WorldNetDaily: Feds prepping for ‘continuity’ hub? — Here’s an interesting story directly from an extremely conservative publication. It seems that out-of-the blue the Feds are going to bump NORAD and NORTHCOM out of their command-and-control facilities and replace them with some sort of “continuity emergency government” operation. If you read enough of this article you see that this would also mean taking over the remote functionality of Canada too.
Against the strong protests of the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, several key strategic military commands, including NORAD and NORTHCOM, are moving ahead with a Department of Defense decision to abandon the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, the center of U.S. missile defense since the Cold War, to make way for what a GAO report says could be used as a “continuity of operations relocation facility.” Or something. Whatever is going on does look odd.
In an extraordinary report issued by the GAO May 21, Davi D’Agostino, GAO director of defense capabilities and management and the author of the report, considered the military’s decision to abandon Cheyenne Mountain so unfounded that the agency urgently called for congressional hearings.
Here is the kicker.
D’Agostino said she could not comment on whether the term “continuity of operations relocation facility” language suggested any relationship to presidential directives NSPD-51 and HSPD-20, published on the White House website, giving the president extraordinary powers should he declare a national emergency.
The question is whether under banner of “preserving the continuity of constitutional government in an emergency,” the president and key administration officials could establish a White House emergency command post in Cheyenne Mountain from which to direct the U.S. military in homeland security or national security operations.
As WND commented, NSPD-51 and HSPD-20 give the president nearly dictatorial powers when the president self-declares an emergency exists under a loose definition that describes “catastrophic emergency” as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.”
WND has also reported NORTHCOM is a domestic military command structure that now includes Canadian military command.
found by Mark McCullough
Just protecting America
Quick, blame Clinton! Jesus says so.
While Bush has expanded the power of the Executive branch, I do not think he’d be able to become a dictator. The States would simply not allow it. The People would not allow it.
Though… this joker has been able to stay in the White House, so I suppose anything is possible.
A lot of people in Canada are not happy with the idea of a North American Union (NAU) nor even a Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP).
Canadians love the States but…..
The major international corporations are overjoyed with the idea of NAU and SPP but Canadian citizens who know about it and what it means are horrified.
For instance, the increasingly strong Canadian dollar would become meaningless as the trillions of dollars of debt incurred by the current U.S. administration would become part of this NAU. Where’s the security or prosperity in that? What’s going to happen to Canadian oil sands and the water in the Great Lakes?
Canadians accept fighting and dying in Afghanistan because they are doing something worthwhile and positive and they are winning the ‘hearts and minds’ of Afghans.
The Taliban is a plague on Afghans and especially a plague on Afghan women, Their support of Al Qada makes them a plague on the entire world.
If Canada was part of the SPP and the NAU, they’d be fighting and dying in Iraq, for whatever reason Americans and Brits are fighting and dying in Iraq. Most Canadian voters wouldn’t accept that.
Mr. Bush might also want to think at least twice about what he’s doing in the world at large. For instance, a lot of Canadians are pissed off that Americans think the terrorists from 9/11 came into the U.S. via Canada. That is simply not true but the myth persists.
Americans have border problems but they’re not from the sophisticated north, they’re from the primitive south. Canadians expect a fair wage for the work they do, which disqualifies them from the slave labor Americans are importing from the south.
Canadians do have good sailors, soldiers and a sophisticated air force; maybe not enough of them but enough to make a difference. Still, they’re pretty good at what they do – maybe Americans should think about making proper use of them.
Looks like USA already has that “Catastrophic Emergency”, the war in Iraq. Just waiting for a more auspicious time to pull the plug on all those constitutional articles and amendments that our cousins to the south hold so dear.
How long will the CN Tower be the tallest free-standing structure in the world? Until somebody builds a taller one or until the invaders rename it the Halliburton Tower?
I wonder how much this will be an issue in the next Canadian federal election? Canada can’t have a more conservative and USA-government-friendly government than it has now. Will the pendulum stay still, go to neutral, or swing way over? Canadians love Americans as individuals, but I wonder who will be our Billy Green the Scout, two centuries on?
Signed,
Sardonic in Canadistan
aCa nada. Really. Just snow. It’ll turn your sticky fingers blue.
From a quick skim of some of the details of Northcom, etc, it looks like USNorthcom would/does have authority in Canadian territory, especially in the event of a disaster. Certainly makes me uncomfortable in some ways, even though I would hope we could cooperate in the event of a catastrophic North American situation. I don’t wish for a ‘United States of North America’…I take great pride in my country of Canada and believe that we are distinctly different than the U.S. in many ways. Sometimes I think many Americans forget that other people are as proud and protective of their own countries as U.S. citizens are of theirs.
Unfortunately, successive Canadian governments have let our military slide into mediocrity. while we would never have as large a military as the U.S. (we have 1/10th the population, and a corresponding lower GNP) our superb men and women have been cut to skeleton numbers and aging equipment. Talking to friends and relatives in the military…the pride, skill and heart are all still present, but they need more resources.
Looking at it objectively, both countries need each other, regardless of what naysayers on either side of the border like to shout. We have a great deal of energy, uranium, water, and other natural resources that the U.S., with its much denser population, uses at a much faster rate. On the other hand, we depend on the U.S. for a great deal of manufactured goods, and they are our main source for exports of most things. I was, however, not happy with whole Free Trade agreement a couple decades ago, and I mistrust any NAU or SPP – mainly because I do not honestly believe the leaders of an economically strong country like the U.S. would ever sign anything that did not definitely give them an advantage over the others.
I dont look anything like that fool in the picture.
Much ado about absolutely nothing, people:
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2007-03-29/news2.html
http://csindy.com/csindy/2007-05-03/cover.html
7. Oh THAT explains why this stuff is not covered in the media. I feel much better now.
Well a 10 Megaton A-Bomb to its door would yeild it null and void so clearly its worthless and we should all trust an office building would be a better bet.
The articles Bill posted had some good information but I see darker motives in this. The government cant stage a high level terror attack against a hole in a mountain as easily as it can a glass office and thereby help turn the screws in the coffin of our liberties. In the moderned era random rogue groups it would seem to make more sense to stay put. WTFE though.
Canada is looking better every day!
But if they abandon Cheyenne Mtn, where will they put Stargate Command?
But if they abandon Cheyenne Mtn, where will they put Stargate Command?
Antarctica?
This is all amusing to me because it was the Republicans eight years ago who were abuzz with conspiracy theories of how Clinton was going to use all of those executive orders he signed to hold onto power after 2000.
#4, jbellies, How long will the CN Tower be the tallest free-standing structure in the world?
Until this building is complete. Sorry for the music, but it’s still a great site,
http://www.burjdubai.com/