# Most Protected Building on Earth?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 19, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604 "2013-08-19T01:17:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/1 "2013-08-19T01:17:53Z")
In a recent movie trailer they talked about the White House as “the most protected building on earth”. Is that true? Is there a division of Marines stationed nearby equipped with ground to air missiles?
I would have thought Fort Knox would have been one of the most, if not the most, protected ‘buildings’ on earth. Please fight my ignorance.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/2 "2013-08-19T01:40:07Z")
The embassy of the US in Iraq would have to be high up the list.
> **[The US Embassy In Baghdad Cost A Staggering $750 Million \[PHOTOS\]](https://www.businessinsider.com/750-million-united-states-embassy-iraq-baghdad-2013-3?op=1)**
But the actual security measures are going to be classified. How are you going to compare realistically?
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/3 "2013-08-19T01:44:24Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> The embassy of the US in Iraq would have to be high up the list.
> [The Most Decadent Images From the $750 Million US Embassy in Baghdad - Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/750-million-united-states-embassy-iraq-baghdad-2013-3?op=1)
>
> But the actual security measures are going to be classified. How are you going to compare realistically?
Someone must know. Perhaps what is the most protected building in the US would be a good place to start.
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### Author:  [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/4 "2013-08-19T01:49:01Z")
I’ll go with [Cheyenne Mountain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheyenne_Mountain_nuclear_bunker).
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/5 "2013-08-19T01:55:04Z")
Cheyenne Mountain has a big door, but not a lot of active defense. (I live in Co Springs, it’s right down the road)
The White House does allegedly have anti-aircraft missiles but shooting a plane down over a city is problematic.
But I don’t think the most-protected building is in the USA by quite a margin.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/6 "2013-08-19T01:57:56Z")
How do you define best? How do you compare isolated military bases with publicly-accessible buildings in the middle of cities? What are they being protected from? A car bomb? A terrorist attack? An atomic missile? When you say “somebody must know,” who decides these things? Do you really believe the Pentagon maintains a list called “best protected”?
Everything important is protected to the highest level of feasible protection these days. Doesn’t that make it a zillion-way tie?
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### Author:  [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/7 "2013-08-19T01:59:11Z")
You don’t really need anti-air missiles when you’re inside a mountain though, do you?
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/8 "2013-08-19T02:02:42Z")
No you sure don’t. 😃
I missed the public tours, but NORAD is just as secure as it claims to be.
The facility is a bit dated- Schreiver Air Force Base, just to the east, has some newer stuff in deep bunkers.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/9 "2013-08-19T02:11:59Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#):
>
> No you sure don’t. 😃
>
> I missed the public tours, but NORAD is just as secure as it claims to be.
> **The facility is a bit dated**
But then, they’ve got a Stargate, so there’s that.
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/10 "2013-08-19T02:17:26Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#):
>
> How do you define best? How do you compare isolated military bases with publicly-accessible buildings in the middle of cities? What are they being protected from? A car bomb? A terrorist attack? An atomic missile? When you say “somebody must know,” who decides these things? Do you really believe the Pentagon maintains a list called “best protected”?
>
> Everything important is protected to the highest level of feasible protection these days. Doesn’t that make it a zillion-way tie?
If someone says that a building is “the most protected” to me that means it’s the hardest to penetrate by an invading force. Sure, if you drop a 30 megaton bomb directly over any building there won’t be much left, but if someone wanted to kidnap the US President, take over the US nuclear arsenal or steal the gold out of Ft. Knox which would be harder to accomplish?
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/11 "2013-08-19T02:18:46Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> If someone says that a building is “the most protected” to me that means it’s the hardest to penetrate by an invading force…
If you allow underground bunkers then the White House is going to be nowhere near the most protected. All they have to do at Cheyenne is sound the alarm and seal the blast doors.
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/12 "2013-08-19T02:34:16Z")
Hell yes. Plus Ft Carson at the foot of the mountain, and Peterson air base standing by.
If that’s the criterion, then the Greater Cheyenne Mountain Complex is right up there at the top.
30 megaton bomb wouldn’t break NORAD. It would be a hassle at most.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/13 "2013-08-19T02:38:03Z")
The most protected building on Earth is one in Russia. You’ve never heard of it, and neither has anybody else.
Without a precise definiton, we are arguing about nothing. In any case, the White House ain’t it, no matter what it is.
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### Author:  [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/14 "2013-08-19T02:46:21Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#):
>
> if someone wanted to kidnap the US President, take over the US nuclear arsenal or steal the gold out of Ft. Knox which would be harder to accomplish?
“Taking over the nuclear arsenal” is more or less impossible. Kidnapping (but not killing) the Pres almost equally so.
So stealing gold from Ft Knox is the answer to the question. Though as another thread pointed out, it’s logistically challenging.
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/15 "2013-08-19T03:03:29Z")
until it is decided which definition to work under, how about financial? which building costs the most to build and maintain its security?
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### Author:  [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/16 "2013-08-19T03:39:23Z")
Fort Knox has 10,000 troops stationed around the Treasury storage building, right?
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/17 "2013-08-19T04:15:50Z")
Since there is general agreement that the White House isn’t “the most protected building on earth” I’m satisfied with that answer. As far as which building is the most protected, without a precise definition of “protected” it’s a meaningless question. No further discussion is needed.
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### Author:  [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/18 "2013-08-19T11:41:49Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> The most protected building on Earth is one in Russia. You’ve never heard of it, and neither has anybody else.
You mean Project Koschei, right? 😃
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/19 "2013-08-19T11:43:22Z")
Ia!
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2013, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-protected-building-on-earth/666604/20 "2013-08-20T11:30:56Z")
> [@the\_diego](#):
>
> Fort Knox has 10,000 troops stationed around the Treasury storage building, right?
But they have missions that are other than protecting the Bullion Depository.
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