more than a nuclear attack was in Kennedy’s time, or the earth melting in the next thousand years. But, by all means, save money to put into decreasing those toxic CO2 emissions.
This exemplifies the distortions that can occur when the institution is being run by the inmates.
I would say that if we git 10000 posters on this subject, we may “see”one that is actually informed enough to make an intelligent comment on this, so carry on you armchair generals
Sorry Doug, but you were entrapped by a troll whose learning curve is flatlined. Your comment was deleted as it was left “orphan”.
Well if a nuclear attack does come; I’d say oh about a 10 megaton device dropped on Cheyenne would cause a massive shock wave to propagate through the rock; causing the mountain ceiling to cave in, crushing all the inhabitants whose feet aren’t fast enough. If the flash doesn’t get you, lingering radiation will.
A localized earthquake in the region of 10 on the Richter scale ought to do the trick.
Anything you build, can be ‘taken down’. This would be equally true for the Russians, Chinese, French, Pakistanis, Indians, Iranians burrowing their nuclear facilities, and other assorted “nuclear artists”.
When all that stuff comes flying out of the silos;
we can all speak to Jesus directly, as no translator will be required.
Then Paul Martin’s summoning of ‘hell and highwater’ will have come to fruition, in the fight against corruption and cronyism.
Okay we’ve seen the Asian tsunami, I guess “Hell” isn’t far behind.
But according to my calculations, due to relativistic time contractions, and letters to NDHQ, the world ends one half hour later in Newfoundland.
This should make Newfoundlander CDS Hillier happy, as this should be enough time to have a beer and say a prayer.
But I’ve always maintained we should keep our minds on higher things. It is better to look on the sunny side of life, provided there are not too many suns.
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht BGS, PDP, CFP
Commander in Chief
Frankenstein Battalion
Knecht Rupprecht Division
Hans Corps
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Ahhhhh Hans….you are being too cynical! Doncha know that the socialist/dipper cause has already figured out that we in North America can’t be nuked,because we have all those feel good programs in place? And besides,our great medical system here in Canuckistan will be able to cure us all of any lingering radiation effects, that is,if it ain’t rationed!!
Per Ardua Ad Astra
Granted, Cheyenne would collapse from a nuke strike, but at least we have something we can count on getting word out to launch before that happens, plus the remoteness means less protesters and other airheads hitting it.
Whereas an office building can be brought down with a simple delivery truck loaded with fertilizer and diesel fuel as shown in the past.
Harder to get a 10 Mpounder there.
Psychologically speaking also, I still in favour of Chy being around.
It would not be at all surprising if the USA dismantles their army now. I only ask one question, who on Earth is the most popular figure nowadays? We all should listen to the man, he has some very good points. I would give the man a great welcome if he decided to visit here, the UN on the other hand has done HHHHOOOWHHHAAT? It would only take one email to GW for them to end this reign of terror. I suspect it has already happened and the type of person we are now dealing with will make it a nice soft landing unlike the terms of office GW has had us endure.
Its a celebration!
The war is over!
Jared
The closing actually is not new news–a post at “The Torch”, June 29, 2006:
“NORAD war room bunker to close”
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2006/07/norad-war-room-bunker-to-close.html
More on new NORAD (and NORTHCOM) commander here, with quotes from CDS Hillier:
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123046166
Mark
Ottawa
“Ahhhhh Hans….you are being too cynical!”
http://en.ce.cn/World/Europe/200702/02/t20070202_10293571.shtml
Speculation about Chirac’s health has mounted since he was secretly admitted to hospital in September 2005 for a blood vessel problem that affected his vision and caused headaches.
Chirac said in the first interview the main danger from Iran developing a nuclear bomb was that others, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, would follow suit, not that Tehran would use it.
“Where will it drop it, this bomb? On Israel? It would not have gone 200 metres (650 ft) into the atmosphere before Tehran would be razed to the ground,” the reporters quoted Chirac as saying.
The following day, the French president backtracked: “I retract it, of course, when I said, One is going to raze Tehran’,” the IHT and New York Times quoted him as saying.
Chirac also withdrew his prediction that a nuclear Iran could encourage Arab states to build a bomb.
“It is I who was wrong and I do not want to contest it … I should have paid better attention to what I was saying and understood that perhaps I was on the record,” the IHT quoted him as saying.
Chirac’s office said the president had not changed his stance on Iran and said the US dailies had acted improperly, even though the French magazine also reported his U-turn.
“France, with the international community, cannot accept the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran,” it said in a statement.
Razing Tehran? A no doubt, helpful statement in the cause of peace.
Then we have Dr. Ahmadinejad, doubting the existence of the Holocaust, when my parents both lived through this time period; suggesting Israel should be ‘wiped off the map’.
I say, pistols at dawn anyone?
Perhaps a circular firing squad would be in order.
Sometimes our leaders really do deserve each other.
Gee my mind is set at ease, with these comforting and humanitarian statements. 1939 REDUX
Hans…I was being a wee bit sarcastic. No. Make that a lot sarcastic. Here’s a quote from a Syrian woman…”I am a professional and well-educated woman…I also happen to be an observant Muslim woman.” – Luna Rajab, Syrian architect .
Call me a f**king whatever, but I hope she is happy when her fisrt female child is raped,then stoned to death,because she is an observant Muzzie.
As for Chirac. PULHEEEAASSSEEE…I was having lunch. And it wasn’t brie and grapes.IMHO…let the sorry excuse for humanity called the EU succumb to the Muzzies.One less enemy to worry about.
Ooopppsss…sorry.Forgot the link for my quote…http://www.thestar.com/News/article/195624
Here is my geopolitical analysis of the current situation:
This leads to the following humour in geopolitical analysis.
This is an “Il” defined problem, because “Mah-mood” has been suppressed of late. We’ve been “Putin” up with a lot of nonsense, because we don’t know “Hu” or “Wen” it will happen. But I firmly believe if I “Harper” or grouse a lot, that eventually the pheasantasy will be flushed from the “Bush”. I find it rather re”Merkel”ble to find over the “Blair” of the media, that they don’t know “Jacques”.
Fred.
Maybe they’re just following Canada’s lead (that was a joke); Canada recently moved all of its under ground NORAD Ops to an above ground “office building” type structure. Many people don’t know that Canada has (had) its own under ground complex (UGC) located under 600 feet of granite in North Bay, Ontario. The UGC is still a very impressive, and massive, facility to visit, but I wouldn’t want to work there (lousy view).
Barry
Hans…your anaylsis…ROTFLMAO…but would the cre”TINS” maybe want to clean-up their act and “Mart”inize a bit?? Or am I “Just”in dreaming?
Does anyone really think Cheyenne Mountain is really the base of nuclear operations in North America?
I mean every time I watch Star gate on TV. As well as other programs on this base, or area 51. Are to me a good diversion for the public. At least I hope so. Pray so in fact.
If they did have DoD operations they where moved years ago. What government allows TV crews to film in such a delicate defense area? Indeed trumpet the preparedness of this facility capabilities.
It would be my guess the real center is buried somewhere in the US SE. desert.
So in my Personnel opinion its a prop. A working prop, but still not the main banana.
Think of Switzerland. Some (Quite a few) of their mountains are hollowed out for defense. From planes to missiles, there all waiting for use if attacked . Why do you think the Nazis didn’t try to crack that nut?
A smart government would have at least two sites for reasons of redundancy. I suspect more, in case one or both are destroyed in a first exchange.
Slightly O/T (sod off vitiiie)
Useless Nations just voted for second round of sanctions against Iran. Whoopeee F**king-doo. Those sanctions sure helped Iraq,Sudan,Somalia et.al.
The core of all Cheyenne Mountain functionality can be duplicated on a few laptops, given their required comm links.
At this point in time, putting the otherwise useless Canuck NORAD component in a tall office building in Colorado Springs will at least make it useful as a first strike distraction.
The real functionality will continue to be widely dispersed, as the (orginal DARPA, now “internet”) intended.
C’mon all they need to do to get it going is open a “Timmies”.
Guys, GUYS … you’re missing the point!
Closing Cheyenne Mountain will deny Gen. O’Neill, Lt.Col Sam Carter, Daniel and T’ealc a base of operations!
That can’t be allowed to happen.
…what about T4? where are they going to hide?
And who said that the soviet union was dead it just spread all over the whole european continet i did,nt real die when the wall came down
You may recall my comment some time ago about the massive pipeline project across Pakistan to provide safe oil supply to China.
China is worried about delivery by ocean tanker being subject to disruption.
I thought a pipeline was just as vulnerable due to *Google earth orbit* but a documentary just detailed how the pipeline will be buried under – ground, Out of view.
It will still be at risk as it will be easily plotted before it becomes hidden.= TG