Western Nations often oppose the idea of Third world nations acquiring Nuclear weapons or Nuclear Technology on the grounds of Nuclear safety ie, does the nation trying to acquire Nuclear Weapons or Technology is a responsible nation or not? Does it have adequate Nuclear safety valves in place? Does its checks and balances work regarding its Nuclear Weapons?
Does its military has adequate Command, Control and Communications (the 3 Cs) systems and procedures in place to ensure that Nuclear Weapons can never be used by a rogue commander or by mistake?
These factors are so important that in order to gain approval and acceptance as a Nuclear Armed Nation, the political and military leaders of Pakistan have often stressed the development and deployment of the 3Cs systems and procedures through news statements and books to ensure the world community that their Nuclear Weapons are in safe hands and they cannot be used by mistake or by a rogue military commander in any way.
Now Western Nations have long considered themselves as the most responsible nations and take pride in their Command and Control of their Nuclear Weapons. It is accepted as law that if any Nuclear weapons ever get into the hands of al Qaeda or the like, they will be acquired via North Korea, Pakistan or may be Russia but never through the responsible hands of the Western Nations. However, a recent development has proven that this theory, which to this day has been quoted as law, is wrong and mythical.
According to a news report of 5th September 2007, a B-52 bomber of the world's self-declared most responsible Nuclear armed Nation fighting a global war against Terrorism and Nuclear Proliferation, was able to take off armed with six Nuclear tipped Cruise Missiles and travel across the length of United States itself.
The Nuclear armed Cruise Missiles were discovered only after the Aircraft had landed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana after taking off from Minot Air Base in North Dakota. Before the aircraft landed, no one had known where they were.
In the words of Representative Edward Markey, a Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, "It is absolutely inexcusable that the Air Force lost track of these nuclear warheads, even for a short period of time". Military Times newspaper originally reported this news on Wednesday and was later confirmed by the Pentagon.
It should be noted that Nuclear weapons are normally transferred on cargo planes. Bomber flights with live Nuclear weapons ended in US Nuclear Forces in late 1960s after accidents in Spain in 1966 and in Greenland in 1968. But here, all checks and balances failed.
According to an expert on US Nuclear Forces Hans Kristensen, "It seems so fantastic that so many points, checks can dysfunction" and "That's perhaps what is most worrisome about this particular incident is that apparently an individual who had command authority about moving these weapons around decided to do so." He also said, "It's a command and control issue and it's one that calls into question the system, because if one individual can do that who knows what can happen".
If the world's first Nuclear Nation and the only nation to have used Nuclear Weapons offensively, can have such a lapse in Command and Control then on what grounds can the Western Nations question the Command and Control of other nations who are trying to acquire Nuclear Technology for peaceful purposes or self defence?
And on what grounds it is assumed that if a Nuclear Weapon lands in the hands of terrorists, it will be exclusively via irresponsible commanders of Third World Nations and not the Western ones. Will it be wrong to assume that this may not be the first incident of its kind but only the first incident that got leaked to the world media?