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Gold9472
10-09-2007, 08:45 AM
Nuke transportation story has explosive implications

http://www.star-telegram.com/245/story/259201.html

By ROBERT STORMER
10/7/2007

Last month, six W80-1 nuclear-armed AGM-129 advanced cruise missiles were flown from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and sat on the tarmac for 10 hours undetected.

Press reports initially cited the Air Force mistake of flying nuclear weapons over the United States in violation of Air Force standing orders and international treaties, while completely missing the more important major issues, such as how six nuclear cruise missiles got loose to begin with.

Opinion columns and editorials appeared in America's newspapers, some blasting the Air Force for flying nukes over the U.S. and some defending the Air Force procedure. None of the news reports focused on the real questions of our nuclear security.

Let me be very clear here: We are not talking about paintball cartridges or pellet gun ammo. We are talking nuclear weapons.

There is a strict chain of custody for all such weapons. Nuclear weapons handling is spelled out in great detail in Air Force regulations, to the credit of that service. Every person who orders the movement of these weapons, handles them, breaks seals or moves any nuclear weapon must sign off for tracking purposes.

Two armed munitions specialists are required to work as a team with all nuclear weapons. All individuals working with nuclear weapons must meet very strict security standards and be tested for loyalty -- this is known as a "Personnel Reliability Program." They work in restricted areas within eyeshot of one another and are reviewed constantly.

All security forces assigned are authorized to use deadly force to protect the weapons from any threat. Nor does anyone quickly move a 1-ton cruise missile -- or forget about six of them, as reported by some news outlets, especially cruise missiles loaded with high explosives.

The United States also does not transport nuclear weapons meant for elimination attached to their launch vehicles under the wings of a combat aircraft. The procedure is to separate the warhead from the missile, encase the warhead and transport it by military cargo aircraft to a repository -- not an operational bomber base that just happens to be the staging area for Middle Eastern operations.

Yes, we still do fly nuclear warheads over the United States today. We also drive them over land as well. That's not the point.

This is about how six nuclear advanced cruise missiles got out of their bunkers and onto a combat aircraft without notice of the wing commander, squadron commander, munitions maintenance squadron (MMS), the B-52H's crew chief and command pilot and onto another Air Force base tarmac without notice of that air base's chain of command -- for 10 hours.

It is time that we got to the bottom of it through a comprehensive investigation.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has asked Larry Welch, a former Air Force chief of staff, to lead an independent inquiry into the implications of the incident. That is in addition to the existing Air Force investigation headed by Maj. Gen. Douglas Raaberg, director of air and space operations at Air Combat Command, which is responsible for all Air Force bombers and fighters.

The questions that must be answered:

1 Why, and for what ostensible purpose, were these nuclear weapons taken to Barksdale?

2 How long was it before the error was discovered?

3 How many mistakes and errors were made, and how many needed to be made, for this to happen?

4 How many and which security protocols were overlooked?

5 How many and which safety procedures were bypassed or ignored?

6 How many other nuclear command and control non-observations of procedure have there been?

7 What is Congress going to do to better oversee U.S. nuclear command and control?

8 How does this incident relate to concern for reliability of control over nuclear weapons and nuclear materials in Russia, Pakistan and elsewhere?

9 Does the Bush administration, as some news reports suggest, have plans to attack Iran with nuclear weapons?

10 If this was an accident, have we degraded our military to a point where we are now making critical mistakes with our nuclear arsenal? If so, how do we correct this?

Yes, heads must roll and careers will end. But let's make sure that this includes the ranks from general officers to noncommissioned ones.

Or is this to be the Air Force version of the Abu Ghraib investigation?

Robert Stormer of Chicago is a retired lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserve, serving with the Navy's Supervisor of Salvage, and was a specialist in weapons retrieval. He is a marine engineer and marine salvage specialist.

simuvac
10-09-2007, 11:53 AM
I don't get this story. On the surface it seems like a setup for a false flag stolen nuke scenario; but that's too obvious, and so unlikely, and it doesn't make sense to me why it is being openly reported. How did this story get leaked, I wonder?

dtravni
10-09-2007, 03:52 PM
for a fuller explanation, see

http://www.rense.com/general78/kene.htm

Gold9472
10-09-2007, 04:27 PM
for a fuller explanation, see

http://www.rense.com/general78/kene.htm

Webster Tarpley is a joke, and nothing he says, or writes should be taken seriously.

AuGmENTor
10-09-2007, 08:24 PM
Webster Tarpley is a joke, and nothing he says, or writes should be taken seriously.You can't just throw that one out there. (I mean, you can, but.... you know). I for one would like to know what makes you say that...

simuvac
10-09-2007, 08:44 PM
for a fuller explanation, see

http://www.rense.com/general78/kene.htm

His connection of events to the Kennebunkport Warning is specious. Otherwise, his explanation sounds possible, but there's no way to confirm this thesis. There could be a hundred other reasons.

Was it a sign of a revolt within the military, or just a mistake? I don't see evidence to confirm either reading.

Gold9472
10-09-2007, 08:48 PM
Webster Tarpley is a joke, and nothing he says, or writes should be taken seriously.

He accused me of being COINTELPRO during his talk in New York City during the anniversary events.

I haven't posted anything about it really on this site because I didn't want to clutter the site with it. But if you read Michael Wolsey's piece that I did post, you'd understand.

AuGmENTor
10-09-2007, 09:05 PM
He accused me of being COINTELPRO during his talk in New York City during the anniversary events.

I haven't posted anything about it really on this site because I didn't want to clutter the site with it. But if you read Michael Wolsey's piece that I did post, you'd understand.Link it so I can refresh myself... (and be angry all over again.

dtravni
10-10-2007, 10:17 AM
there seems to be a degree of corroboration by Wayne Madsen ...

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Sept. 27, 2007 -- Bush administration seeking to tamp down interest in B-52 incident


publication date: Sep 27, 2007
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/images/save_icon.gif (http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20070927_1/print?printview=pdf) http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/images/print_icon.gif (http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20070927_1/print)


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Sept. 27, 2007 -- Bush administration seeking to tamp down interest in B-52 incident

Although the media that covers the Pentagon is hungry for more details about the August 30 B-52 incident, in which six nuclear weapons-laden stealth cruise missiles were supposedly flown by "mistake" from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, a Middle East deployment staging base, the incident is being shrouded in an official investigation and an outside investigation ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael Mosely are doing their best to string out the investigation as long as they can until media interest wanes. According to Gannett, Major General Douglas Raaberg, director of air and space operations of the Air Combat Command and the chief of the official investigation team, has already visited Minot and Barksdale. To highlight the cover-up of the incident, Wynne, Mosely, and Raaberg are still not using the word "nuclear" in references to the B-52 incident, keeping with a strict policy of neither confirming nor denying information about nuclear weapons operations.

WMR has been contacted by a retired Air Force officer with nuclear weapons experience who has verified our account of the story about the B-52 and the nuclear cruise missiles being destined for the Middle East (http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/articles/20070923) until Air Force elements aborted the operation and then leaked the matter to two trusted military-oriented newspapers, Military Times and Air Force Times.

We have also been informed that the B-52H is designed to carry two types of nuclear-capable missiles that are designed to be fired during flight: the AGM-129 cruise missile with a W80, mod 1 nuclear warhead that is mounted on pylons under the wings of the aircraft, and the AGM-69 short range attack missile (SRAM), which can be mounted either on the pylons or deploy-able from the rear bomb bay of the fuselage. The AGM-69 missiles are armed with W69M nuclear warheads.

Do not expect any insightful official pronouncements on this incident any time soon as the entire investigation has gone into major "cover up" mode.