Many questions raised by loose nukes.

On August 30, an Air Force B-52 strategic bomber took off from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota and flew to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. This otherwise unremarkable event was made extraordinary by the fact that the B-52 in question was armed with live nuclear weapons, making the nuclear-armed flight something that hasn't happened since nuclear-armed planes were grounded in the United States in 1968 over safety concerns.

According to the Air Force, the flight was a mistake. "There was an error which occurred during a regularly scheduled transfer of weapons between two bases," said a statement released by Air Force Public Relations official Lt. Col. Edward Thomas on September 6.

The official explanation has not quelled speculation that the B-52 flight was part of secret preparations for future hostilities in the Middle East. Several analysts have pointed out that it is highly unlikely that six nuclear weapons could be loaded onto a bomber by mistake. Writing in the Strategic Security Blog of the Federation of American Scientists, analyst Hans M. Kristensen noted: "Pilots (or anyone else) are not supposed to just fly off with nuclear bombs, and base commanders are not supposed to tell them to do so unless so ordered by higher command. In the best of circumstances the system worked, and someone 'upstairs' actually authorized the transport of nuclear cruise missiles on a B-52H bomber."

The speculation was given further credence because the incident only came to light when three anonymous officers contacted the Army Times. The whistleblowers "asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the incident," the Army Times reported.

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Larry C. Johnson, whose bio says he "worked with the Central Intelligence Agency (1985-1989) and the Department of State's Office of the Coordinator for Counter Terrorism (1989-1993)," noted on the TPM Cafe blog that Barksdale Air Force Base is a "jumping off point" for operations in the Middle East. "Now maybe there is an innocent explanation for this," Johnson wrote in his blog commentary. "I can't think of one. What is certain is that the pilots of this plane did not just make a last minute decision to strap on some nukes and take them for a joy ride. We need some tough questions and clear answers.... Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran?"