Two US Air Force leaders must resign due to their involvement in the accidental sending of four nuclear warhead fuses to Taiwan, in place of helicopter batteries.
The ousting of Air Force secretary Michael W. Wynne, as well as the force's chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, come after a still classified report leveled serious allegations against the two.
America, which has criticized Russia for its management of nuclear weapons and material, seems to be having trouble of its own. Irresponsible handling of dangerous weapons impedes the US's ability to make the case that countries like Iran and North Korea should be halted from developing nuclear power. When the US cannot keep track of its nuclear program, it appears dangerous as well.
Meanwhile, Iran has threatened to sue Western states. To see why, read more.
Iran accuses the West of damaging Iran's reputation and pressuring the UN Security Council to meddle in its civilian nuclear program. Iran is also accusing the US of basing its obsession with Iran's nuclear program on false evidence that claims Iran has tried to make nuclear weapons.
Does the recent news — that the US sent nuclear weapon material to Taiwan on accident — make you think the US is all talk and no walk when it comes to nuclear proliferation issues? Or does the fact that the top brass were asked to leave mean America is still a legitimate leader in the quest to make the world safe?
Catherine Malandrino
Singh S. Madan
Givenchy
I'll bet the eBay ratings went way down.
1lol rac. I know this doesn't compare to nuclear materials... but I can't tell you how many times we ordered/shipped the wrong parts when I was in. I doubt seriously these two men had anything to do with the packaging/shipping, etc. They're just someone big who can take the blame. Once I ordered fasteners for an F-18 panel and ended up with heliocopter rotors because of a 1-digit misplacement.
Sadly, that cost my squadron somewhere in the region of $1.5 million.
2We're nothing to brag about when it comes to nuclear proliferation issues.
But too, the Air Force was criticized by Gates recently for not doing enough in Iraq - I wonder if these two guys were balking on Iran. Firing them for something like this undermines any credibility they might have had, so there's no point in their speaking out about anything else:
WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today the
3Air Force is not doing enough to help in the Iraq and Afghanistan
war effort, complaining that some military leaders are "stuck in
old ways of doing business."
Gates made the comments in a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base in
Montgomery. Published: Mon, April 21, 2008 - 1:10 pm
That is interesting Stephley.
I read this from AP:
And he linked the underlying causes of that slip-up to another startling incident: the flight last August of a B-52 bomber that was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
4Of course, we didn't even threaten the rest of the world in that one:
5"has included a bomber wing inadvertently flying nuclear warheads over the continental United States."
i would like to hear paul harvey tell me "the REST of the story", such as -- what happened when they put the batteries in the helicopters?
6Here's a hint - they got mixed up and put the batteries in something else. The helicopters didn't go anywhere but the ladies of the Air Force were looking oddly content until the mistake was discovered.
7What can you say; human error is part of the job. The fact that they identified the mistake and took appropriate actions to correct any cracks in the system goes to show that they are committed to doing better.
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