The cloak-and-dagger tone of this convocation was further enhanced by the
meeting place itself. Iron Mountain, located near the town of Hudson, is like
something out of Ian Fleming or E. Phillips Oppenheim. It is an underground
nuclear hideout for hundreds of large American corporations. Most of them use
it as an emergency storage vault for important documents. But a number of
them maintain substitute corporate headquarters as well, where essential
personnel could presumably survive and continue to work after an attack. This
latter group includes such firms as Standard Oil of New Jersey, Manufacturers
Hanover Trust, and Shell.
I will leave most of the story of the operations of the Special Study Group, as
the commission was formally called, for Doe to tell in his own words
("Background Information"). At this point it is necessary to say only that it met
and worked regularly for over two and a half years, after which it produced a
Report. It was this document, and what to do about it, that Doe wanted to talk to
me about.
The Report, he said, had been suppressed --- both by the Special Study Group
itself and by the government INTERAGENCY committee to which it had been
submitted. After months of agonizing, Doe had decided that he would no longer
be party to keeping it secret. What he wanted from me was advice and
assistance in having it published. He gave me his copy to read, with the express
understanding that if for any reason I were unwilling to become involved, I
would say nothing about it to anyone else.
I read the Report that same night. I will pass over my own reactions to it, except
to say that the unwillingness of Doe's associates to publicize their findings
became readily understandable. What had happened was that they had been so
tenacious in their determination to deal comprehensively with the many
problems of transition to peace that the original questions asked of them were
never quite answered. Instead, this is what they concluded:
Lasting peace, while no theoretically impossible, is probably unattainable; even
if it could be achieved it would almost certainly not be in the best interests of a
stable society to achieve it.
That is the gist of what they say. Behind their qualified academic language runs
this general argument: War fills certain functions essential to the stability of our
society; until other ways of filling them are developed, the war system must be
maintained -- and improved in effectiveness.
meeting place itself. Iron Mountain, located near the town of Hudson, is like
something out of Ian Fleming or E. Phillips Oppenheim. It is an underground
nuclear hideout for hundreds of large American corporations. Most of them use
it as an emergency storage vault for important documents. But a number of
them maintain substitute corporate headquarters as well, where essential
personnel could presumably survive and continue to work after an attack. This
latter group includes such firms as Standard Oil of New Jersey, Manufacturers
Hanover Trust, and Shell.
I will leave most of the story of the operations of the Special Study Group, as
the commission was formally called, for Doe to tell in his own words
("Background Information"). At this point it is necessary to say only that it met
and worked regularly for over two and a half years, after which it produced a
Report. It was this document, and what to do about it, that Doe wanted to talk to
me about.
The Report, he said, had been suppressed --- both by the Special Study Group
itself and by the government INTERAGENCY committee to which it had been
submitted. After months of agonizing, Doe had decided that he would no longer
be party to keeping it secret. What he wanted from me was advice and
assistance in having it published. He gave me his copy to read, with the express
understanding that if for any reason I were unwilling to become involved, I
would say nothing about it to anyone else.
I read the Report that same night. I will pass over my own reactions to it, except
to say that the unwillingness of Doe's associates to publicize their findings
became readily understandable. What had happened was that they had been so
tenacious in their determination to deal comprehensively with the many
problems of transition to peace that the original questions asked of them were
never quite answered. Instead, this is what they concluded:
Lasting peace, while no theoretically impossible, is probably unattainable; even
if it could be achieved it would almost certainly not be in the best interests of a
stable society to achieve it.
That is the gist of what they say. Behind their qualified academic language runs
this general argument: War fills certain functions essential to the stability of our
society; until other ways of filling them are developed, the war system must be
maintained -- and improved in effectiveness.
