No, using Buffs to transport (unarmed)missiles is pretty plausible. These things are very large and heavy, so might even need more than one transport aircraft to move the full load, and transports are in high demand. The missiles are also designed to be securely attached to a B-52's wing. By transporting them in another aircraft you'd need to spend a lot of time and energy boxing the things up properly.

Finally, since Minot and Barksdale are both B-52 bases and both have maintenance crew and facilities for the aircraft it makes sense to use them for these milkruns. Gives the crew some flight hours too.

Posted at September 24, 2007 2:51 PM in response to Simple Error My Ass

Some aspects of the story seems plausible enough. They are decomissioning ACM's at barksdale and have been since march, so this work is supposed to be going on.

There are some items that do scream out to me as suspicious though:

First, that armed and unarmed missiles were stored in the same igloo. This is a big no-no, even with conventional weapons.

Second, that the six unarmed missiles was loaded on one wing and the six armed ones on the other wing, instead of being mixed. The probability of that is fairly low.

Third: That the sloppy inspector only checked the one wing with unarmed missiles.

Posted at September 24, 2007 8:32 AM in response to Simple Error My Ass

I think the non-binding resolution was a good move. Its function wasn't to have an impact on the war, but more as a parliamentary dipping of a toe in the water. It gave the opportunity to test the unity of the democrats(result: excellent) and the resolve of the republicans(result: signs of panic and disarray, with several reps and senators peeling off). The talking points memo that leaked from the repubs was a good indicator of the tension they are feeling. All they've got is transparent rethoric, semantics and fear-mongering.

The resolutions also kept the debate in the highlights, put the reps and senators on record and set the stage for the next moves to come.

Having all the representatives take the stand and give a statement was another clever move, as you can always be assured that some crazy shit will fall out of a few republican mouths.

Posted at February 19, 2007 2:18 AM in response to What Have They Done for Us Lately? 56 Senate Votes Against Escalation