US preps NORTHCOM for domestic emergencies

WND Exclusive U.S. preps NORTHCOM for domestic emergencies
Top official tells WND of changes, follows directive expanding presidential powers
Posted: June 19, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com


Building 2 at Peterson Air Force Base

The military is transforming the Cheyenne Mountain Directorate in Colorado – the famous Cold War surveillance and command center – by moving important functions to nearby Peterson Air Force Base in order to improve operations for NORTHCOM, the United States Northern Command, a top official tells WND columnist Jerome Corsi in an interview published today.

Corsi has argued the military under NORTHCOM is being positioned for action under presidential authority in any one of a dozen scenarios within the U.S. – including natural disasters, epidemics, terrorist attacks, insurrections or domestic violence, including conspiracies.

In May, President Bush issued a new National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (NSPD-51 and NSPD-20). Corsi reported the language of the directives would give the president near dictatorial powers in the event of a self-declared national emergency.

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WND today published the first of a two-part interview Corsi conducted with U.S. Army Col. Tom Muir, deputy operations officer for Command Center Operations for NORTHCOM NORAD, North American Aerospace Defense Command.

NORTHCOM was created Oct. 1, 2002, one year after the 9/11 attacks to protect the U.S. homeland and support local, state, and federal authorities.

Corsi has reported NORAD and NORTHCOM announced major command center changes that have prompted objections from the General Accountability Office.

In the interview, Muir explained that NORAD and NORTHCOM have moved command functions to Building 2 at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs "for operational effectiveness and for efficiency purposes, to co-locate many of the functions that are currently split between the two centers."

In the new focus on domestic defense that has arisen since 9/11, Muir argued, "It sure does work better, particularly in what we call more of a horizontal sharing of situational awareness amongst partners, if we are all located together."

The second part of the interview, to be published tomorrow, focuses on defining how NORAD and NORTHCOM are preparing for domestic emergencies.

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