It seems that the US Air Force "lost track" of a few W80-1 nuclear warheads for a few hours the other day. Apparently, five nuclear warheads were left on some cruise missiles that were being transported to Louisiana to be decommissioned.
While it concerns me that such an error could occur, I believe that the Air Force is doing what is necessary to determine the cause of the mistake and will develop an appropriate corrective action. What concerns me more is the fact that there are Air Force Officers that are willing to speak anonymously about this incident. If they were to be named, I imagine there would be a court martial or two. I am fully supportive of whistle blowers in certain circumstances. However, I do not believe that this situation justifies the officers going public with what is most likely classified material. The public has a right to know unless our enemies do not have a right to know.
Classified information has flowed much too freely in the past few years with little or no consequences other than people who should not know certain things learning those things. I can't help but think of satellite phones etc. This is just another example that should be made an example. It used to be that only politicians and other lower life forms leaked classified information to the press. Now it seems that it has spread to commissioned officers. How sad indeed.
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070904/NEWS01/70904040
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3 comments:
Agree with everything you say.
However, there is another angle to consider: The reporter's use of the word "officer" in this case could be VERY misleading. Some CIVILIANS have job titles such as "Quality Control OFFICER", "Technical Specifications OFFICER", etc. The report never says these are Air Force Officers but you are definitely led to believe that they are though. While it could happen that 3 commissioned Air Force officers decide to get together and leak this, it seems very unlikely. 3 civilians, perhaps disenchanted with civil service, far more likely.
Now, this is still a serious leak and needs to be investigated. However, if it is from civilians, I don't think it is QUITE as bad somehow.
I do hope that the reporter was using "officer" incorrectly. If that is the case, I would agree with you that it is not quite as bad. At least it would not be a case of military officers. However, a leak is a leak and there should be consequences. Otherwise they will become more frequent and more severe.
I think this is the author of this piece. The bio is from a website he helped found titled "Iraq Veterans Against The War."
Think of this what you will...
http://www.ivaw.org/user/229
Michael Hoffman
Branch of service: United States Marine Corps (USMC)
Unit: Romeo 5/10 2nd MarDiv
Rank: Lcpl
Home: Allentown, Pennsylvania
Served in: Parris Island, SC Camp Lejeune, NC Okinawa, Japan Iraq
I served for a little over 4 years in the USMC and was half way through my time when 9-11 happened so that I was able to see the military during both peace and war time. I was part of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and was one of the first to come home in July of the same year. I first spoke out publicly against the war in Philadelphia on Veterans day of 2003. Then in July of 2004 I was one of the co-founders of IVAW. I am now attending college in Allentown, PA.
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