Most local and statewide officials and military security personnel were not concerned with what could seem to be a serious security breach.  The blueprints, which included 144 3X4-foot pages with complete schematics on all details of construction at Greely, excluding the silos, are marked "for official use only", but since they are available for purchase or given to contractors they are not considered high security.

Employees at Channel 11 KTVF reported the find to several Alaskan military bases but said that the Pentagon itself seemed more concerned than anyone locally.  The FBI came to retrieve the blueprints, and the Committee Manager of the Senate Subcommittee on Defense Appropriations seemed the most concerned of all and was very interested in seeing exactly what had been found.

The blueprints include all the plans for wiring on the base as well as electrical interties, heating, all buildings, fuel storage, assembly facilities, and a complete overview map.  Everything, as one reporter put it, that Al Quaida would want to know.

Last week I put aerial photographs of Fort Greely on my website, after learning that there are no flight restrictions over the base and discussing the issue with a man who was formerly based at Greely.  It will be very difficult to impose any restrictions in that area because it is the traditional route taken by planes flying North-South and there are restricted areas on either side.

Aerial photos and available blueprints underscore one of the many serious problems with missile defense programs -- namely that these types of weapons systems are far too vulnerable to be relied upon to defend us in any kind of surprise attack.  Any enemy that had the ability to launch an ICBM would find it very simple to sabotage components of the defense system before launching.

The Fairbanks paper has not run any story on this yet, nor did they cover yesterday's failed missile defense test.  The TV station that found the blueprints did mention it on their broadcast and also did an extensive interview with me before last weekend's Peace Camp at Fort Greely.  This is particularly interesting because the owners of the paper (Media News Group, owned by Dean Singleton) have been eagerly awaiting the lifting of FCC restrictions so that they could buy Channel 11, and the purchase seems imminent.  Singleton even mentioned the Fairbanks situation when testifying before Congress, explaining that area residents would be getting much better news coverage if they could consolidate the paper and TV station.