Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld had the same idea. NORAD had always been under military authority...half a century...then in July of 2001 Donald Rumsfeld had control of NORAD transferred to him, as head of the Department of Defense. First time in US history the security of American air space had been placed in civilian hands. 2 months later, Sept 11. And on that day, Dick Cheney was running NORAD. He was the only person in the world who knew which radar blips were live and which were part of the multiple wargames going on (Global Guardian, Vigilant Guardian, etc.) Cheney and Rumsfeld successfully pulled off a coup d'etat. Under the cover of drills that were being conducted on that day.