Pentagon accidentally sends missile parts to Taiwan
No one to blame, apparently
CHINA is mightily peeved at the US after some imbecile at the Pentagon sent a shipment of electrical fuses for Minuteman strategic nuclear missiles to Taiwan instead of the helicopter batteries that had been ordered.
The US is only supposed to supply Taiwan with weapons that can be used for defensive purposes. It is a truth universally acknowledged that intercontinental ballistic missiles do not readily fall into this category.
The fuses - 85 centimetres high and 50 centimetres in diameter - were shipped in late 2006 and despite quarterly inventory checks, the military muppets didn't notice the things were missing. Only when the Taiwanese kicked up a fuss about the non-arrival of the helicopter batteries was the mistake noticed. Once the error finally came to light, the military hastily recovered the four fuses after almost 18 months.
According to US Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, the fuses were sent from an Air Force Base in Wyoming to a Defence Logistics Agency warehouse in Utah. There, they ended up in an unclassified area, rather than the secure section in which they should have been stored and somehow ended up travelling to Taiwan.
A spokesman said the Cheyenne base has 'stringent accountability procedures in place' for shipments to the Utah base and claimed that no one at the Wyoming base was responsible for the mix-up.
So it must be down to pixies.
A White House spokesperson announced that a full investigation is under way and, when asked if the President still had confidence in the Air Force's competence, replied: "Yes, yes he does."
So that's alright then. µ
L'Inq
AP
Comments
if is china
if is china to sent these parts of missil to haiti or panama it is realy a great crisisif discover these parts of missil in iraque and is justification real for ,,.
why the internacional press dont make questions
about these provocation to china...
warehouse full up?
The poor supply grunts probably put the fuses off to the side by the helicopter batteries because the secure section of the warehouse was full up. They probably had the full intention of moving the fuses to the secure section when space became available. They probably just forgot to tell the next shift "that big box over by the helicopter batteries is fuses for missles, so don't mix those up".Whoops! ;)
Cheers,
John
Eh
When they start accidentally shipping off plutonium I'll start to worry.No, no. Begging another question
Does the Air Force still have confidence in the President's competence? The ICBM detonators were housed in nose-cones, which were mistook for Madonna brassiere parts. CA declares this day "Frederick's Of Hollywood Day" to celebrate the return of Madonna's bustier. Taipei is reportedly seeking counterfoil refunds. Madonna, after having feasted at "Sam's Chicken and Ribs" in South Ealing, retired to Zone 1, in Connaught Square behind Oxford Street near to Marble, without comment, sadly.Well
They were probably made in Taiwan anyway.No big teal
The Chicommies understandably wail after they went to a lot of trouble and expense to steal U.S. nuclear weapons technology during the Clinton, Bush Sr., and probably Reagan administrations or before and now we are just giving it away to their rivals across the Straits. It's small potatoes compared to the incident last summer when six live instead of dummy nuclear warheads were mistakenly carried by a B-52 on a cross-country flight. Some say it was part of a sinister conspiracy on the part of the Jr. Bush administration to stir the pot using the "loose nukes" excuse. Hopefully, the two Chinas won't go at it hammer and tong after the Olympics as some predict. On the other hand, if you are planning to upgrade any time in the coming years, it might be best not to wait.MAD
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that intercontinental ballistic missiles do not readily fall into this category."Well that is not entirely true. Have you ever heard of MAD? Long story short, it is a strategy were 2 opposing sides each have the capability of destroying the other so even if one destroys the other the destroyed side can still annihilate the other so neither side wants to make a move. Read the Wiki for more info.