| Author | Message | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:20 pm Post subject: |
| 70 punished in accidental B-52 flight
By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
10 minutes ago
The Air Force said Friday it would punish 70 airmen involved in the accidental, cross-country flight of a nuclear-armed B-52 bomber following an investigation that found widespread disregard for the rules on handling such munitions.
"There has been an erosion of adherence to weapons-handling standards at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base," said Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations.
Newton was announcing the results of a six-week probe into the Aug. 29-30 incident in which the B-52 was inadvertently armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot in North Dakota to Barksdale in Louisiana without anyone noticing the mistake for more than a day.
The missiles were supposed to be taken to Louisiana, but the warheads were supposed to have been removed beforehand.
A main reason for the error was that crews had decided not to follow a complex schedule under which the status of the missiles is tracked while they are disarmed, loaded, moved and so on, one official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
The airmen replaced the schedule with their own "informal" system, he said, though he didn't say why they did that nor how long they had been doing it their own way.
"This was an unacceptable mistake and a clear deviation from our exacting standards," Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne said at a Pentagon press conference with Newton. "We hold ourselves accountable to the American people and want to ensure proper corrective action has been taken."
Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, said she believed the Air Force had done a thorough investigation, but the findings were "a warning sign that there has been degradation" of attitudes toward the handling of the weapons.
"These are not just rules that people dreamed up ... just so they could check off the boxes," she said. "This is fundamentally important to the security of the country and the world."
Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists was among those skeptical that the August flight represented an isolated incident.
He said a decline in Air Force standards for nuclear weapons maintenance and security was documented by the government a decade ago. In recent years, he said, Minot and Barksdale have both gotten poor marks during inspections routinely required for certification.
"Part of the reason is that after the end of the Cold War, and the disappearance of the Soviet nuclear threat, the nuclear career was not very sexy — it was not the way to go if you wanted to" advance in the military. A shortage of people with the right skills, training and mentality followed, something the Air Force has worked to improve, he said.
Newton acknowledged that the Air Force needs to "restore the confidence" lost among the American people after the August incident, which raised questions about the safety of the country's nuclear arsenal.
"We are making all appropriate changes to ensure this has a minimal chance of ever happening again," Wynne said.
Newton said the flight in question resulted from an "unprecedented string of procedural errors," beginning with a failure by airmen to conduct a required inspection of the missiles before they were loaded aboard the B-52 bomber at Minot. The crew flying the plane was unaware nuclear warheads were on its wing, though it wasn't explained what role they played in the mistake.
Highest among those to be punished are four officers who were relieved this week of their commands, including the 5th Bomb Wing commander at Minot — Col. Bruce Emig, who also has been the base commander since June.
In addition, the wing has been "decertified from its wartime mission," Newton said.
Some 65 airmen have been decertified from handling nuclear weapons. The certification process looks at a person's psychological profile, any medications they are taking and other factors in determining a person's reliability to handle weapons.
After it was loaded with the missiles, the B-52 sat overnight at Minot, flew the next morning to Louisiana, and then sat on a tarmac again for hours before anyone noticed the nuclear warheads.
Newton avoided repeated questions on what extra security would have been required if crews had known the nuclear weapons were on the plane. But another official later said privately that security was increased as soon as the nuclear warheads were discovered.
The Air Combat Command ordered a command-wide stand-down — instituted base by base and completed Sept. 14 — to set aside time for personnel to review procedures, officials said.
The incident was so serious that it required President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to be quickly informed.
Wynne prefaced his remarks about the B-52 incident by saying that, in publicly confirming that nuclear weapons were involved, he had authorized a one-time exception to U.S. policy, which states that the location of nuclear weapons will never be confirmed publicly. He said he made this exception because of the seriousness of the episode and its importance to the nation.
The weapon involved was the Advanced Cruise Missile, a "stealth" weapon developed in the 1980s with the ability to evade detection by Soviet radar. The Air Force said in March that it had decided to retire the Advanced Cruise Missile fleet soon, and officials said after the breach that the missiles were being flown to Barksdale for decommissioning.
___
On the Net:
Air Combat Command: http://www.acc.af.mil | |  | | Alpha | | Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:43 pm Post subject: |
| Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 23:51:59 +1000
From: "Benjamin Merhav" <ben.merhav@gmail.com>
To: nancybj@verizon.net
Subject: Bush Threatens "World War III" - CALLING ALL CITIZENS !
http://5thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/
THE PRESIDENT OF THE USA THREATENS HUMANITY WITH A NEW WORLD WAR
by Justice lover
The following message was emailed to me today by The People's PC (WindyWanda < windywanda@peoplepc.com>). It confirms what has been predicted by some honest and knowledgeable people for some time now, namely, that the USA ruling class, manipulated by the zionist lobby in Washington (on behalf of the zionist apartheid regime of Israel ) has decided to impose its will on the entire humanity by military force, including a nuclear war. Could it be that this catastrophic and insane world war plan has now entered the implementation phase ?
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Bruce
Sent: Oct 17, 2007 9:10 PM
Subject: Fw: BUSH THREATENS "WORLD WAR III" --
THIS IS NO DRILL
CALLING ALL CITIZENS
STOP INSANE BUSH NOW
We all must demand Congress immediately impeach Bush/Cheney for reasons of insanity in threatening World War III as regards Iran and Russia. Neither Iran nor Russia are our enemies, but are keys to peace on this planet in this very critical time. Iran is not threatening Israel, but those who refuse to impeach Bush and Cheney are, as they participate in the threatened destruction of our nation and life on the planet. Thus we call for the resignation of any member of Congress unwilling to act to stop the hijacking of the planet by the mad men who occupy the White House. We must demand their immediate removal, starting with the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for complicity with treason and for threatening crimes against humanity, if action is not taken to remove the President, Vice President, Secretary of State.
Considering the recent disclosure by the Air Force, to prevent the transference of nuclear weapons to the Mid-East, Bush's statement's can be considered nothing other than the ravings of a terrorist, not a head of state. As it is the duty of military personnel to refuse illegal orders, it is within the purview of the military to arrest the President and Vice President, as Commander's in Chief, such that these mad men might be detained from acting out their insanity, such that the 25 th Amendment might be exercised along with a potential Court Martial.
We likewise demand that the military and nation be aware of the danger posed by various security drills that could go 'live', or other covert event, as happened with the 'false flag' 9/11 events, to justify those within the White House, Congress, various civilian and extra-national parties who want to strike Iran and Russia.
Every citizen must mobilize now to take control of our country back from these suicide bombing murderers, before it is too late.
Bruce Marshall
Antiwar Coalition for Truth, ACTINDEPENDENT.ORG
Home of the Kennebunkport Warning
-----Forwarded Message-----
From: Webster Tarpley Sent: Oct 17, 2007 12:54 PM
To: tarpley@radix.net
Subject: BUSH THREATENS "WORLD WAR III" -- THIS IS NO DRILL Bush warns of World War III if Iran goes nuclear
58 minutes ago
Agence France Presse
US President George W. Bush said Wednesday that he had warned world leaders they must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons "if you're interested in avoiding World War III."
"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said at a White House press conference after Russia cautioned against military action against Tehran's supect atomic program.
"So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," said Bush.
Patriot missile fired accidentally in Qatar
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated PressPosted : Wednesday Oct 17, 2007 5:47:32 EDT
WASHINGTON — A Patriot missile was accidentally fired from a military base in Qatar, hitting a nearby farm, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the missile landed in an "unpopulated farm area," and no one was injured.
The incident — which occurred Monday night in Washington time but Tuesday in Qatar — is being investigated, Whitman said.
"It's been described as an accidental discharge; beyond that, it's just not clear at this time" what happened, Whitman said.
The official Qatar News Agency, quoting an unnamed official with Qatar Armed Forces General Command, said the missile was erroneously fired from Camp As Sayliyah, located on the outskirts of Doha, and it caused no damage.
The Patriot is an air-defense guided-missile system, and the military is secretive about where it bases the Patriot batteries.
It was originally designed to shoot down aircraft, but it gained attention in the first Gulf War when it was used against Iraqi scud missiles. Later, there was criticism of its effectiveness, and technical improvements were made.
A number of problems with Patriot missile defenses and related systems contributed to three friendly fire deaths during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Pentagon has said.
Patriot batteries misidentified and shot down an American and a British fighter in separate incidents, leaving three air crew members dead. A Patriot system also mistakenly tracked another U.S. fighter, which bombed a radar in response. The incidents took place in March and April 2003.
Putin tells U.S. not to strike Iran
By Oleg Shchedrov and Parisa Hafezi
Reuters
Tue Oct 16, 6:36 PM ET
President Vladimir Putin made clear to Washington on Tuesday that Russia would not accept military action against Iran and he invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Moscow for talks.
Putin made the invitation to Ahmadinejad, shunned by the West which fears his nuclear program is a cover for building atomic weapons, after meeting him and leaders of other Caspian Sea states who ruled out any strikes on Iran from their region.
Dates for Ahmadinejad's visit would be arranged through diplomatic channels, RIA news agency quoted a statement by the two leaders as saying.
Earlier, in comments aimed at the United States, Putin said during his talks in Iran: "We should not even think of using force in this region."
"We need to agree that using the territory of one Caspian Sea (state) in the event of aggression against another is impossible," he told the presidents of Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan at a summit of Caspian Sea states.
Western nations accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies. Washington has refused to rule out the use of force if diplomacy fails to resolve the row.
Asked about Russia's invitation to Ahmadinejad, a U.S. State Department official said: "It's up to the Russians to determine how they want to manage their bilateral relations with Iran."
Putin's remarks about territory also appeared aimed at ex-Soviet Azerbaijan, where the U.S. military has inspected airfields. Russian media have suggested Washington might be trying to negotiate the right to use its military facilities. Baku denies this.
Russia is annoyed at what it sees as the West's attempts to end its influence in former Soviet states.
In a final declaration, the Caspian nations backed Putin's call, saying "under no circumstances will they allow (the use of their) territories by third countries to launch aggression or other military action against any of the member states."
The countries also backed the rights of signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty -- which includes Iran -- to develop peaceful nuclear energy.
Ahmadinejad, who says Tehran will not stop atomic work that he insists is peaceful, praised the Caspian declaration.
Putin's trip to Iran, the first made by a Kremlin leader since 1943, has been watched because of Russia's potential leverage, on behalf of fellow world powers, to rein in Iran using its trade and nuclear supply ties with Tehran.
PROGRESS ON BUSHEHR PLANT
Russia is building Iran's first atomic power plant in the port city of Bushehr. Russia says Iran is behind in payments for the plant, causing construction delays, but Iran says it is up to date and that Moscow is bowing to Western pressure.
Putin told Iranian media he could not provide guarantees for when fuel for the plant, also delayed, would be delivered. He said this would depend on discussions about the contract. The two sides agreed, Russian news agencies said, that Russia would complete work according to the "agreed timetable."
The timetable has regularly slipped and Putin's comments are likely to disappoint Iranian officials, who before his arrival, said they expected "good news" about Bushehr.
Putin turned up in Iran after shrugging off a Russian report about a plot to kill him during the trip. Russian officials had suggested he might change his plans. Iran dismissed the report.
Putin had bilateral talks with Ahmadinejad and also met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate authority in Iran.
The U.N. Security Council has imposed two rounds of limited sanctions on Iran, which were backed by Russia and five other world powers -- the United States, France, Germany, Britain and China. Washington and Paris are pushing for tougher steps.
Moscow says it sees no evidence of a military program and is resisting Western calls for new sanctions. Russia has also been alarmed by talk in the West that the row could result in conflict. France has warned of a possible war.
But, in Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey was confident of Moscow's support as the U.S. and others push for more punitive action.
"We fully expect that we will have support from the Russian Government for our longstanding policy that has been crafted, not by the U.S. but by the members of the Security Council, starting with the P-5+1," he said, referring to the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany.
(Emphasis by Justice Lover) | | | | Alpha | | Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:01 am Post subject: |
| I, of course, don't believe in the 'false flag' attribution above made about 9/11 as I still think that US support of Israel's brutal oppression of the Palestinians resulted in the tragic 9/11 attack (look up 'Israel as a terrorist's motivation' in the index of James Bamford's 'A Pretext for War' book).
For someone as secular as I am this is absolutely mental and is additional propaganda playing to the Christian evangelical base of Israel's support:
Israel Warns World War III May be Biblical War of Gog and Magog
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123961
8 Cheshvan 5768, 20 October 07 10:54by Ezra HaLevi(IsraelNN.com) US President George W. Bush said a nuclear Iran would mean World War III. Israeli newscasts featured Gog & Magog maps of the likely alignment of nations in that potential conflict.
Channel 2 and Channel 10 TV showed the world map, sketching the basic alignment of the two opposing axes in a coming world war, in a manner evoking associations of the Gog and Magog prophecy for many viewers. The prophecy of Gog and Magog refers to a great world war centered on the Holy Land and Jerusalem and first appears in the book of Yechezkel (Ezekiel).
On one side were Israel, the United States, Britain, France and Germany. On the other were Iran, Russia, China, Syria and North Korea.
US President Bush said Wednesday during a press conference that Iran attaining nuclear weapons raises the risk of "World War III."
"If Iran had a nuclear weapon, it'd be a dangerous threat to world peace," Bush said. "So I told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested [in preventing a nuclear Iran]…I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Iran Tuesday and slammed the US’s refusal to rule out the use of force against Iran’s nuclear project. "Not only should we reject the use of force, but also the mention of force as a possibility," he said.
Russia has blocked tougher UN sanctions in the UN Security Council, where it has veto power. The Russian president asserts that there is no evidence Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons rather than a peaceful nuclear power program.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called for a new Security Council resolution against Iran at a press conference following her meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Wednesday. "I do believe there is a need for another Security Council resolution,” she told reporters. “In the past, the need to get everybody on board - including Russia and China - led to some compromises on the nature of the sanctions. I hope this will not be the case this time."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Wednesday a sudden trip to Moscow Thursday morning, where he will meet with Putin about Iran. Other topics of discussion will reportedly be Russia’s continued supply of weapons to Syria, which have then made their way into the hands of various terrorist groups based there as well. | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
