@ #98 ‘snafu’ post about six nuclear tipped cruise missiles “accidentally” being misplaced.
nope. nada. Doesn’t happen that way.
You don’t “misplace” nuclear warheads. The B-52 aircrew that had them didn’t “neglect” to inspect their aircraft this one time….. And news of it doesn’t quietly leak out of the air base without some serious people knowing about it.
So, what is up? Is Cheney warning Iran? The air base that the nukes were flown to is a staging ground for ME flights. What is the real message here, and is it important?

Posted by: Jake | Sep 6 2007 3:06 utc | 103

here’s another reason why i don’t hold reuters rpts as all that reliable or impartial in their coverage on africa, esp wrt somalia.
on wednesday there was a heavy firefight either inside or near mogadishu’s busy bakara market, where at least eight people died immediately while more than two dozen others were hospitalized.
the reuters article on this reads
Several killed in Somali clashes as US vows help

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Fighting between Somali government forces and insurgents killed several people in Mogadishu on Wednesday, police and residents said, in some of the worst clashes since a peace conference ended.
Residents woke to the rattle of machinegun fire as gunmen battled police and soldiers in the rubble-strewn streets of the coastal capital.
“We killed eight insurgents in the operation and three policemen were also wounded,” said police spokesman Abdi Wahid Mohamed.
Many residents were trapped in their houses by the early morning clashes.
“I saw three dead men and six wounded people (in the street) but I could not go out of the house,” Farah Aden Omar told Reuters by telephone.
The Madina Hospital received 29 wounded people, of whom one died, said a medical source who asked not to be named.

the police spokesperson’s claim that “insurgents” were killed goes unchallenged & no mention is made of the “operation” taking place in or near the popular market. it doesn’t take a journalist to understand that official pronouncements of fatalities being limited to “insurgents” needs to be viewed w/ a heavy dose of skepticism and, indeed, a garowe online report, i.e., a somali news agency, on the same “operation” informs its readers that

Mogadishu residents witnessed some of the heaviest gun battles in recent weeks today when government forces raided a home near Bakara market, witnesses said.
At least 8 people were killed and more than 30 others wounded during the subsequent battle between the troops and suspected insurgents holed inside the home.
Police spokesman Abdiwahid Hussein claimed victory in today’s raid, saying that police killed and captured many insurgents and confiscated weapons, including grenades and rocket launchers.
Witnesses said most of the dead in today’s battle were civilians caught in the crossfire.

one would think that this would be an important context & refutation of the police spokesperson’s stmt by the myriad of witnesses in the area would be important news in the reuters story. reuters did include a witness stmt though, albeit one phoned in from a person who never left his house.
having left the reader w/ that little of actual coverage of the firefight, the article then goes on to shift gears, quoting jendayi frazer on the u.s. offer to support any nations that want to send peacekeepers to somalia, and on the recently concluded TFG national reconciliation conference.

Frazer welcomed the conclusion of a six-week national reconciliation conference in Mogadishu, which critics say produced nothing but optimistic resolutions.

well, they’ve only listened to generous critics then, as optimism is not a term/concept which i’ve seen expressed in critical analyses of the NRC. my suspicion is that the source for this stmt is from one of the two officials cited in the piece, or perhaps copied off a DoS handout, i don’t know, but it’s easy to verify that actual criticism was not generous or optimistic.
ironically however, the article wraps w/ an entirely pessimistic criticism of the opposition conference to be held in asmara starting this w/e

Opposition figures, including some Islamist leaders, plan to hold a rival conference in Eritrea starting on Thursday, to try to unite Somalia’s anti-government forces.
Somali Ambassador to Kenya Mohamed Abdi Nur criticised the move as redundant and unhelpful.
“We believe anything organised outside the country will come to nothing,” he told a news conference.

so what we have is just a propaganda piece by reuters, masquarading as news, that benefits the unpopular somali govt, w/ a little support coming from their handler, asst sec frazer. control what people know & you control what they think.
— — —
a very interesting analysis on the oil sitch in somalia
The dangerous smell of crude oil that may ignite a new civil war in Somalia

Reports written by major newspapers including Sharq Alawsat in the nineties stated that Somalia has estimated oil reserves of over 10bn barrels and has 200 billion cubic ft of proven gas reserves. Since mid fifties major oil companies were doing sporadic surveys in the hope of producing commercial quantities of oil from onshore and offshore Somalia. The biggest major exploration was carried out in independent Somalia and the occupied Ogaden in the fifties by western oil companies such as Sinclair Oil Corporation, Standard oil and the current estimates are either based on old technology used at the time or estimates made in the seventies and eighties. In the eighties few major oil companies showed their interest in Somalia and gained concessions from the last government of Somalia . ConnocoPhilips, Amoco, Shell, Chevron and Agip were among these Western Companies and ceased their operations in 1988 and 1990 after declaring force majeure. Range Resources an Australian oil company which signed an exploration deal with Puntland recently estimates about 5bn to 10bn barrels of oil in Puntland including Mudug region.
…
After 1990 oil deals became complex and frightening as some warlords were approached by some of the Western oil companies who wanted to renegotiate the agreements in exchange of both financial support and political lobbying.
…
The dangerous smell of oil engulfed the country´s politics since then and some warlords increased their involvement. During the reconciliation conference held in Kenya between 2003 and 2004 new unknown oil companies get involved in the election campaign of the current interim president Mr Abdullahi Yusuf.
…

Posted by: b real | Sep 6 2007 4:23 utc | 105

9th Circuit rules that CIA can keep classified 40 year old documents from Johnson administration. Decision further chills Freedom of Information Act.
Oh, and my take on the six* nuclear tipped cruise missiles “accidentally” being misplaced? I agree w/ David Glenn Cox:

There is no such thing as Oops with Nuclear Weapons
There are certain aspects of the Bush administration that have made themselves glaringly obvious after six and a half years. Rule number 1, They never ever ever, ever tell the truth about anything, no matter how small or how inconsequential. The truth must always be dragged out of them like a dentist pulling wisdom teeth. Only after the lies and cover stories have all been exposed will the administration begin to admit the truth. Then only the truth that they are willing to tell and even then only to explain away any wrong doings on their part.
Rule number 2, Admit nothing ever ever ever! Even if caught red handed even if subpoenaed by Congress or court. They live and die on the Sargent Schulz dictum; “I know nothing! I see nothing!” and the Gonsalez corollary two step, “I wasn’t at that meeting so I don’t know Senator I have no recollection of that Colonel Hogan, I mean Senator.”
So when the administration just blithely drops into the conversation, “You know what? You ain’t never gonna guess what happened? It was the darndest thing I ever did see! Well me and the boys over to the Minot airbase we was loading bombs on one of them big ole airplanes and dang if we didn’t put the wrong bombs on that there airoplane and flew them down to wesianna. Don’t that take the rag offen the bush?
The administration that defends the indefensible from the military and gets it’s nickers in a twist over bad jokes at the military’s expense suddenly wants you to believe Gomer Pyle is loading nuclear bombers. Where they not such practiced liars it would be easier to figure out what they are about. But they are up to something and it involves nuclear weapons.
Maybe it’s an attempt to loosen the control on the nuclear arsenal by embarrassing the military. Maybe the bombs were destined for Iraq and then eventually Iran and somebody let the cat out of the bag. Maybe they will claim the nuclear strike on Iran was an accident a mix up of war heads. But accidents in the transport of Nuclear weapons just don’t happen it’s not an oops situation. In 1958 a Strategic Air Command B47 bomber lost two engines during an in flight collision, the protocol was for the pilot to drop the weapon into the ocean 25 miles from the coastline.
Due to the nature of the damage the pilot dropped the weapon into the ocean off of Jekell Island Georgia near Savannah. To this day the military has been unable to locate the bomb but the paperwork is still intact. The pilot signed for the weapon and its paper work lists the model and serial number of the bomb. His commanding officer as well signed authorizing the weapon to be released to the pilot. The commanding general of the base signed that this was an authorized training mission and verifying the legitimacy of the other signatures. They’re pretty funny about who they let play with their bombs so when the Bush administration tells me woopsey I get nervous.
And five times with five weapons mounted on cruise missiles? That dog don’t hunt!
Why did they tell us?
What was gained by telling us?
Is it a cover story or a leak?
Is it a front story for later use or a back-story for something they’ve already done?
Perhaps they were moving the weapons into the War Theater and someone went public. The only thing for certain is the story we are getting is not the truth. (See rule 1)
Through out this administration the group that has shown the most back bone and resolve against the shenanigans of George Herbert Hoover Bush has been the pentagon. It has become almost a revolving door, the ambitious move up and the honest move out.
Bush’s position for a war czar was passed over by every major General in the military.The generals have routinely disputed the Presidents comments as false shortly before retiring. Maybe this time someone took it a step further and said no! The only thing for certain is the story we are getting is not the truth. There is no excuse for a first strike nuclear attack and just one more reason to make sure that the bomb removed from the arsenal is George Herbert Hoover Bush. This is an important event, this means something strange is going on.

*some accounts say five.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 6 2007 7:54 utc | 107

Alamet & j_b_c,
Snarky Sarky’s remarks on Africa remind me of comments made by Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, when he described the US native American reservations as an example of the “failure of socialism”.
He could just as well have been talking about the failure of imperialism and manifest destiny. As could the Cutting Sark.

Posted by: ralphieboy | Sep 6 2007 8:16 utc | 109

CNN Europe

DHS announces steps against smuggling of nuclear devices into U.S.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Saying that terrorists could use private aircraft or small boats to smuggle a “dirty bomb” or nuclear device into the United States, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told Congress Wednesday he will propose tightening rules regulating such craft
Under the plans, general aviation aircraft would be required to provide a passenger list before departing from overseas locations, and nuclear detection gear will be tested in the ports of Seattle and San Diego.
“We do worry about the fact that somebody could … lease or occupy a private plane overseas and then use that as a way to smuggle in a dirty bomb or a weapon of mass destruction into the United States,” Chertoff said in a written statement. “We do worry that having locked the front door, so to speak, against dangerous containers, someone could simply put the dangerous cargo in a private ocean-going vessel and take it into a U.S. port.”
Chertoff said the tightened security standards for general aviation operators would increase screening for nuclear materials overseas and require private aircraft coming in from overseas to send U.S. authorities a list of passengers and crew members before starting their flight. Planes departing from Canada, Mexico and Caribbean nations would be included, a DHS spokesman said. –From Homeland Security Producer Mike Ahlers (Posted 4:16 p.m.)
DHS burdened by congressional demands
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The constant demands from Congress for testimony and reports is distracting Homeland Security officials from the job of securing the homeland, Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a letter to Congress Wednesday.
Chertoff said DHS “takes seriously” its responsibility to keep Congress informed, but the demands of responding to 86 committees and subcommittees that claim jurisdiction over parts of the department is hindering the department’s effectiveness.
“In my view, the problem is getting worse rather then better,” Chertoff wrote to Rep. Peter King, the majority leader on the House Homeland Security Committee. “The number of very detailed written reports required of DHS by Congress is proliferating at an alarming rate.”
In the summer of 2004, the 9/11 commission recommended that Congress create “a single, principal point of oversight and review” for homeland security. To date, however, it remains one of the few recommendations that Congress has chosen to ignore. –From Homeland Security Producer Mike Ahlers (Posted 4:14 p.m.)

Funny that eh? Funny that A) the above was not picked up by any mainland American news outlets (at least none I can find) so to whom are they targeting in other words, who is this message meant for? and B) poor poor DHS burdened by congressional oversite… what a brilliant set up excuse, if something does happen…

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Sep 6 2007 8:30 utc | 111

@ Uncle $ 111
Thanks for the links and comment. It’s hard to tell whether all these
“signs and portents” are indicators of an impending attack on Iran (perhaps tripped off by a new 9/11) or rather, as DID suggested in an astute recent posting, merely part of a disinformation project designed to get people like us so thoroughly agitated that our paranoia becomes exploitable for electoral purposes. Prudence is certainly in order, but unfortunately it’s not clear where the path of true prudence lies.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Sep 6 2007 8:58 utc | 113

b@114
iinm u r n IT consultant and so wander into buildings full of the people i’ve worked with. you have witnessed (and represent) the level of intelligence, skill and professionalism that can be displayed.
According to some of the people I’ve worked with, your headline is a nice philosophy. Their teenage kids are talking about stuff like that all the time.
Well according to science, there is no free lunch. Yet people still yearn for one to save us and allow the rapacious consumerist party to never end and to spread like a bacteria in a petri dish across the surface of the beautiful blue marble.
– science will save us – as if science is some amorphous beneficent being (hey!)
– the gov’t has secret tech in the wings (roswell or not) – as if it makes $en$e to use up all the hydro-carbs before rolling it out
– many more variations on the above and of course mighty bog in heaven will save/provide
all to ignore the indisputable truth of your headline. whatever we replace oil with is still going to require the limited stuff on the limited planet
there are two perpetual motion machines that are touted these days. one a hinky little thing with lots of clicking and a ball bearing running around on a track; the other a large (30′?) ferris-wheel like device that slowly rocks back and forth.
Neither of these devices produces energy. The former appears to have enough to run itself – technically fits the description of PM, but isn’t very useful; and the latter is so large and has so many projections on its surface, that it is likely any slight breeze causing it to rock back and forth, back and forth on what it sure to be a well lubricated hub
we’re fooked. As The Truth…It said, nukes shoulda been the wake-up call. The talking monkeys would be in a lot better position today…

Posted by: jcairo | Sep 6 2007 14:20 utc | 115