Did the real story behind the Minot-Barksdale nuke missile flight come out or was it a cover-up?

Cover-up

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by Robert C. Sage

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"It makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck",

said a Pentagon official, after the unauthorized transport of six nuclear-armed cruise missiles. A B-52 flew the nukes from Minot AFB to Barksdale AFB on August 30, 2007. This should be treated as a watershed event. It is the first reported case of unauthorized movement of American nuclear weapons in history. As a result, the U.S. Air Force disciplined 60 persons and conducted a "stand down", however given the many subverted safeguards and the number of people involved, the American public deserves full disclosure. All of America's nuclear arsenal is protected by multiple levels of approvals for any location or status changes, have alarms and detection systems for radiation, explosives, metal and motion. Lack of clear answers on what happened spells a government cover-up.

How is it possible that cruise missiles were armed with nuclear warheads and then flown across the USA to the air force based used for staging material to be sent to the Middle East? How could all of the safeguards fail simultaneously without some type of concerted effort and plan? Either the USAF had become woefully incompetent, which given strict U.S. military regulations is incomprehensible or there is more to the story than has been let out. Given the fact that V.P. Dick Cheney has redefined the role of the Office of the Vice President and has been orchestrating a campaign for military action against Iran, it is plausible that he had set up an alternate line of command that was getting ready for a pre-emptive strike on Iran. Cheney was a focal point for the invasion of Iraq and various aspects of the "War on Terror". The American people deserve the real story behind this B-52 cruise missile caper.

There were many intentional decisions made to disregard standard procedures. It is impossible to believe that USAF discipline got so lax that safeguards on nuclear weapons were simply forgotten or ignored. The U.S. military simply does not operate that way. If it does, then the USAF needs to be pulled apart at the seams and completely rebuilt from the bottom up. It seems much more plausible that the traditional chain of command was somehow suspended from the top for top secret purposes, such as getting ready for attacking Iran or enabling a new "Pearl Harbor". The timing of this unparalleled break from standard military discipline seems more than coincidental.

The U.S. Congress (i.e. Rep. Henry Waxman's Committee and others, such as Armed Services and Homeland Security, etc.) needs to get to the bottom of this nonsense. Given this neo-con administration's history of use of deception, fabrication and subordination of the U.S. Constitution to get America into wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Iran, it is imperative that we understand what is being done with our property! After-all, what belongs to the U.S. government is actually owned by the people of the USA! It does not belong only to America's leaders. As such, when proper procedures set up to protect us are flagrantly violated, we deserve to know the full story. Otherwise, it will happen again. Unless we learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them!

You cannot make me believe that U.S. Air Force personnel will wantonly disregard nuclear safeguards at their own discretion. There are many sign-offs that tare required each step of the way. Detection equipment cannot be deactivated without proper authorizations. Records are required to be kept of all decisions and status changes. Military personnel are legally responsible for their actions or inactions. Instead of slaps on the wrists and reassignments
for a few dozen persons, we need a comprehensive review of the law compliance verification procedures related to nuclear weapons and materials. The USAF needs to be told that its whitewash has been rejected and that a better story is needed, preferably the truth.

References
-NY Times,"Securing Russian Nuclear Missiles? U.S. Is Set to Say Done'", C.J. CHIVERS, 10/31/07
-AfterDownin gStreet.org, "The Air Force Cover-Up of that Minot-Barksdale Nuclear Missile Flight", D. Lindorff, 10/31/07

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