| | | | | | | | When the U.S. wants to keep a secret, its leaders head to the Situation Room. Tucked beneath the West Wing, the room was built on the lessons of failure. President Kennedy ordered its construction in 1961 after the Bay of Pigs collapse, determined never again to be caught scrambling for information during a crisis. In the six decades since, it has been the setting for some of the most consequential decisions in American history: the Cuban Missile Crisis, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and now, the authorization of strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. Its protocols are absolute. Attendees surrender their mobile devices at the door. Independent recording devices are forbidden. The staff holds top-level security clearances vetted by the Secret Service. Whatever is said inside those walls is supposed to stay there. So much for that. Read the full story.
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