Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret

[Dave Monroe]

>From Barton Gellman and Susan Schmidt, "Shadow
Government Is at Work in Secret," Washington Post,
Friday, March 1st, 200s ...

President Bush has dispatched a shadow government of
about 100 senior civilian managers to live and work
secretly outside Washington, activating for the first
time long-standing plans to ensure survival of federal
rule after catastrophic attack on the nation's
capital.

[...]

Officials who are activated for what some of them call
"bunker duty" live and work underground 24 hours a
day, away from their families. As it settles in for
the long haul, the shadow government has sent home
most of the first wave of deployed personnel,
replacing them most commonly at 90-day intervals.

The civilian cadre present in the bunkers usually
numbers 70 to 150, and "fluctuates based on
intelligence" about terrorist threats, according to a
senior official involved in managing the program. It
draws from every Cabinet department and some
independent agencies. Its first mission, in the event
of a disabling blow to Washington, would be to prevent
collapse of essential government functions.

[...]

Only the executive branch is represented in the
full-time shadow administration. The other branches of
constitutional government, Congress and the judiciary,
have separate continuity plans but do not maintain a
24-hour presence in fortified facilities.

The military chain of command has long maintained
redundant centers of communication and control,
hardened against thermonuclear blast and operating
around the clock....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20584-2002Feb28.html

Shadow government, shadow military, hell, what we need
is a shadow constituency to keep 'em all honest ...

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Greetings - Send FREE e-cards for every occasion!
http://greetings.yahoo.com