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Page added on May 20, 2017
Inside The US Government’s Plan To Survive Nuclear War
n 2011, a staffer at Washingtonian found a government ID in a Metro parking garage and gave it to Garrett M. Graff (the magazine’s editor-in-chief at the time) to track down its owner. “Since I reported about that world, he figured I’d know what to do with it,” Graff says.
Graff immediately noticed something strange.
“The back of the ID had these evacuation instructions on it. And so I got on Google Maps and followed the instructions and they led to a road that very clearly went into the side of a mountain, and you can see on the Google satellite view big concrete bunker doors.”
That discovery inspired Graff to comb through newly declassified documents to learn more about the U.S. government’s plans in the event of a nuclear war or other catastrophe. His research culminated in the new book “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die.” (Graff will discuss the book at Politics and Prose on Saturday.)
At first, the government didn’t plan to let “the rest of us die.”
“In the early 1950s, the government really hoped and believed it would be able to save most Americans,” Graff says. As bombs became more destructive, “plans and ambitions gradually shrunk until, realistically, the best they could hope to do is save the senior leadership.”
Drills and disasters have shown that the federal government is too complex and unwieldy to pluck out of D.C. by helicopter and set up in an underground bunker — though that was, and still is, the basic plan, Graff says.
One such shelter is the mountain fortress Graff tracked down: Raven Rock. Here’s more on it, plus other tidbits from doomsday scenarios past and present.
Raven Rock
This compound, carved out of a mountain near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, contains several freestanding, multistory buildings (on giant, shock-absorbing springs) for a total of 900,000 square feet of office space. It has its own subterranean water supply, too. Raven Rock is where top government and military officials would hide out in the event of a major attack on Washington, D.C.; it was reportedly one of the “undisclosed locations” former Vice President Dick Cheney worked from in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Mount Weather
Another major underground government complex, Mount Weather has been in use since the 1950s. Located at the border of Loudoun and Clarke counties in Virginia, the 600,000-square-foot bunker inside the mountain was once (and still may be) the official evacuation site for Supreme Court justices, documents such as the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and the National Gallery of Art’s most valuable paintings.
E-4B ‘doomsday planes’
These custom-built 747s, also known as “Air Force One When It Counts,” are flying war rooms that follow the president when he travels internationally. When POTUS is stateside, one plane sits ready on a runway at a Nebraska military base, “fully staffed with battle planners and war planners and meteorologists and anything else you might need to run a nuclear war,” Graff says. The planes are protected from electromagnetic pulse attacks with a fine wire mesh, and they can unfurl a 5-mile-long wire that allows communication with nuclear submarines.
Survival crackers
In the 1960s, the U.S. government distributed 150 million pounds of wheat crackers and biscuits to fallout shelters across America. Packages are still routinely found unopened in civic building basements, and apparently they don’t taste great. “I did actually find on eBay a box of them, but I haven’t been brave enough to try them in part because I have watched enough YouTube videos of other people trying them to know how disgusting they actually are,” Graff says.
Button #13
In the late 1970s, the D.C. mayor’s emergency control center at 300 Indiana Ave. NW had a Plexiglas-shielded button that, when pressed, triggered “Emer-zak,” the broadcast of emergency messages to lobbies, elevators and anywhere else served by the Muzak system.
30 Comments on "Inside The US Government’s Plan To Survive Nuclear War"
Ghung on Sat, 20th May 2017 2:53 pm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven_Rock_Mountain_Complex
onlooker on Sat, 20th May 2017 3:02 pm
Just an indication of how much in the grip of madness policy makers in the US are now!
kervennic on Sat, 20th May 2017 3:34 pm
Putin knows where to bomb first. There is a chance he does not follow the pussy american way, ie slaughter hundreds of thousand of civilian to win a war.
Ghung on Sat, 20th May 2017 4:15 pm
“Just an indication of how much in the grip of madness policy makers in the US are now!”
Raven Rock was started in 1951. MADD has been the policy for over 65 years.
Apneaman on Sat, 20th May 2017 4:37 pm
So, when us plebs have been fried and poisoned to death the politicians, the scummiest people on the planet, will be trapped underground with each other and a bunch of testosterone fueled gung ho soldiers who know there is no future because of these scum bags? Good. Maybe the soldiers won’t slaughter them all right away and enslave the males and turn their women into fuck toys. The baddest solider will be the new King of the Mountain.
I can see him now, sitting on his throne yelling out orders…
“Trump slave! get over here and floss[with his tongue] my toes again bitch”
onlooker on Sat, 20th May 2017 4:41 pm
Seems like a conflict of interest there Ghung. If you actively prepare to survive a Nuclear War its because deep down you believe that it can be winnable. At least by a few
onlooker on Sat, 20th May 2017 4:49 pm
Yep, AP karma is a bitch
dave thompson on Sat, 20th May 2017 4:58 pm
The whole idea of surviving a nuked out world in an underground bunker is ridiculous.
makati1 on Sat, 20th May 2017 6:14 pm
Dave, insanity rules in DC. Why would you expect them to think rationally? Have you seen something I missed? They DO believe that a nuke exchange would be winnable. THAT is what makes it even more likely that they will start it. The old Cold War had rational leaders who knew different and it scared them into keeping the nukes in the shed, not loaded on bombers.
bobinget on Sun, 21st May 2017 2:10 pm
Cheers,
Out on the old fault line we fearlessly awaiting “the Big One”
At 82, I’m tired of duckin and coverin. In the forth grade we kids were told, seriously, to make sure the backs of our necks were covered…. by our hands, no less. Since then I’ve been a bit skeptical surviving nuclear attacks.
I do love the notion of all those springs holding up an entire office building. Before the next generation
of fools tear it down, Let’s hope enough citizens organize a coordinated You/Tube sponsored jumpin contest. Wish to live long enough to see that.
Has anyone asked how the IRS will collect enough taxes, from 99 % dead people, to keep our armed services going. Gotta retaliate some day, don’t ya know.
Alice Friedemann on Sun, 21st May 2017 3:50 pm
Ha! This should do wonders to propel my book “Whole Grain Artisan Chips and Crackers” onto the bestseller list.
Apneaman on Sun, 21st May 2017 4:01 pm
I wonder how many other species an all nuke war would extinct? Oh well, most of them are going one way or another – externalities of the Cancer.
The vanishing animals that future generations will never see
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/20/vanishing-animals-future-generations-will-never-see/
Sorry cute N fuzzy, big eyed forest creatures, but IKEA had to chop down your homes so they could build me a shitty looking entertainment center for my 60″ flat screen, Blue Ray player, video game console and 5 remote controls I never use.
Apneaman on Sun, 21st May 2017 4:21 pm
Stephen Hawking Reiterates ‘100 Years Left’ Prediction, Says It’s Time To Find A New Earth
“with the extinction of mankind likely to happen in about a century from now, humans must leave Earth and find a new home. The 75-year-old physicist added that he’s not the only one in his field who has such a dire forecast for humanity going forward. “I am not alone in this view. And many of my colleagues will make further comments on this at Starmus next month.”
http://barentsnova.com/science/stephen-hawking-reiterates-100-years-left-prediction-says-its-time-to-find-a-new-earth/411
You’ll be hearing more scientists stop their self censoring and speak plainly as the great planetary unraveling continues. My guess is that there are many thousands of scientists, especially the biology people, who think the humans are finished and many more that have no doubts of a major die back.
I can also foresee the authoritarians, like trump & the trump tards, trying to silence them. See if the scientists are even just 20% right, that falsifies the entire belief system of trump and hundreds of millions of other ideologically driven denier tards. You were WRONG, now we die.
Apneaman on Sun, 21st May 2017 4:46 pm
More than 200 dead in heat wave in Telugu states in 2017, death toll at 4200 in last 4 years.
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/more-200-dead-heat-wave-telugu-states-2017-death-toll-4200-last-4-years-62342
My estimate is another half degree of warming and we’ll start to see major crop failures. Grain speculators will be cashing in and cheap assed $1 bread will be going up to $5 a loaf. Then the fun will start.
Apneaman on Sun, 21st May 2017 4:49 pm
Have we normalized (in one ear & out the other) all the record breaking heat, drought, floods, wild fires and rain bombs?
Record flooding in Salem, IN
http://www.wlky.com/article/record-flooding-in-salem-in/9886179
Cloggie on Sun, 21st May 2017 4:51 pm
My condolances Apneaman with the hockey world champion final loss.
You think the loss was climate related? Must be.
Apneaman on Sun, 21st May 2017 4:54 pm
Sharp rise in flooding ahead for world’s poorest
“Imagine what it might feel like, where not only your home, but your entire nation might be drowned.”
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/20/sharp-rise-in-flooding-ahead-for-worlds-poorest_partner/
It’s not just the poor who will suffer. Even the most despicable scum fucks among us will be feeling it.
Trump doesn’t believe in climate change, but it’s going to drown Mar-a-Lago
Florida is at extreme risk of rising sea levels.
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/5/18/15601016/trump-climate-change-mar-a-lago-sea-level-rise
LMAO – trump is the perfect American collapse president. Tailor-Fucking-Made
onlooker on Sun, 21st May 2017 5:36 pm
https://www.thoughtco.com/melting-glaciers-trigger-earthquakes-1203842
Fire and Ice: Melting Glaciers Trigger Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes
Apneaman on Sun, 21st May 2017 6:59 pm
clog, did not even know the tournament was being played. Haven’t watched sports in years. It’s just another corporate circus and soap opera. Pro sports is what passes for culture in N America. Children’s games made up out of whole cloth. One day they did not exist and the next? there they were and tens of millions follow it like religion.
For me, there is another, more interesting game I like to follow.
Why migration from Africa this century will make the refugee crisis look like a dress rehearsal
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05/20/coming-century-migration-africa-will-make-refugee-crisis-look/
Say hi to your new neighbors from me.
Apneaman on Sun, 21st May 2017 7:06 pm
Monkeys see monkeys do
All Politics Is Identity Politics
“The Right is just as reliant on identity politics.
Think about a typical political campaign, regardless of political party. How does a candidate present themselves? They usually begin by emphasising their connection to the constituency and how long they’ve lived there. It’s certainly a benefit if they were born there and voters react negatively to “outsiders”. Then they’ll show their bond with the community, their participation in local events, traditions etc. Always the emphasis is on how similar they are to the constituents, how much they have in common with the voters. ‘Vote for me because I’m just like you, I can best represent you because I have gone through the same experiences you have’. They’ll show their bond with local industries and interest groups, their shared religion and patriotism (especially in America).
All of this identity politics. All politicians aim to get voters to identify with them, the only difference is method. It’s only a question of whether they highlight their common race, religion, class, geography, occupation etc. The goal of every campaign is to make voters identify with the candidate and believe that they are part of the same group.
It’s ironic that people are currently criticising the Democrats for identity politics, when we have just witnessed a surge in identity politics on the Right. Donald Trump’s whole campaign was based on identity politics. He sought to portray himself as the champion of the white working class and fight against the big city liberal elite.”
https://whistlinginthewind.org/2017/05/14/all-politics-is-identity-politics/
jedrider on Sun, 21st May 2017 8:45 pm
Great. They should let every citizen know where our pols will be hiding, so we can adequately deal with them.
freak on Sun, 21st May 2017 9:01 pm
The Jason Group which is part of the pentagon: National Security Science will publish a report to CIA later this year in 2017 that due to abrupt climate change the 440 nuclear power plants will go into meltdown and release Ionizing radiation into atmosphere stripping it away. So instead of the planet resembling Venus atmosphere from climate change it will rather look like Mars atmosphere by 2054.
Cloggie on Sun, 21st May 2017 11:37 pm
“Why migration from Africa this century will make the refugee crisis look like a dress rehearsal… Say hi to your new neighbors from me.”
My street is 100% white, which can’t be said of yours, which is what you love, since your tribe is at war with whitey since a century and you will not wait until you have recreated the conditions of Soviet Russia on North-American soil. With the difference this time that the camp guards have a little color. Yes the bombers of German and Japanese cities (on your orders) and buddies of the Soviets are now in for a rough ride themselves. Ah well, at least will the US deliver for 350 billion weapons to the Turkey-KSA axis, which Israel doesn’t like too much [snicker].
But no worries, you know you can always count on the Europeans to airlift these poor Israelis into North-American safety.
Now why don’t you step up your desired non-white immigration to North-America and increase white despair even more to the tune that they not only vote for Cheeto, a largely futile exercise that will not solve their predicament, so that they finally grab for their non-confiscated guns…
https://youtu.be/u20JZsIACC8
…and that somewhere a Sloviansk or Vukovar on North-American soil will develop and rapidly expand from there.
In other words: why don’t you continue to prepare a nice tasteful American dish for Eurasia? 700 million Europeans and 1350 million Chinese are hungry and could use a bite. Why don’t you continue to undermine your own powerbase? Or do you think you and your darkies can defeat Anglo whitey? Why don’t you give it a try, buster? You have nothing to lose (other than your sorry life). And remember, your Nuremberg tales may have been all lies, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good idea.
Now let the Games begin… and terminate your century real bloody.
Cloggie on Sun, 21st May 2017 11:43 pm
“clog, did not even know the tournament was being played. Haven’t watched sports in years”
Too busy designing oil refineries, eh? That’s ok.
DerHundistlos on Mon, 22nd May 2017 12:58 am
Ape, please keep the sardonic humor rollin on.
Apneaman on Mon, 22nd May 2017 2:25 am
clog, you forgot to take your lithium again.
Sigh…….Old people…….wadda ya gonna do?
Apneaman on Mon, 22nd May 2017 2:31 am
Farming the World: China’s
Epic Race to Avoid a Food Crisis
“China’s 1.4 billion people are building up an appetite that is changing the way the world grows and sells food. The Chinese diet is becoming more like that of the average American, forcing companies to scour the planet for everything from bacon to bananas.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-feeding-china/
In a decade we’ll be going to war with China over the last truck load of Little Debbie’s Snack Cakes.
“Kill white devil…take hims honey buns”
Southwest_PA on Mon, 22nd May 2017 1:57 pm
Why the Washington Post thinks this is news baffles me. NY Times mag ran an article on the place 17 years ago. It was old news even then.
http://partners.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20001203mag-gifford.html
Apneaman on Mon, 22nd May 2017 3:18 pm
If there’s no war they can always use them as AGW escape bunkers.
South Africa’s Western Cape declares drought disaster
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40002770
CIA-MOLE on Mon, 22nd May 2017 7:03 pm
crank up the doom meter because I’m tired of losing in the stock market. Give me your money so I can buy when you sell.
i told you guys not to get depressed but you won’t listen so I’ll take your money instead.
sell, sell, sell.