THE GULF WAR: The Home Front : The War Room

Located deep in the Pentagon is a little-known complex of offices and meeting rooms that are officially referred to as the NATIONAL MILITARY COMMAND CENTER but is better known as the WAR ROOM. This is where Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and others are briefed on the Gulf War’s progress. Its features include a large room about the size of a tiny movie theater where military commanders sit in upholstered chairs around a large table plotting the war strategies while aides look on from a balcony above. On one wall, a multiscreen projector displays maps and the nation’s secrets. At another area, staff members are busy monitoring regions of the world, sorting through cable dispatches that will later be passed on to top Pentagon officials.