"It's been 20 years since I retired from the Air Force and 40 years since I first entered Cheyenne Mountain, America's nuclear redoubt at the southern end of the Front Range that includes Pikes Peak in Colorado. So it was with some nostalgia that I read a recent memo from General Kenneth Wilsbach, the new Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF)."
"Along with the usual warrior talk, the CSAF vowed to "relentlessly advocate" for the new Sentinel ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) and the B-21 Raider stealth bomber. While the Air Force often speaks of " investing" in new nukes, this time the CSAF opted for " recapitalization," a remarkably bloodless term for the creation of a whole new generation of genocidal thermonuclear weapons and their delivery systems."
A retired Air Force officer recalls entering Cheyenne Mountain decades ago and reading a memo from General Kenneth Wilsbach, the new Chief of Staff of the Air Force. The memo pledges to "relentlessly advocate" for the Sentinel ICBM and the B-21 Raider stealth bomber. The Air Force frames new nuclear systems as 'recapitalization,' a neutral term applied to creating a new generation of genocidal thermonuclear weapons and delivery systems. Religious creation is contrasted with nuclear 'creation,' invoking Oppenheimer's reflection as the destroyer of worlds. Historical procurement cycles, including the B-1/MX Peacekeeper and B-52/Minuteman, demonstrate institutional persistence in maintaining two legs of the nuclear triad.
Read at The Nation
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