My boyfriend, who was in the Air Force for 7 years, went crazy yesterday when he heard about the transporting of nuclear tipped weapons “MISTAKE.” I’m going to try and write this the best I can and hope it makes sense to you! Here’s what he said:

We cannot fly assembled nukes around this country because of various Cold War Treaties we signed. So WHY would they be flying with ARMED nukes? Normal routine B52 bomber runs within the United States do not include nuclear tipped weapons. Only if they are part of SAC (Strategic Air Command), flying 24/7 around the U.S borders so they could respond within a moments notice to a possible attack. They cannot fly nuclear tipped weapons within the country. For example, they would be flown unassembled to a base like Barksdale, assembled there, and then they’d take off into the Gulf of Mexico and out of the country. This was all ordained back in the 40’s when the Air Force was split off from the Army, the Navy was split off from the Marines and all given seperate commanders, chain of command and authority to protect the country from any possible repeat of a Pearl Harbor.

Here’s why the boyfriend went crazy. From his experience in the Air Force, and involvement in security issues concerning nuclear weapons when in Europe with the USAF and then later part of NATO exercises involving other countries with our planes and weapons, there was a simple rule applied to all nuclear weapons. Each person who had ANY dealings with nuclear weapons, whether a pilot, a navigator, a weapons specialist, a secuirty guard or a bomb dump expert, i.e., person who would assemble weapons to load on planes for ready status. followed the “Fail Safe Sytem.” This system required two people and mulitples thereof, to be trained in the “Fail Safe System” which insured that both people have equal security clearance or one could be higher. Both had to be of equal rank or one higher. If these people were found not to have these credentials, the orders were to stop at all costs, even using lethal persuasion to avoid a renegede lunatic from starting WWIII.

Now let’s look at the “mistake” that was made yesterday. If what the boyfriend said is true, how was this A MISTAKE? Someone in high command at Minot Air Force Base ordered, based on his orders from higher ups, to move these nuclear tipped cruise missles from Minot to Barksdale Air Force Base. Hence, the people of Minot moved these weapons to the B52 for shipment. Please remember the entire crew of the B52 would have had to been mislead, in order to transport these weapons because of the Fail Safe System noted above. If the crew actually knew what they were carrying they would have refused the orders because of their fail safe training. They had to be lied to. Upon arrival at Barksdale, which has B52’s taking off and landing on a regular basis would be no big deal. However, after the crew secured the aircraft at their designated pad, they notified ground control that they had a load to be unloaded. As far as the crew was concerned, they had a very successful, non-event mission. The ground crew, who also did not know that these were nuclear tipped missles in a ready status, alerted everyone in the world when they realized what they had to unload…… and they were not qualified to unload. This is what they call a “MISTAKE?” It just can’t happen.

He thinks they were trying to move them illegally for deployment to the middle east or to a “friendly” airbase that we use. A buildup is taking place, without anyone’s knowledge, to take out Iran.

Then when we get home tonight and turn on the news, we find out that Israel is flying bombers over Syria because of the so-called Iranian weapons that were used to defeat Israel last year in Lebanon. Israel is dropping ordinances in northern Syria trying to provoke a retaliation. Was this why the “MISTAKE” happened yesterday???

He’s been going on about this for 24 hours. The other thing is why isn’t congress totally batshit crazy that this happened???????? Will they do anything about it? Noooooooo………

Now Larry Johnson’s thoughts:

Why the hubbub over a B-52 taking off from a B-52 base in Minot, North Dakota and subsequently landing at a B-52 base in Barksdale, Louisiana? That’s like getting excited if you see postal worker in uniform walking out of a post office. And how does someone watching a B-52 land identify the cruise missiles as nukes? It just does not make sense.

So I called a old friend and retired B-52 pilot and asked him. What he told me offers one compelling case of circumstantial evidence. My buddy, let’s call him Jack D. Ripper, reminded me that the only times you put weapons on a plane is when they are on alert or if you are tasked to move the weapons to a specific site.

Then he told me something I had not heard before.

Barksdale Air Force Base is being used as a jumping off point for Middle East operations. Gee, why would we want cruise missile nukes at Barksdale Air Force Base. Can-t imagine we would need to use them in Iraq. Why would we want to preposition nuclear weapons at a base conducting Middle East operations?

His final point was to observe that someone on the inside obviously leaked the info that the planes were carrying nukes. A B-52 landing at Barksdale is a non-event. A B-52 landing with nukes. That is something else.

Now maybe there is an innocent explanation for this? I can-t think of one. What is certain is that the pilots of this plane did not just make a last minute decision to strap on some nukes and take them for a joy ride. We need some tough questions and clear answers. What the hell is going on? Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran? I don-t know, but it is a question worth asking.

By CLAUDE SALHANI
UPI International Editor

WASHINGTON, May 24 (UPI) — How much of a threat is China’s growing military to the security of the United States?

China’s investment in its military, from conventional weapons to cybersystems, along with its lack of openness regarding its intent, raises the possibility of a miscalculation that could spark a conflict with the United States, according to U.S. security policy experts.

So too could the perennial increases in its military spending. According to GlobalSecurity.org, China’s official defense budget for 2000 was approximately $14.6 billion. It was increased the following year by 17.7 percent.

In 2001 China acknowledged its defense budget to be more than $17 billion, a figure higher than the defense budgets of India, Taiwan and South Korea combined. In 2002 China again increased military spending by 17.6 percent, or $3 billion, bringing the reported total to $20 billion.

The following year China once more increased military spending to $22 billion. Again, that figure grew by another 11.6 percent in 2004 to $2.6 billion. And in 2005 China raised its military budget another 12.6 percent, to $29.9 billion.

For the current year China’s military expenditure is expected to hover around $44.94 billion. That’s a jump of some $30 billion in just seven years.

In terms of manpower, China has 2.25 million troops, 800,000 reserves and nearly 4 million paramilitary forces, a total of more than 7 million. Compare that to the United States, which has 1.4 million active military personnel, 858,500 reserves and 53,000 paramilitary, a total of 2.3 million personnel.

But despite having the world’s largest military force, China’s army is smaller per capita than those of many countries, including the United States. Furthermore, some experts see the very size of the Chinese army as a hindrance to modernization. According to Foreign Policy in Focus, China cannot afford adequate pay, training or modern weapons for most of its forces. China will not be able to develop modern military forces unless it either greatly increases military spending (which seems unlikely) or drastically cuts the size of its forces.

read more at UPI.COM

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran - On the eve of talks with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Iran’s nuclear negotiator Wednesday rejected the possibility of Iran suspending its uranium enrichment program.

“Suspension is not the right solution for solving Iran’s nuclear issue,” the state news agency quoted Ali Larijani as saying before leaving Tehran for Spain. “Past experiences have shown that suspension is not acceptable, at all.”

Larijani is expected to hold talks with the EU’s Javier Solana on Thursday.

The talks are meant to explore whether there is room to resume negotiations over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, which the United States and the EU fear is being used to make weapons. Iran rejects the Western claims, saying its program is for generating electricity only.

The U.N. Security Council has demanded that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, which can produce both reactor fuel and - at higher levels - weapons-grade material. The Security Council first imposed sanctions on Iran on Dec. 23 for rejecting its demands, and then modestly increased them in March.

The council is preparing to debate a third round of punitive measures against Tehran.

read more at YAHOO!

By Michael Alison Chandler and Joby Warrick

Walter McKenzie’s assignment toward the end of the Cold War was to mop up after mishaps at a nuclear weapons factory. With a crew of other laborers from rural Georgia, he swabbed away leaks and spills inside the secret buildings, until one day his body became so contaminated with radiation that alarms at the factory went off as he passed.

“They couldn’t scrub the radiation off my skin — even after four showers,” McKenzie, 52, recalled of his most terrifying day at the Savannah River nuclear weapons plant near Aiken, S.C. “They took my clothes, my watch and even my ring, and sent me home in rubber slippers and a jumpsuit.”

Later, when doctors discovered the first of 19 malignant tumors on his bladder, McKenzie followed the same torturous path as thousands of nuclear weapons workers with cancer: He filed a claim for federal compensation. It was denied.

Unable to access secret government files, or even some of his own personnel records, McKenzie could not sufficiently prove that he was exposed to something that may have made him sick. Nor can most of the 104,000 other workers, retirees and family members who have sought help from a federal program intended to atone for decades of hazardous working conditions at scores of nuclear weapons facilities around the country.

Since its inception in 2000, the compensation program has cut more than 20,000 checks and given long-delayed recognition to workers whose illnesses were hidden costs of the Cold War’s military buildup.

Yet, of the 72,000 cases processed, more than 60 percent have been denied. Thousands of other applicants have been waiting for years for an answer. Overall, only 21 percent of applicants have received checks. Even as the nation continues to close and dismantle many nuclear weapons sites, a growing number of those who helped build the bombs are turning to lawyers and legislators to argue they are being treated unfairly.

Many complain that the compensation process is slow, frustrating, even insulting. “You get exposed to something that’s so bad you have to leave your clothes behind,” McKenzie said, “then they try to tell you it’s not their fault that you got sick.”

Some evidence suggests the government has tried to limit payouts for budget reasons. Internal memos obtained by congressional investigators show the Bush administration chafing over the program’s rising costs and fighting to block measures that would increase workers’ chances of compensation.

Read more at THE WASHINGTON POST

Isn’t that nice….. along with Russia and China, we don’t want to sign. Australia, India, Pakistan and Israel did not attend and therefore, also did not sign. Japan, Poland and Romania did not approve the final resolution. (Which is non-binding) So basically, the countries that have cluster bombs, don’t sign the thing. Who DID sign the resolution? This world is fucked up. And we fucked it up with our obsession of building a military arsenal to top all arsenals. Did we think the world was going to sit back and say…oh ok Big Boy……you do anything you want. We won’t try and defend ourselves against you.

OSLO, Norway (AP) - A declaration calling for a 2008 treaty banning cluster bombs was adopted Friday by 46 out of 49 nations attending a conference in Oslo, officials for the Norwegian government and two non-governmental groups said.

Norway’s deputy foreign minister Raymond Johansen said Poland, Romania and Japan did not approve the final declaration. Officials for Human Rights Watch and the Cluster Munition Coalition also said those three countries dissented.

The gathering was snubbed by some key arms makers - including the U.S., Russia, Israel and China - but organizers said other nations needed to forge ahead regardless to avoid a potential humanitarian disaster posed by unexploded cluster munitions.

A declaration presented on the last day of the meeting urged nations to “conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument” to ban cluster bombs.

The treaty would “prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of those cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians,” the declaration said.

Cluster bomblets are packed by the hundreds into artillery shells, bombs or missiles, which scatter them over vast areas, with some failing to explode immediately. The unexploded bomblets can then lie dormant for years after conflicts end until they are disturbed, often by civilians.

As many as 60 percent of the victims in Southeast Asia are children, the Cluster Munition Coalition said. The weapons have recently been used Iraq, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, it said. The U.N. estimated that Israel dropped as many as 4 million bomblets in southern Lebanon during last year’s war with Hezbollah, with as many 40 percent failing to explode on impact.

Children can be attracted to the unexploded weapons by their small size, shape and bright colors, activists say.

Friday’s declaration urged countries to take steps at a national level before the treaty takes effect. Norway has already done so, while Austria announced a moratorium on cluster bombs at the start of the conference.

“It is nonbinding. It is not a legal document. But it is a statement of political will,” Steve Goose of Human Rights Watch said of the declaration.

Read more here

Why is this ok? Why are we so very worried about Iran, who doesn’t even have nuclear capabilities and is not likely to have nuclear weapons for atleast 5 years, but we’re not worried about Pakistan, who already has them? What if something happens to Musharraf? Then what?

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan test-fired a nuclear-capable, surface-to’surface ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles) on Friday, a military official said.

The test of the Hatf VI (Shaheen II) missile was successful, he said.

“It can carry all types of warheads including nuclear,” the official said.

The Hatf VI is a two’stage solid fuel missile which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with high accuracy. An advanced version has a potential range of 2,500 km (1,560 miles).

Source:Reuters

I say let em go it alone. Israel will be the death of the U.S. if we let it. And we’re letting it. This is nothing more than Olmert telling Bush…… if you don’t do something, I will. So go ahead big mouth. Do something. How about you get rid of your nuclear weapons?

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, dramatically raised the stakes in the international showdown with Iran last night, with a clear warning that his country was prepared to use military force to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“The Jewish people, with the scars of the Holocaust fresh on its body, cannot afford to allow itself to face threats of annihilation once again,” Mr Olmert said in a speech to a high-level security conference in Herzliya. “No nation has the right even to consider its position. It is the obligation of every country to act against this will all its might.” “We can stand up against nuclear threats and even prevent them,” he said.

Israeli military officials warned this week that Israel - acting alone or in coordination with the US - could launch preemptive military strikes against Iran before the end of this year.

Israel describes Iran-s nuclear programme as an “existential threat” to the Jewish state which should be stopped before Iranian scientists manage to produce a nuclear bomb. There is particular concern because of statements by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, threatening to wipe Israel from the map. But Israeli and western experts say that even without the firebrand Mr Ahmadinejad, who is currently in political difficulties, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has made it clear that the Iranians will not back down from their confrontation with the West over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Read more at the Independent

To:
Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, Republican leaders of the House and Senate, Right-wing Christians, Right-wing pundits, the complicit MSM, and that pesky, dimwitted thirty’something-percent crowd.

Re:
PLEASE STAND AND TAKE YOUR FUCKING BOW!

Clock Moves Forward Two Minutes

15 January 2007 | 10:27 PM

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) is moving the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock on January 17, 2007, from 7 to 5 minutes to midnight.

BAS announced the Clock change at an unprecedented joint news conference at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC, and the Royal Society in London. In a statement supporting the decision to move the hand of the Doomsday Clock, the BAS Board focused on two major sources of catastrophe: the perils of 27,000 nuclear weapons, 2000 of them ready to launch within minutes; and the destruction of human habitats from climate change.

Fourteen leading scientists and security experts writing in the January-February issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, explore further the potential for catastrophic damage from human-made technologies.

Created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Doomsday Clock has been adjusted only 17 times prior to today, most recently in February 2002 after the events of 9/11. At that time, BAS underscored the slow progress on global nuclear disarmament.

By moving the hand of the Clock closer to midnight-the figurative end of civilization-the BAS Board is drawing attention to the increasing dangers from the spread of nuclear weapons in a world of violent conflict, and to the catastrophic harm from climate change that is unfolding.

More at: The Bulletin Online

Are they crazy or what? Our military is spent…..don’t have the equipment they need to do what we’re asking them to do……but let’s spend a cool billion on new nuclear warheads. Oh that will make the world love us!! Gotta love that Christian logic that’s running this country.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 - The Bush administration is expected to announce next week a major step forward in the building of the country’s first new nuclear warhead in nearly two decades. It will propose combining elements of competing designs from two weapons laboratories in an approach that some experts argue is untested and risky.

The new weapon would not add to but replace the nation’s existing arsenal of aging warheads, with a new generation meant to be sturdier, more reliable, safer from accidental detonation and more secure from theft by terrorists.

The announcement, to be made by the interagency Nuclear Weapons Council, avoids making a choice between the two designs for a new weapon, called the Reliable Replacement Warhead, which at first would be mounted on submarine-launched missiles.

The effort, if approved by President Bush and financed by Congress, would require a huge refurbishment of the nation’s complex for nuclear design and manufacturing, with the overall bill estimated at more than $100 billion.

But the council’s decision to seek a hybrid design, combining well-tested elements from an older design with new safety and security elements from a more novel approach, could delay the weapon’s production. It also raises the question of whether the United States will ultimately be forced to end its moratorium on underground nuclear testing to make sure the new design works.

Read more at the NYTimes

More Nuclear News: Nuclear Chief Dumped