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CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN AIR FORCE STATION, Colorado (AP) -- Dr. Strangelove would have a heart attack: America's vaunted underground war room deep inside this granite mountain is being retired. Not only that, but Russian military men have been inside the place.
During the long nuclear standoff with Moscow, the nation's super-secret nerve center was a symbol of both Cold War might and apocalyptic dread, depicted in such movies as "WarGames" in 1983.
But with the end of the Cold War, the war room is being put on "warm standby" to save money. A staff will keep it ready to resume operations at a moment's notice if a blast-hardened command center becomes necessary, but the critical work is being shifted to Peterson Air Force Base, about 10 miles away.
"In today's Netted, distributed world we can do very good work on a broad range of media right here," Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said from his Peterson headquarters. "Right there at that desk, including one push-button to the president."
Moreover, the U.S. military says the countries that have succeeded the Soviet Union as the main threat to this country -- hostile states such as North Korea and Iran -- do not have the weapons to take out a command center in Colorado.
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Keating said it costs about $250 million a year to operate Cheyenne Mountain fully staffed. Congress's Government Accountability Office has said efforts to modernize Cheyenne Mountain were too expensive or behind schedule.
Last year, the commander of long-range Russian military aviation visited the command center at Cheyenne Mountain. NORAD recently said it also would like to begin talks with the Russians about joint surveillance flights along the Alaska-Siberia frontier.
"The Russians have been up there," Keating said. "We've drank vodka at the Broadmoor (Hotel). We've sat here and discussed grave issues. Life goes on. It's OK."
During the long nuclear standoff with Moscow, the nation's super-secret nerve center was a symbol of both Cold War might and apocalyptic dread, depicted in such movies as "WarGames" in 1983.
But with the end of the Cold War, the war room is being put on "warm standby" to save money. A staff will keep it ready to resume operations at a moment's notice if a blast-hardened command center becomes necessary, but the critical work is being shifted to Peterson Air Force Base, about 10 miles away.
"In today's Netted, distributed world we can do very good work on a broad range of media right here," Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, said from his Peterson headquarters. "Right there at that desk, including one push-button to the president."
Moreover, the U.S. military says the countries that have succeeded the Soviet Union as the main threat to this country -- hostile states such as North Korea and Iran -- do not have the weapons to take out a command center in Colorado.
>
Keating said it costs about $250 million a year to operate Cheyenne Mountain fully staffed. Congress's Government Accountability Office has said efforts to modernize Cheyenne Mountain were too expensive or behind schedule.
Last year, the commander of long-range Russian military aviation visited the command center at Cheyenne Mountain. NORAD recently said it also would like to begin talks with the Russians about joint surveillance flights along the Alaska-Siberia frontier.
"The Russians have been up there," Keating said. "We've drank vodka at the Broadmoor (Hotel). We've sat here and discussed grave issues. Life goes on. It's OK."
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