Nukes Aren't Fool Proof and a Further Look at the NRA

I. The U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Is Far From Fool Proof
When on November 25, 2015 the nuclear-powered Trident submarine USS Georgia ran aground in Kings Bay, Georgia, the terrified 160-member crew was thrown around, not knowing the cause of blaring alarms. Just like that, a $2 billion investment had been severely compromised. Near Pectz, Colorado, three Minuteman missile launch officers were fired after a recently disclosed accident that left one missile with at least $1.8 million in damages. The late disclosure violated the Air Force's own regulations that such accidents must be timely made public.[1]

In Eric Schlosser's book, entitled "Command and Control", he interweaves an account of serious problems at a Titan missile site near Damascus, Arkansas, with other near-catastrophic disasters that have happened in the nuclear weapons age. The incident near Damascus involved a series of malfunctions, including dangerously  low readings for the oxidizer used in the missile and leaking fuel, which formed a cloud over the missile site. Such cloud particles at their lowest threat to health level can cause breathing problems, but more serious  medical problems could occur, even to the point of death. Such a cloud formed from a mixture of missile fuel and water is considered to be carcinogenic.

Two of the most bizarre instances of alarms being triggered of a Soviet  first-strike missile attack involved a full moon and a flight of geese; also, a Norwegian-launched missile veering off course toward Russia caused immediate fears that Russian authorities might interpret it as a U.S. ICBM attack.

Does the U.S. really need over 7,000 nuclear warheads, arrayed to be launched from the land, sea and air? Former Pentagon chief William Perry said on December 3, 2015, that: "Nuclear weapons no longer provide for our security, they endanger it." He said  land-based missiles "aren't necessary." "They're destabilizing," and are liable to be launched on "bad information and would be the most likely cause of an accidental nuclear war." Paul Nitz, a personal adviser to President Ronald Reagan, has said: "I see no compelling reason why we should not unilaterally get rid of our nuclear weapons. To maintain then is costly and adds nothing to our security." General James Kowalski, a retired three-star general and Deputy Commander of Strat Com, which oversees the ICBMs, recalling a string of scandals, accidents and staff firings in December 2014, said: "The greatest threat to my force is an accident. The greatest threat to my force is doing something stupid." (sic) General James Cartwright, a retired four-star general of the Marine Corps, issued a report in 2012, signed by Senator Chuck Hagel (later Secretary of Defense) that recommended getting rid of the land-based missiles. (The staff firings referred to above as occurring in December 2014, were of missile launch officers cheating on exams or otherwise contributing to bad morale at the missile-launch sites.)

II. The NRA's Fear Factor and Its Focus on Selling
The NRA is chiefly feared because it speaks to those voters who will cast their ballots based on the gun issue alone -- a unity of purpose that gun control proponents lack.

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 essentially blocks federal lawsuits brought by municipalities trying to hold gun manufacturers accountable for the bloodshed their products helped create.

"The purity of the organization's [NRA] goal -- a commitment to individual freedom -- is also a little tainted by the sheer amount of selling the NRA does. Members are bombarded with commercial solicitations for auto and home insurance, as well as insurance in case they're killed in a hunting mishap." [2]

Some 500,000 guns are stolen every year. Yet the NRA and the gun industry have not supported rules requiring gun owners to report when their weapons go missing -- let alone laws that might limit the sheer volume of guns out there to be lost or stolen. A bill to limit gun sales to one customer per month died in the Massachusetts legislature.

Footnotes
[1] Seth Freed Wessler, "Separate, Unequal, and Deadly," The Nation, February 15, 2016.

[2] Jarrett Murphy, "The NRA's Real Firepower," The Nation, September 10, 2012.