Obama, Bush Team Up For Fake Emergency

WASHINGTON — Senior officials in the Bush administration and members of President-elect Barack Obama's staff teamed up at the White House Tuesday for a rehearsal of how to handle a hypothetical terrorist attack on an American city.

During the drill, they responded to a scenario in which transportation facilities and other targets were hit with improvised explosive devices. The exercise was part of an effort to smooth the transition from the Bush to Obama administrations without jeopardizing the nation's preparedness in case of a terrorist attack, pandemic or natural disaster. The White House said it was a realistic and conceivable scenario, but was not based on any current, credible threat.

"Whether we're Democrats or Republicans, we will have our policy differences," Rahm Emanuel, Obama's incoming chief of staff, told reporters outside the White House before the event. "There is no policy difference when it comes to protecting the American people."

Current White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten said the Bush administration began consulting with both the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns last summer on a number of transition issues, and started close consultation with the Obama team after the election.

"We've certified nearly 1,000 members of the Obama transition team for access to information and briefings at nearly 100 agencies around the government, and we've expedited clearances for key members of the national security team so that they're in a position to hit the ground running," Bolten said. "In the post-9/11 world, this isn't just good mannered, good government, it's a national security responsibility."

Similar exercises are held throughout the year to allow government officials to practice how they would respond to emergencies, said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. In the current exercise, dozens of officials, including some members of the Bush Cabinet, were briefed in the Situation Room, then later moved to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building for the exercise.

"While the federal government has regular exercises of this nature, today's session was the first ever exercise which included both current and outgoing senior White House officials and Cabinet members," Stanzel said.

Comments

[Rescisco]

Preparedness is always good. Now if only we could ramp up on mitigation (i.e. policies that reduce the threat and create a sustainable international system). That begins, I hope, on January 20th.

[BarefootSoul]

lol...I have a feeling that BOTH of them will benefit from that drill!!

[danpearce]

Agreed, silly headline. But the point is made. No change, then, in the Bush admin's self seving 'war on terror', triggered by its own fake emergency of 911. And how keen will Obama be to repeal the Patriot Act?
I fear the inevitable violence to come when Americans realise how the Republicans (and the bankers behind them) have ripped them off. Nothing focuses one's political awareness so much as poverty.
Good luck.

[whiteboyblues]

Too bad they didn't school Bush and Cheney on this when they took over.

And seriously HuffPo you are going all National Enquirer with the headlines.

[LDnearthesea]

On August 6, 2001, Bush was given a memo saying "Bin Ladin determined to attack the US."
Then Bush said "Watch this drive!" You can see it in Michael Moore's movie 9-11!

[QuestionEveryone]

Why is BUSH helping Obama? Could it be that Bush Does put the country's safety first? I believe he does...

[swyftdahoe]

I have never questioned Bush's intentions in protecting the country. Doesn't mean we can't criticize some of the many missteps that he took in doing so.

[JimR]

Oh, I believe Bush wants to do the right thing. I really do. But I don't think he has a clue as to what the right thing to do is.

[aquarius2001]

True True!!

[BarefootSoul]

Obama needs all the help he can get! Were about to see amateur hour!

[aquarius2001]

Yeah, and Bush will be the one taking notes!

[LDnearthesea]

No, Bush puts the safety of his base, the haves and have mores first. The rest of us, like those people in New Orleans, he could care less. He has considerable contempt for poor and lower middle class Americans. Do you honestly think he cares about the millions who have lost their jobs and homes with this depression that he caused by starting a war for no reason, and for the first time in US history, cutting taxes in a war, and having the federal government borrow trillions from Chinese, Japanese, European, and even Mexican banks?

[Grunty1]

"There is no policy difference when it comes to protecting the American people."

Sorry Rahm, but you are wrong here. Republicans have proven under George Bush that protecting people isn't priority, but shaking them down for profits.

[rizvisa1]

Well admit it, the headlines baited us into reading this in the first place. Good marketing gimmicks and we are suckers who time and again fall for it

[southernfried]

i swear huffingtonpost gets worst everyday

[UncommonSenz]

Another outstanding headline hp....

[teron678]

serious, who creates this misleading headlines?? ..