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That Would Be Nice — Why Now?
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That Would Be Nice

by Bryan

CNN tells me that the Pentagon has announced an Inventory ordered of all U.S. nukes

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates has formally ordered the Air Force, Navy and Defense Logistics Agency to conduct an inventory of all U.S. nuclear weapons and nuclear weapon-related materials to make sure all items are accounted for, according to a Pentagon memo released Thursday.

The order comes in the wake of the discovery last week that four nuclear warhead fuses were accidentally shipped to Taiwan in 2006.

Gates’ memo, issued Wednesday, calls for all items to be accounted for by serial number.

Pentagon officials said at a news conference Tuesday that Gates would call for the review in addition to a full investigation into how the shipment to Taiwan from a Defense Logistics Agency warehouse happened 18 months ago.

The inventory review, which will involve thousands of items, is due to Gates in 60 days. Pentagon officials said the request was ordered, in part, because this latest incident comes after the August 2007 accidental flight of six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on a B-52 bomber across the country.

“At a minimum, your report should include the results of the inventory and your personal assessment of the adequacy of your respective department or agency’s positive inventory control policies and procedures,” Gates said in the memo.

I definitely think is would be nice if the Pentagon showed the same regard for NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!!! as 7-Eleven shows for Slim Jims.

By the way, you might want to consider not outsourcing the warehousing and control of NUCLEAR WEAPONS!!!! to some contractor. Keeping track of these things and guarding them really is one of the things people expect from the Department of Defense, not the Grace L. Ferguson Storm Door, Mini-Storage, and Nuclear Weapons Bunker.

2 comments

1 hipparchia { 03.28.08 at 2:10 am }

i dunno… the storm doors might be more secure; we’ve had enough hurricane practice. and i could almost remember where i’d heard of grace l ferguson. thank the goddess for google.

probably this inventory is a good idea, and long overdue, but i’m not sure i really want to know how many come up missing.

2 Bryan { 03.28.08 at 9:31 am }

The inventory was an ongoing process for decades, then everyone decided it was “more efficient” to outsource things and eliminate “make work”.

I realize that the Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company was a pretty obscure reference, but we didn’t have TV only a radio and phonograph when I was growing up.