70 punished in accidental B-52 flight

[Rick Myers]

Source: AP



(snip)

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.

(snip)



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071019/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/nuclear_mistake

---

Yep, blame the little guys... :wtf:

[villager]

1. Dick Cheney's "informal" weapons sequestering?

n/t

[Megahurtz]

2. Couldn't They Just

rat Cheney out? (or whoever :eyes: I suppose) :shrug:
Which in that case of course they would only be following orders.

In this case a big hearty :wtf:

[lovuian]

3. whenever they are caught they blame the little guy

same at Abu Ghahib and other orders the little guy pays the price

[hack89]

14. They nailed a Wing Commander

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.

[sofa king]

4. The only rule this Administration follows is....

"Never tell the truth."

So it only remains to be seen how and in how many ways this story will prove to be erroneous.

[jimshoes]

5. BULL

SHIT!

[opihimoimoi]

6. How high did this go??? Who was in charge to make sure these kinds of shit does not happen???

The Trail leads to the TOP...where the BUCK Stops???

[Rick Myers]

8. BushCo is a 'free trade' operation, the BUCK NEVER STOPS!!!

:grr:

[opihimoimoi]

10. Them Nefarious NeoCons made sure of that...didn't they???

[Gloria]

7. So, have the warheads been removed yet????????

:sarcasm:

[TomInTib]

9. "informal" system, my ass.

Yeah, right.

This isn't some playground recess, folks.

Those procedures are set in stone.

[Rick Myers]

11. Ah, come on.... It's the weekend, let's send some nukes to Louisiana!!!

Party on garth!!!

Do you believe this shit???

[TomInTib]

12. Did you see the account where it was claimed that they were all six under one wing?

Now there's a good one for ya.

They are stretching this one like a five-gallon condom.

[Rick Myers]

16. If the OTHER pylon had 'deadweight' 129's, it might be plausable...

but... The W-80 series only weigh 280 to 300 pounds. That's JUST the warhead.

This story just ADDS to the questions... WTF is going on!!!

What about the flight crew??? Pilot, Radar/Nav, Crew Chief???

Is Sunday now 'Loose Nukes' Day???

[Ezlivin]

28. "The crew flying the plane was unaware nuclear warheads were on its wing..."

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.

[defendandprotect]

13. "unprecedented string of procedural errors" . .. . ..

70 airmen -- that's quite an "unprecedented string of procedural errors"

No ranks?

The oddities mount . . .
It doesn't make sense that these would have gotten onto the plane without the pilots knowing about it -- does it?

And what pilots -- except those on a crusade of some kind, perhaps -- would be willing to fly with this stuff fully armed?

Whitewash, of course --

But just what the whole thing might have been about makes me nervous ---

PLUS, these aren't the kind of problems where you can say, "we didn't get it right the first time. ... but we'll get it right this time -- !!!" Doesn't work with nuclear shit ---

[Spazito]

15. Well, that settles it then....

70 individuals just decided not to follow procedure the same night on two SEPARATE bases, it happens often, ya know, GEEZ, they really do think there isn't a brain cell to be found anywhere in the public purview!

[tailwind]

18. Move along nothing to see here.

The dumb sheeple will believe it just like all the other bogus Neo-Con crap we have seen.

[Spazito]

22. Sadly, that is exactly what is and will happen...

it is already a non-story with the media and the public.

[TheWraith]

26. You're creating a strawman argument.

The proceedures hadn't been followed for some time, and they only needed to be not followed at one base.

And 70 individuals are being punished, but 60 of those only by having their handling classification revoked, meaning they're no longer trusted to deal with nuclear weapons. In other words, everybody who knew about this informal system of convenience and didn't do anything about it. The people who are actually being kicked out of the service are the ones responsible for the second breakdown that put the warheads on the plane.

[Tab]

17. Yeah, and in other news

A dozen neoconservatives start a war against a sovereign nation and kill hundreds of thousands and get off scott-free.

[unkachuck]

19. maybe we....

....could ask Putin for some advise on how to handle a loose-nuke problem?

[fenriswolf]

20. right

the military would change policy or procedure? you think their superiours would go along with deviation from the manual? I think not. you think you can get 70 people to go along with deviation from orders? especially on nuclear weapons? If i handled a nuke I would go directly BY THE BOOK for fear of being court martieled for not dotting an eye on a manifest. the fact taht 70 people went away from procedure while dealing with nuclear weapons and their superiors did nothing is complete and utter bullshit, the top brass are obsfucating for dick cheney and they are doing a horrible job and all the while the american media is saying nothing about this so basically this is a trial run for dick with 15 MORE MONTHS to birth a real nuclear holocaust god I hate this crap.

[roody]

21. Wayne Madsen at the wayne madsen report

believes that these soldiers revolted against bombing Iran. That's where the nukes were heading.

[TheWraith]

25. Wayne Madsen material is banned from DU because he's completely full of crap. NT

[roody]

31. What do you think happened?

How did 70 soldiers mess up?

[Purveyor]

23. I believe this like I believe that the goats living next door have 2 assholes... eom

[Whoa_Nelly]

24. Just who the fuck are the people that stay up late at night thinking up more lousy explanations

to cover previous lousy explanations! :wtf:

[LeftHander]

27. NPR did a story yesterday...the story Lead was "5" Reporter mentioned "6" nt

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

29. I reiterate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2092587&mesg_id=2092587

[KansDem]

30. Let's see: Any demotions or firings for allowing 9/11 to happen? Nope...

Any demotions or firings for the lies that lead us to invade Iraq? Nope...
Any demotions or firings for the Katrina debacle? Nope...
Any demotions or firings for the politicization of the Justice Department? Nope...
Any demotions or firings for the torture debacle? Nope...
Any demotions or firings for the missing $8,000,000,000 in Iraq? Nope...
Any demotions or firings for the Plame outing? Nope...

But get caught transporting 6 nuclear bombs via B-52 for a yet-unspecified plan and 70 heads roll...
:wtf: indeed!

[TrogL]

32. So where are the bombs?

That's the one question I haven't had answered. The bombs were moved there for a reason. Why? Incorrect procedure doesn't matter. Why were the bombs moved and where are they now?