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Ear to the Ground

Heads Roll at Air Force

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Posted on Jun 5, 2008
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bragg.army.mil

Lowering the boom: Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday axed two top Air Force honchos, Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, in a bid to do some damage control in the wake of the alarming incident last August in which nuclear warheads were mistakenly flown from North Dakota to Louisiana and another incident in which Air Force electrical fuses for ballistic missile warheads were shipped to Taiwan.


AP via Yahoo News:

Gates said an internal investigation found a common theme in the B-52 and Taiwan incidents: “ ... A decline in the Air Force’s nuclear mission focus and performance” and a failure by Air Force leaders to respond effectively.

In a reflection of his concern about the state of nuclear security, Gates said he had asked a former defense secretary, James Schlesinger, to lead a task force that will recommend ways to ensure that the highest levels of accountability and control are maintained in Air Force handling of nuclear weapons.

In somber tones, Gates told reporters his decision to remove Wynne and Moseley was based on the findings of an investigation of the Taiwan debacle by Adm. Kirkland Donald. The admiral found a “lack of a critical self-assessment culture” in the Air Force nuclear program, making it unlikely that weaknesses in the way critical materials such as nuclear weapons are handled could be corrected, Gates said.

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By PatrickHenry, June 6 at 1:28 pm #

Good, the U.S has too many of its citizens in the military and way too many officers.

We need petrochemical engineers, green technology technicians, mag-lev rail installers, solar and wind repairmen.

Americans posess more personal firearms than most nations militaries, I don’t fear a Chinese or Russian invasion any time soon but I do fear our constitution shredding, ever expanding zionist controlled government backed by layers of police and 2 million of my countrymen in uniform.

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By fkgaza, June 6 at 8:49 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

General George Marshall of WW2 fame insisted that officers that were found less than outstanding were removed immediately.  To do otherwise was to harm the Nation.  He also said that to relieve a man was less a judgment on the man THAN ON THE COMMANDER who appointed him.  Gates should take the blame and not be dead set on destroying others for mistakes his organization has made in judgement.

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By troublesum, June 6 at 3:34 am #

How stupid do they think we are?  This had to do with the debate within the administration about bombing Iran not with the kind of mistakes that probably happen 30 times a week.

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By Arabian Thoroughbred, June 5 at 9:38 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

At the face of it, it looks like punishing two guys for mistakes made that did not cause any deaths. However, it’s more likely related to power struggle within an entity responsible for thousands of deaths, destruction, and bankrupting the national treasury.

If it was about responsibility and punishment for failing to carry this responsibility, the first that was supposed to be punished is the so-called Commander-in-Chief who has so much innocent blood on his hands.

So, my feeling is that peace in this country and the world will not come about until and unless this entity of war-mongering is totally dismantled. The men of the Air Force, in my opinion, are a bunch of coward murderers who cannot look their victims in the eyes, so they kill them from great distance while playing their macho game. That’s what one of them did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and others continue to do in Iraq.

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By 911truthdotorg, June 5 at 9:07 pm #

The Air Force Academy, Air Force and the Pentagon are being infiltrated with ultra-right wing super Evangelical “Christians” who can’t wait for the Rapture to happen.

My guess is these two were non-conformists and will be replaced with religious freaks - aka, Robots, to be controlled.

This country is pretty much screwed.

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By tres, June 5 at 8:43 pm #

maybe because they didn’t want to drop bombs on Iran?

those are just excuses. worse stuffs happen all the time.

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By Blongmar, June 5 at 6:09 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

It is only the tip of the iceberg...imagine how much stuff goes on underneath...careerism

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