Anything but a mistake
It would be a gross error in judgment if not an act of downright stupidity to accept the shipment of nuclear weapons as merely a mistake. As I mentioned yesterday, there should be considerable concern over what appeared to be inadequate control and the potential consequences, however according to Larry Johnson, this goes much deeper than a matter of controls.
In fact, the level of controls are so rigid, according to Larry, it is all but impossible to mistakenly ship nuclear weapons, much less move them from one room to another. Shipping the nuclear armaments was either authorized or the worst break down in command one could possibly imagine, and the latter does not seem to be remotely possible.
The chain of custody procedures has been refined to the nith [sic] degree to insure that there will never be a mistake. The access to, movement of, and custody of these weapons is so tightly controlled, each serial numbered weapon has to be signed for when possession of it changes (from one person to another), then only after receiving a lawful order to do so. In order to load a nuclear weapon onto an aircraft the Weapon’s Depot Commander must receive a lawful order from above. The order is sent down (in writing) to one of the bomb shelter custodians and the weapon is signed out to a Loader. The Loader, loads the weapon onto an aircraft and will keep the weapon/aircraft under surveillance with the aircraft under armed guard by the Security Police in an isolated protected area until the Aircraft Commander performs his pre-flight inspection on the aircraft and signs a receipt for each of the weapons by serial number. Once delivered at their destination the Aircraft Commander would receive a receipt for the weapons by serial number from the receiving facility.
Mistakenly putting them on a plane is hard to accept given that level of control, which I’m pleased to see exists. But this gets deeper.
If the movement wasn’t a mistake, it obviously was done with some sort of purpose in mind.
The destination of the aircraft was Barksdale AFB, LA from which a number of the strikes on the Middle East have initiated. Speculation would lead us to believe the weapons were being stockpiled at this facility for a possible strike somewhere in the world. Additional speculation would also lead us to believe the strike was to occur in the very near future. Why else the need to forego the normal overland transportation procedures for nuclear weapons and risk flying them to their destination in violation of a treaty with the Russians. Also how is it the press was aware of this movement? After all who would be suspicious of a B-52 taking off from a B-52 base and a B-52 landing at a B-52 base. This event goes on many times each day for practice missions and training. Some one had to have leaked the information to the press that the U.S. was moving nuclear weapons by air in a treaty violation.
Serious business, huh? Read Larry’s post.
