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Nuclear Nose Cones Mistakenly Shipped to Taiwan
Reservoir Hill writes "The Pentagon announced that the United States had mistakenly shipped to Taiwan four electrical fuses designed for use on intercontinental ballistic missiles, but has since recovered them. The mistaken shipment to Taiwan did not include nuclear materials, although the fuses are linked to the triggering mechanism in the nose cone of a Minuteman nuclear missile. Taiwanese authorities notified U.S. officials of the mistake, but it was not clear when the notification was made. An examination of the site in Taiwan where the components had been stored after delivery indicated that they had not been tampered with. The fuses had been in four shipping containers sent in March 2005 from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., to a Defense Logisitics Agency warehouse at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. It was then in the logistics agency's control and was shipped to Taiwan "on or around" August 2006, according to a memo from Defense Secretary Robert Gates ordering Navy Adm. Kirkland H. Donald to investigate the incident."
What can Brown do for the US Government?
We figured out a long time ago that it's easier to elect seven judges than to elect 132 legislators.
we send them really nifty stuff like nuclear nose cones and they ship us some crappy sneakers...
what gives? this is worse than the xmas gifts i get at work....
Is it 5:30 yet?
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Isn't Taiwan the good China? At least that's the impression I've pieced together from the back of sugar packets and Tom Clancy novels.
Rest assured, they'll send it back in one form or another.
Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
Or even worse, if you sent nuclear weapons components to the wrong address and they put them all together and THEN sent them back.....express.
China wants Taiwan. We like Taiwan. We could give or take China (love their cheap crap, hate their social structure that allows said cheap crap, afraid of billion-man Armageddon-sized army). How do we prop up Taiwan without pissing off China? "Accidentally" help make them a nuclear power by "oops!" letting them hold on to vital nuke bomb parts to study for a year or two!
Fiendishly clever, I say.
They're going to be pissed when they realize we sent them a shoddy bomb casing filled with used pinball machine parts.
I don't think anyone would care whether the megaton hydrogen bomb just detonated in their city was based on 1960s designs or 1980s designs :)
And I thought I had bad timing with smileys.
Summary:
personaly i bet they where shipped back there for RMA - and they for got to put the number on the outside of the box so it took them awhile to get around to them
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
Far from it, nuclear weapons are a sign of power. If I have a nuke and you don't, and I told you to give me all your porn and if you didn't I would nuke you, would you comply or risk possibly being nuked?
See, I have power.
Nuclear power baby.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
1 Ship WMD to foreign country
2 Claim that foreign country has WMDs
3 Invade foreign country
4 PROFIT!
For years, Chiang Kai-shek and company insisted that China was a province of Taiwan. ;-)