Staging Nukes for Iran?

Note to Pelosi and Reid: Get off your behinds and give the idiots cheney and bush impeachment to think about, instead of Iran. You hold the fate of the world in your hands.

The possibility of unintendedly shipping nukes is ZERO. Can’t happen.

If this were a bad science fiction novel, the next event in the storyline would be the determination that two or more nukes have been “kidnapped” somewhere in-transit. After that, the kidnappers would detonate one of the missing nukes in or nearby a city within the continental USA. After that, the kidnappers would make demands of some sort. After that, Bruce Willis would drive into the kidnappers’ stronghold in a battered ’87 Ford pickup, kill them all, and then hand carry the nuke(s) to safety.

The point of this absurd synopsis is to observe in public that the current progression of events is trending towards the discovery that two or more nukes are “missing”.

My swag scenario:

Pure, unadulterated black propaganda by Deadeye and his uber-loyal Cheneyites. The propaganda ball bounces thusly:

1. No nukes ever left their storage facilities and the “story” that a B-52 flew ‘em from ND to LA is a deliberate fiction meant for US and Foriegn media publication.

2. Assumes that Iran knows full well that Barksdale, LA is in fact staging area for B-52 Mideast bombing runs.

3. Assumes that Iran knows full well that US nuke arming procedures are “fail-safed” with N-squared signoff and authorization processes.

4. Assumes that Iran knows full well that “if” nukes were loaded, they damm well were authorized by the “highest command authority”.

I think a message in a nuclear bottle was being sent.

Based on all the comments by us veterans, this either really didn’t happen and is instead black propaganda meant to saber-rattle at Iran, or the NCA (National Command Authority) has really been taken over by Dr. Strangelove.

And they telegraphed an air command standdown on September 14th. That scares the hell out of me. Remember what happened the last time our air forces were stood down????????

Hummmmmm lets try two security breaches…one with the nukeand the other? “It was originally reported that five nuclear warheads were transported, but officers who tipped Military Times to the incident who have asked to remain anonymous since they are not authorized to discuss the incident, have since updated that number to six.”

It was originally reported that five nuclear warheads were transported, but officers who tipped Military Times to the incident who have asked to remain anonymous since they are not authorized to discuss the incident, have since updated that number to six.

Air Force and defense officials would not confirm the missiles were armed with nuclear warheads Wednesday, citing longstanding policy, but they did confirm the Air Force was “investigating an error made last Thursday during the transfer of munitions” from Minot to Barksdale.

The original plan was to transport non-nuclear Advanced Cruise Missiles, mounted on the wings of a B-52, to Barksdale as part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 of the ACMs. It was not discovered that the six missiles had nuclear warheads until the plane landed at Barksdale, leaving the warheads unaccounted for during the approximately 3 1/2 hour flight between the two bases, the officers said.

President Bush was immediately alerted to the mistake and the Air Force launched a service-wide investigation headed by Maj. Gen. Douglas Raaberg, director of Air and Space Operations at Air Combat Command Headquarters, said Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Ed Thomas.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has requested daily briefings from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley on the progress of the probe. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., a member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, requested a full classified briefing, not just the preliminary information being provided to lawmakers, to explain how a mistake of this magnitude could have happened.

Thomas said the transfer was conducted safely and the American public was never in any danger since the weapons were in Air Force custody and control at all times.

But few critics were placated Wednesday by the Air Force’s reassurances.

“Nothing like this has ever been reported before and we have been assured for decades that it was impossible,” said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass, co-chair of the House Bi-partisan Task Force.

Non-proliferation treaty experts said the Air Force didn’t violate any international nuclear treaties by transporting the nuclear warheads on the B-52, but it was the first time since 1968 that it’s been known publicly that nuclear warheads were transported on a U.S. bomber.

After six nuclear-armed B-52s crashed from 1959-1968, the Defense Department ordered all bombers off nuclear airborne alert. The policy change occurred after a B-52 crashed in Greenland in January 1968, dropping three nuclear warheads on the island and one into the ocean.

As a gesture to Russia and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the first Bush administration took it one step farther in 1991 by ordering all bombers to halt nuclear ground alerts, which allowed bomber crews to practice loading a nuclear warhead, but never taking off with one.

The Defense Department does transport nuclear warheads by air, but instead of bombers it uses C-17 or C-130 cargo aircraft.

“These reports are deeply disturbing,” said Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. “The American people, our friends, and our potential adversaries must be confident that the highest standards are in place when it comes to our nuclear arsenal.”

Nuclear weapon experts said they were shocked to find out how completely command and control over the six nuclear warheads failed to allow such a mistake to occur.

Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said a host of security checks and warning signs must have been passed over, or completely ignored, for the warheads to have been unknowingly loaded onto the B-52.

ACMs are specifically designed to carry a W80-1 nuclear warhead with a yield of 5 to 150 kilotons and delivered by B-52 strategic bombers.

“It’s not like they had nuclear ACMs and conventional ACMs right next to each other and they just happened to load one with a nuclear warhead,” Kristensen said.

The Defense Department uses a computerized tracking program to keep tabs on each one of its nuclear warheads, he said. For the six warheads to make it onto the B-52, each one would have had to be signed out of its storage bunker and transported to the bomber. Diligent safety protocols would then have had to been ignored to load the warheads onto the plane, Kristensen said.

All ACMs loaded with a nuclear warhead have distinct red signs distinguishing them from ACMs without a nuclear yield, he said. ACMs with nuclear warheads also weigh significantly more than missiles without them.

“I just can’t imagine how all of this happened,” said Philip Coyle, a senior adviser on nuclear weapons at the Center for Defense Information. “The procedures are so rigid; this is the last thing that’s supposed to happen.”

The risk of the warheads falling into the hands of rogue nations or terrorists was minimal since the weapons never left the United States, said Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, an independent research and policy think tank in Washington D.C.

At no time was there a risk for a nuclear detonation, even if the B-52 crashed on its way to Barksdale, said Steve Fetter, a former Defense Department official who worked on nuclear weapons policy in 1993-94. A crash would ignite the high explosives associated with the warhead, and possibly cause a leak of plutonium, but the warhead’s elaborate safeguards would prevent a nuclear detonation from occurring, he said.

“The main risk would have been the way the Air Force responded to any problems with the flight because they would have handled it much differently if they would have known nuclear warheads were onboard,” Fetter said.

It’s still unclear specifically how the B-52’s flight from Minot to Barksdale would have been different since most nuclear security protocols are classified. But, Kristensen said the flight pattern might have been different since there would have been airspace restrictions. Also, security at both airports would have heightened considerably and the communications between the pilot and the control towers would have been altered, he said.

Air Combat Command will have a command-wide mission stand-down Sept. 14 to review its procedures in response to the mistake. Even units without oversight of nuclear weapons will take part in the stand-down, Thomas said.

“The Air Force takes its mission to safeguard weapons seriously,” he said. “No effort will be spared to ensure that the matter is thoroughly and completely investigated.”

Along with the 5th Munitions Squadron commander, the munitions crews involved in mistakenly loading the nuclear warheads at Minot have been temporarily decertified from performing their duties involving munitions, pending corrective actions or additional training, Thomas said.

The error comes after the Air Force announced last March the 5th Bomb Wing won two servicewide safety awards during fiscal year 2006.

“This is really shocking,” Coyle said. “The Air Force can’t tolerate it, and the Pentagon can’t tolerate it, either.”

ALSO

20 Mishaps That Might Have Started Accidental Nuclear War
by Alan F. Philips, M.D.

Ever since the two adversaries in the Cold War, the U.S.A. an the U.S.S.R., realized that their nuclear arsenals were sufficient to do disastrous damage to both countries at short notice, the leaders and the military commanders have thought about the possibility of a nuclear war starting without their intention or as a result of a false alarm. Increasingly elaborate accessories have been incorporated in nuclear weapons and their delivery systems to minimize the risk of unauthorized or accidental launch or detonation. A most innovative action was the establishment of the “hot line” between Washington and Moscow in 1963 to reduce the risk of misunderstanding between the supreme commanders.

http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/issues/accidents/20-mishaps-maybe-caused-nuclear-

I should also say that safety stand-downs do not generally inhibit the mission of the Wing.

But honestly, being concerned about the stand-down is a distraction from the real issues here.

After his comment to Deputy Australian Prime Minister Mark Vaile that “We’re kicking ass” he also explained that the Iranians have a new secret weapon “A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual” causing a “Loss of essence.”
To which Prime Minister Howard replied “Mein Führer! I can walk!”

Where will all of you be when this just simply doesn’t happen? Which are you, the chicken who claimed “the sky is falling” or the little boy who cried wolf?

You’re all plain “nuts” to think someone or some agency in the US is planning an attack on Iran, not to mention using nukes that were scheduled to be de-commissioned! Nuts… with no salt!

My mother told me a long time ago, “if you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all”. You may think you’re shining a light, when all you’re doing is throwing mud. Why?

But the carriers in the Gulf already have nuclear weapons, and the Iranians must be aware of that.

The main intellectual flaw in the drive for the coming Iranian War can be identified in advance: That an aerial, ‘shock and awe’ blitzkreig extending over several days can completely obliterate Iran’s war-making capacity, making it possible to dismiss the possibility of their retaliation.

It’s encouraging to know there are those in the military willing to defend America from ALL of its enemies…foreign and DOMESTIC. I’d like to take this opportunity and thank those who risked their military careers and leaked this story. As Olbermann pointed out in his recent commentary…Bushco is PLAYING war. Now he’s PLAYING with nukes. God help us.

I’m seeing an attempt to portray our military personnel as capable of “losing” a WMD so in the event there is a domestic attack using such a weapon there will be an example of how it came to pass that our side messed up and allowed “terrorists” to obtain said weapon. If something big happens involving a WMD of any kind, folks will wonder about the source, who created it, and how it came to be passsed to “terrorists”. We now have a scapegoat – our inept military.Too messy to blame Russian, or Pakistani, or Mossad blunders or schemes – let’s just blame the idiots in our own military! (who are thankfully very, very bright people at the level we are talking here) “Hey, if they can fly over MY house with nukes and not know it, how can we be sure that our arsenal is safe? Isn’t it just a matter of time before those cunning, determined terrorists outsmart our poor, clumsy defenses and get ahold of the bomb?” Waiting for Iran to come up with a bomb is taking too long. Blaming Iranian agents for the next attack on the U.S. is a no-brainer, they just need a plausible means to have obtained the weapons. Look for this upcoming review and investigation to find a “history of mismanagement and the subsequent loss of a number of (chemical/biological/nuke) weapons that are unaccounted for and presumably in the hands of enemy actors” That would make for some serious panic, and we would be BEGGING for a total lockdown of our society until they could be found. We are once again being asked to believe something that is a blatant lie (“oops, we didn’t KNOW those were nukes!” – c’mon!!!), and sadly, many will buy it and not see who is really pulling the strings and why. It’s all too much like a made for TV movie, and a very bad one at that. God bless EVERYONE! Z

Let’s face it, folks… evil BusHitler and Cheney planned to take the nukes back in time, use them to kill the dinosaurs, making them into oil. On the way back to the present, they planned to create and steer another hurricane at a crowded metropolitan city. They even convinced Thomas Edison to create the incandescant lightbulb, starting off Global Warming. Bush is so powerful, that he even made Mars have global warming!

See, Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) explains everything.

Sheesh, get a grip. It was a systemic failure that allowed the nuke warheads to stay on the missiles. BTW, for all you armchair Generals…B-52s carry their missiles inboard, not on pylons on the wings. Therefore there is no way to look at a flying B-52 and tell what it is carrying.

Buncha dummies!

And the award for talking out the side of his neck goes to Tim for the award winning commentary of

” Sheesh, get a grip. It was a systemic failure that allowed the nuke warheads to stay on the missiles. BTW, for all you armchair Generals…B-52s carry their missiles inboard, not on pylons on the wings. Therefore there is no way to look at a flying B-52 and tell what it is carrying.”

Because Tim is one of those rare gents who can make it seem like he knows what he’s talking about when he doesn’t!
Right on Tim!
Thank you, so much, for being the buffoon, and in appreciation here, the Buffoon Award, because there is nothing like ignorance being put on display for all to see!
Thank you, and good night.

Could these nukes being moved have anything to do with the following?
From Oregontruthalliance.org:VIGILANT SHIELD 08: NORTHCOM Plans 5 Day Martial Law Exercise
NORTHCOM Plans 5 Day Martial Law Exercise
By Lee Rogers – Intel Strike Contributing Writer / September 05, 2007
http://www.blacklistednews.com/view.asp?ID=4185

The United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) has just announced plans for an anti-terrorism exercise called Vigilant Shield 08. The exercise which is slated to run from October 15th to October 20th is described as a way to prepare, prevent and respond to any number of national crises. The exercise is simply a test case scenario for the implementation of martial law. Although the description of the exercise is disturbing, USNORTHCOM also announced that they are more prepared for a natural disaster and a terrorist attack after they used their response to Hurricane Katrina as a test laboratory.
Just asking.

This is what I think really happened. We moved nuke standoff weapons to a jumpoff point more than likely under the cover of convential.

You don’t attack an enrichemnt facility with convential weapons the evvironmental damage would be just unspeakable to say the least. You have to hit the facility with enough energy to overwhelm it, the only thing that can do this right now is a low yield nuke. RCNPs are not operational yet.

Now the B61 is one of the nukes that I believe DoD identified they would use as a bunker buster, though there are some problems using that system as a bunker buster. Besides you need to fly it in and why use a million or billion dollar aircraft when you can use a 100,000 dollar standoff weapon and not risk plane nor crew.

Some where along the line there was a screw up and the weapons were leaked out thank GOD!

I just can’t believe that the USAF would be this stupid otherwise…….

Why does this discussion remind me so much of Nixon and Kissinger.

Ahhh. Now I remember, I’m thinking back on the good old days.

It would not surprise me one bit if BushCo attacked Iran before they left office. The Heritage Foundation just ran a war game on Iran and guess what, we win. Only gas will costs eight dollars a gallon from then on. And the GDP will lose 260 brazillion every quarter. And 2 million jobs will be lost. And we aren’t even going to mention what will happen in the rest of the world.

I am not Even liking the martial law test if that is story is true. That is even scarier than nukes on a plane. I’m going out and buy more bullets and liquor.

Market Crash Forecast – Paul Joseph Watson

For those who didn’t see the original news article…

***(http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/august2007/270807_market_crash.htm)*** Just ignore the ***()*** characters.

In essence, some person or organization has wagered roughly $1B (one billion dollars) that the Eurostoxx-50 composite index will crash prior to Sept 21. This was done via the anonymous purchase of more than 200,000 short-term put options.

“Short-term” means that the options will expire, worthless, in less than 90 days. In this case, on Sept 21, 2007.

My question: What NYSE or NASDAQ stocks could be expected to rise/fall by a disproportionate amount if a few very low yield nukes were expended in Iran? I want to check for abnormal option activity, but don’t know quite where to look.

OK, so its mostly agreed that the official story is a load of BS, that it just couldn’t happen that way because of the multiple intense levels of security protocols which one must wade through just to gain access to the nukes, let alone remove them from the bunker and move them. If the weapons were moved, then a LOT of people were complicit in moving them.This smells like a psyop to me.

But, it is obvious that, IF these weapons were indeed moved, it was definitely with the approval of the brass. There was no “mistake” here.

Assuming that any nukes actually moved from the bunker, which is questionable, and since the base that they were supposedly being moved to for “decommissioning” wasn’t in that business, the next logical question becomes, “Why sneak a handful of nukes into the Iranian theatre under cloak and off the books, when our war ships stationed there undoubtedly already have some aboard?” Answer: Plausable deniability. So that all weapons onboard and on paper can be accounted for after the suprise nukes go off, and we can claim they weren’t ours. Maybe blame Israel?

When the inevitable investigation comes, the ship captains can say, “See here, I still have all mine!” Iran undoubtedly knows that the US warships off its coast are already packing nukes if they are, so this looks like it was designed to broadcast to the Iranians that that the US is trying to sneak a few nukes into theatre “off the books” so to speak. Now, why would we be trying to do that, if not to use them? That’s the conclusion that The US wants Iran to draw, apparently.

One other plausible scenerio is that the WH wants to frighten the American people into believing that it IS possible that terrorists could get their hands on a nuke on American soil, because some dumb SOB in the Air Force screwed up and lost a half dozen nuclear tipped cruise missiles, which any serious investigative journalist could debunk easily if the mainstream media wasn’t just a bunch of bought-and-paid-for presstitutes. Why would they want to do this? So that, if and when a nuke comes up missing, the people will be frontloaded.

Message to Paul’s post about none of my business.. Well Paul maybe you can explain to me how being concerned with nuclear weapons being transported to a staging area is a Liberal question?

What do you mean its none of my business?

Why don’t you tell us some more about how this is a routine xport thats done everyday.. That is interesting and I thank you for that information….

This leak is the equivelent to if their had been a leak in the weeks prior to 9/11 that there was thermite planted all over the towers and that it would have been discovered and removed.

Only, they could’t have said that it was planted there because they wanted to decommission it.

But they are perseverent. As far as they are concerned, “WE WILL HAVE ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER” -Rockerfeller

Good morning/afternoon,
as a Presstitute I can make anywhere between 2000000$ -> 10000000$ per day selling you crap that I invent…and crap that you read…only u know that it’s crap, the rest have no idea and that’s why we move forward.

Survival of the fittest … baby!

You guys gotta understand that there is a lot of money being made by politicians…tons.

How? well they have 100% of ALL markets.
OIL – Media – IT – and pretty much everything else.

Down the line you’ll see that all those “mystery” traders that PUT OPTIONS for 1bln $ to scare the shiat of you…are your politicians.

9/11 – your politicians – > same for all the BAD on this planet.

And the police? All cowards, they are in it for the money..they make anywhere between 65000 – 100000$ each for beating the shiat of all of you…and to make sure that the politicians keep making the money they do so their salaries are paid for.

What can you do to defend your self? you ask?

Simple…cheat on your taxes. There are 16% of americans that cheat on taxes…if everyone was doing that…in about 6 years they’d run out of money and then well the world would change a little.

Cheers

Good morning ladies and gents,
as a Presstitute I can make anywhere between 2000000$ -> 10000000$ per day selling you crap that I invent…and crap that you read…only u know that it’s crap, the rest have no idea and that’s why we move forward.

Survival of the fittest … baby!

You guys gotta understand that there is a lot of money being made by politicians…tons.

How? well they have 100% of ALL markets.
OIL – Media – IT – and pretty much everything else.

Down the line you’ll see that all those “mystery” traders that PUT OPTIONS for 1bln $ to scare the shiat of you…are your politicians.

9/11 – your politicians – > same for all the BAD on this planet.

And the police? All cowards, they are in it for the money..they make anywhere between 65000 – 100000$ each for beating the shiat of all of you…and to make sure that the politicians keep making the money they do so their salaries are paid for.

What can you do to defend your self? you ask?

Simple…cheat on your taxes. There are 16% of americans that cheat on taxes…if everyone was doing that…in about 6 years they’d run out of money and then well the world would change a little.

Cheers

After all the whining and strutting, the bottom line is that it can’t possibly have been a mistake.
Let’s keep this simply, a missile with a nuke load weighs considerably more than a missile without one. Okay so far?
The pilot needs to know the weight of his aircraft before he can determine fuel load and he needs to know how much the aircraft weighs at take-off.
From the news I have read the plane had full, wing mounted, rackets of missiles. I don’t know the exact number, but if they all had nuclear warheads, it would have been a noticeable increase in weight.
No mistakes were made.

In Canada, we require a min. of 10 signatures in various log books to ship any munition by air: (4 of which are lower ranks);
shipper\driver and his MC; AC loader and his MC; Stores C & NC: (WO + Col. for override for Non-Convential (we are not allowed by law to load any nuclear ordinance except under a temporary executive order from the CoS); base commander & wing or lt. commander; and finally the pilot & co-pilot. Since we are talking nuclear ordinance here, this situation would also require the requisite teams to assemble, arm, disassemble and disarm on the bases (from what I understand the munitions were shipped in a live state).

A brave and courageous junior officer or NCO saw something seriously amiss here and did the right thing by outing it. So what do we now have on our hands…

Sabre-Ratting? Maybe. It doesn’t hurt, but then it never amounts to much either unless it’s backed up. Four years of huffing and puffing @ Kim Jong Il have only emboldened him to force the US to finally capitulate on most of their original demands. So no.

Ineptitude? I don’t think so – not from 24 signatures, in a variety of log books, on two different bases spread across the country, all officially sanctioned by their immediate seniors.

Perimeter or Operations Test? Awfully expensive way to test operational procedure. The PSYOPS mouthpieces are in damage control mode though, so that argument is untenable.

Covert Operation? Against Iran? Very possible. Listen to the ainstream media. A covert operation to strike Iran (think Nicaragua\El Salvador 70′s) without the official sanction or oversight of Gates’ office, perhaps to shield him, in the event things go awry. [Remember: TWO bases involved here, so you have at least one person at the level of Lieutenant Commander or higher, calling the shots. Is it conceivable? Maybe. Is it practicable though? A definite yes.

The most tenable scenario in my opinion however though, is that this was an inside job setup to ‘lose’ some nukes for a definite hit, probably domestically, but perhaps internationally; but in either case, a false-flag operation. Then they can blame it on the Iranians and nuke them (I say definite, because lunatics don’t acquire nuclear weapons simply to shelve them).

A)
They were left on the tarmak for 12 hours, fully crated and completely un-guarded, i.e. for immediate pickup & delivery. Anyone on that base (a leftist sympathizer) could have loaded them onto a truck and driven them to anywhere within a 12 hour window. Remember, no one know they were missing. And Cheney needs an ‘incident’ to galvanize support for nuking Iran anyway.

B)
They were fully activated and mounted in flight, no doubt to prove to the intended recipient that the weapons are fully functional and will operate as expected.

Rogue military elements sanctioned or not, these people are playing a very dangerous game. Ironically, the way back to a sane (i.e. Ron Paul) US foreign policy, instead of the current debacle, may rest with Vladimir Putin. The Russian Bear has fully awakened as of late, and he is, understandably, none too pleased.

WHY HAS THE MEDIA LOST IT’S ABILITY TO ASK QUESTIONS????
This explanation at least makes some sense. I just looked at it as another example of how the Bushies have “kept us safer”- “Homeland Security’ please – these idiots will stumble and fall on the button like a Wil Farrell skit.
But I am starting to wonder who else is W’s buddies- old Skull & Cross Bones- Bin Laden go to Yale ? Because the only evidence of any plan is the rapid decline of our freedoms, our economy, our sense of ‘UNITED STATES’ and people. W has to work for someone in the Middle East, Or in the OIL INDUSTRY- DICK. The true characters of “Pinky & the Brain”

Larry, I commend you for truly great blogging. America needs many more like you.

I offer the following:

Until 1968, the Air Force routinely kept about a dozen strategic bombers with nuclear weapons flying at all times. Between 1959 and 1968, six bombers crashed, including in Ohio, Louisiana and Kentucky. Policy changes were considered after a crash in Spain in 1966.

Change became more urgent after a crash in Greenland in January 1968 dropped one nuclear weapon in the ocean. Apparently, the other three remain unaccounted for.

Soon after, all aircraft armed with nuclear weapons were grounded but kept in a constant state of alert.
In 1991 nuclear weapons were removed from all aircraft. Bomber nuclear ground alerts, during which nuclear weapons are loaded onto bombers during test and training exercises, were halted. After that time, all nuclear weapons to be delivered by plane were permanently maintained in storage facilities.

On August 30, for the first time since 1968, nuclear warheads were carried by an American bomber in combat configuration. Numerous international treaty provisions were violated in the process.

That Thursday, a B-52H Stratofortress flew from Minot AFB in North Dakota to Barksdale AFB in Louisiana carrying twelve Advanced Cruise Missiles, or ACMs, which are specifically constructed to deliver W80 nuclear warheads. Either five or six of the missiles actually contained nuclear warheads.

The W-80 weapon has a variable yield capability, of 5 to 150 kilotons. For comparison purposes, the Hiroshima bomb was 13 to 15 kilotons.

The Air Force admitted to an inadvertent error: The intent was to transport ACMs without weapons. According to military officers, the nuclear warheads should have been removed before the missiles were mounted on the pylons under the wings of the bomber.
This story was first reported by Army Times on Wednesday September 5, based on information it received from “anonymous officers”. The story was picked up by Yahoo Wednesday morning, published by USA Today and The Washington Post on Thursday, and then quickly spread.

An explanation was also quickly spread: This was a “deliberate leak” of a secret operation. The leak was intended to serve as a warning to Iran, as if we haven’t already given sufficient warning to Iran that they are about to be attacked if they do not quickly abandon their nuclear aspirations.
This is another official explanation that reeks to high heaven. This official explanation reads suspiciously like a flimsy cover story concocted in hasty desperation.

The CIA and the Office of Counter-Terrorism in the State Department quickly explained that Barksdale AFB is a “jumping off point” for re-supply of the Middle East, as if we haven’t already shipped sufficient weaponry, nuclear or no, to the Middle East. This tidbit is evidently intended to lead us to logically conclude the missiles are bound for Iran, scare Iran, or both.

But the Air Force claimed the missiles were being shipped to be decommissioned – a glaring discrepancy.

These 12 missiles are apparently part of a group of 400 that are to be decommissioned pursuant to what is commonly called the 2002 Moscow Treaty. They were being shipped from North Dakota to Louisiana as part of the decommissioning process.

The story claims the missiles were being shipped to Barksdale for decommissioning. But nuclear delivery missiles are normally decommissioned at Davis-Monthan AFB at Tucson. Nuclear weapons are decommissioned at the Department of Energy’s Pantex facility near Amarillo, Texas, accessed through Kirkland AFB in New Mexico.

The cover story also neglects to explain why SOPs were violated by shipping the missiles with nuclear warheads in missiles attached in combat
configuration on a combat aircraft, instead of as cargo in specially modified C-130s or C-17s, per SOP.

As to disciplinary/corrective action: The New York Times tried to imply the commanding general had been fired. Actually, the squad commander in charge of munitions crews at Minot was “relieved of duty pending an investigation” but has not been removed from his position. The crews involved have been “temporarily decertified pending corrective actions or additional training”. No mention was made of the wing commander.

Note carefully: These actions amount to nothing at all. The wing and squad commanders are still in place and the crews can easily be re-certified.
All of which brings us closer to the real issue. The cover story completely disregards elaborate safeguards in place to manage and oversee every step involved in storing, transporting and maintaining nuclear weapons.

Bluntly, the mistake of loading nuclear weapons on a combat aircraft in combat-ready position is simply not possible to make. Safeguards are far too stringent and far too many people would be involved. Particularly given that the mounting was in violation of policy that’s been in place without exception for almost 40 years.

A sophisticated computerized tracking system is used for nuclear weapons. Multiple sign-offs are required to remove the weapons from their storage bunkers.
Nuclear weapons are transported from the storage bunker to the aircraft in a caravan that routinely includes vehicles with machine guns front and rear and guards with M-16s. All steps in the process are done under the watchful eyes of armed military police.

Rules require that at least two people jointly control every step of the process. If one person loses sight of the other, both are temporarily “placed under arrest” by observant security forces. All progress stops until inspections are made to assure the weapons weren’t tampered with.

All nuclear weapons are connected to sophisticated alarm systems to prevent removal or tampering. They could only be removed from the storage bunker by turning the alarm off. And the squad commander clearly would not have authority to turn off the alarm.

Under SOPs, combat planes with combat-ready nuclear weapons can only be flown on the authority of the Commander in Chief, the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the National Military Command Authority.

The unsettling conclusion is inescapable: Someone in some sort of chain of Air Force command authorized this flight.

This conclusion further unsettles when we consider the slant of the stories, to wit: The Air Force was in control at all times. The weapons were only missing during the 3.5-hour flight.

News reports overlook that the weapons weren’t identified as being missing until nearly ten hours after the plane landed at Barksdale AFB. According to one report, this is the amount of time that was required for airmen at Minot AFB to convince superiors that the nuclear weapons had disappeared. According to information provided to Congress, this time lapsed before airmen at Barksdale “noticed” the weapons.

Now for the most chilling part of all. Early news reports spoke of five nuclear warheads loaded onto the bomber. Apparently, this ionformation was provided from Barksdale.

That number was later updated to six weapons missing from Minot, apparently based on anonymous tips provided to Military Times by people who are not authorized to discuss the incident.

Reading between the lines, which are being downplayed and confused with a myriad of collateral unimportant issues:

Six nuclear weapons disappeared from Minot AFB in North Dakota.

Five nuclear weapons were discovered at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana.

At Barksdale, the weapons were considered to be obsolete items headed for the scrap heap, of no particular importance and left unguarded for almost ten hours.

Which leads to my final supposition:

Anonymous heroes are hinting that someone, apparently operating under a special chain of command within the United States Air Force, just stole a nuclear weapon.

I have posted this on my newly-created blog,
http://geronimomanifesto.blogspot.com/
in a desperate attempt to create traffic – from anyone at all, including the drunk down the block. I invite you and all your readers to visit my blog and post comments there. Any comments – I really would like to see if the comment function works.

Thanks again for your great work.
Chuck Simpson

Could this be about dismantling a bomb in order to plant incriminating material in Iran? Or is there a simpler way to do that?

I wish CONGRESS, those “bought and sold”
SICK, SICK SOULS… understand just one thing – - – - –

If they think they are AFRAID of being “told on” for whatever crap they have done, whatever bribery, blackmail or what is happening …

THINK ABOUT OUR PEOPLE – OUR YOUNG SOLDIERS — INNOCENT IRAQI WOMEN, MEN, CHILDREN.

What kind of fear do THEY have when facing a bullet, a bomb, the realization of the TRUTH of our once GREAT democracy and what we have ALL LOST for greed?

WAKE UP CONGRESS – the people of this World
…. are YOUR PEOPLE!

WHAT WILL IT TAKE?

“No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

“Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind; therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.”

We must see this, believe this, and live by it if we are to remain awake through a great revolution.

John Donne -

What is our new agenda?

We need some way of gaining access to the ICBM launch mechanism in either Europe, China, India or America. Once we launch these nukes at various cities many of the global issues will be resolved.

Nice…

why not just use nukes and not people

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