Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases

RT.com
August 10, 2011

The head of Russia’s air force says the country will launch a new flying radar system by 2016.

The plane will counter the activities of the US’s Airborne Early Warning and Control System.

Flying radar is used for collecting radio-electronic intelligence. The new Russian radio-location antenna has already been developed.

Two of the world’s most powerful cargo planes, the ANT-24 and the IL-76, may be used as carriers for the system.

Meanwhile, Russia has confirmed the creation of the world’s most advanced solid-fuel sea-based nuclear missile with payload capabilities surpassing all others developed by members of the “nuclear club”.

By distance/payload ratio, the new missile exceeds any analogues designed in the US, UK, France or China.

http://rt.com/news/prime-time/russia-launch-airborne-system/

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Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
August 2, 2011

The Air Force has suspended decades-old Bible-centric ethics training intended to make Christian officers comfortable with the possible use of nuclear weapons. The training program was given to all new missile officers by Air Force chaplains.

“We’re in the process of reviewing that training and we’ll make a determination whether or not to continue [it] or if it will be a different course,” Air Education and Training Command spokesman Dave Smith told Military.com.

Smith said the ethics training has been in place more than 20 years, although he didn’t know exactly when it was begun.

The training slides include quotations from the Bible, portraits of Christian saints, prophets, and famous American generals known for their faith, including George Washington, Union Army Gen. Joshua Chamberlain, and Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson.

Every new missile officer had to take the training at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, regardless of their own religious beliefs or lack of them, according to Smith.

AETC halted the ethics training last week after an article on the training was posted at Truthout.org. …

Read more: www.military.com/news/article/af-pulls-jesus-loves-nukes-training-.ht

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Global Security Newswire
August 4, 2011

U.S. military and intelligence operatives are debating, strategizing, gaming and potentially even conducting drills on entering Pakistan and seizing the unstable nation’s nuclear weapons during a crisis, NBC News reported on Wednesday.

Relying on official congressional remarks, military documents and interviews with present and ex-U.S. officials, NBC News said this planning is taking place amid repeated statements by senior U.S. military officials that they have confidence in the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal.

“It’s safe to assume that planning for the worst-case scenario regarding Pakistan nukes has [already] taken place inside the U.S. government,” ex-White House Deputy Counterterrorism Director Roger Cressey said. “This issue remains one of the highest priorities of the U.S. intelligence community … and the White House.”

The specifics of the planning for any potential “snatch-and-grab” scenario, including if U.S. special forces would try to dismantle or eliminate the weapons, are a tightly held government secret, NBC reported.

A U.S. Congressional Research Service report last month concluded that terrorists would have the best chance of acquiring a Pakistani nuclear weapon following the collapse of the government in Islamabad.

The United States has worried about the security of the South Asian nation’s atomic assets since before the September 11 attacks and has provided advice to Islamabad in the years since on best practices for protecting the arsenal, which is thought to number between 90 and 110 warheads. …

Read on: http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20110804_7784.php

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