From Yahoo News:WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force's top military and civilian leaders Thursday, holding them to account in a historic Pentagon shake-up after embarrassing nuclear mix-ups.
Gates announced at a news conference that he had accepted the resignations of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne — a highly unusual double firing.
Gates said his decision was based mainly on the damning conclusions of an internal report on the mistaken shipment to Taiwan of four Air Force electrical fuses for ballistic missile warheads. And he linked the underlying causes of that slip-up to another startling incident: the flight last August of a B-52 bomber that was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
Read more ....
News on These Firings From Other Sources:
Gates fires air force chiefs over nuclear blunders -- AFP
UPDATE 5-US Air Force leadership fired over nuclear issue -- Reuters
U.S. Air Force's Top Leadership Resigning -- Washington Post
Gates Ousts Air Force Leaders Over Nuclear Handling -- Bloomberg
My Comment: The excuse for these firings was the accidental shipment of nuclear triggers to Taiwan. My gut tells me that there must be more. Secretary Defense Gates was put in position to insure that accountability for ones actions and status would mean something. Since the scope of these firings are greater than the firings for abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, there must be a troubling list of problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment