B-52 flights send ominous signal to North Korea

The B-52 Stratofortress was a workhorse for the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, flying more than 126,000 bombing missions. The U.S. Air Force plans to fly updated versions of the long-range bomber until at least 2040. /Image via w3vietnam.org.nz


B-52 flights over the Korean peninsula and the strengthening of anti-missile defenses in Alaska are the latest steps in the deadly dance swirling around Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

Bloomberg and several other news agencies reported today that the U.S. bomber flights are intended to send a strong signal to North Korea that any nuclear strike launched from the Hermit Nation will be met with devastating force. "Just having the B-52 near the Korean peninsula and pass through means that the U.S. nuclear umbrella can be provided whenever necessary," a South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman told reporters in Seoul.

In service since 1955, the B-52 Stratofortress can be armed with a wide variety of conventional and nuclear weapons, including nuclear-tipped, air-to-ground missiles that have a range of more than 1,000 miles.

While Pentagon spokesman George Little called the B-52 flights "routine," he also said the Pentagon is sending a stern message to North Korea in response to its recent nuclear bomb test as well as threats against Washington and Seoul. "We are drawing attention to the fact we have extended deterrence capabilities that we believe are important to demonstrate in the wake of recent North Korean rhetoric," Little said.

In a clear sign that the ongoing showdown over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions has far-reaching implications, China and Russia are bristling over U.S. plans to bolster the country's anti-missile defense capability in Alaska. On March 15, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the shift of $1 billion from an anti-missile shield program in Europe to install 14 more missile interceptors in Alaska to address the growing nuclear threat from North Korea and Iran.

"Bolstering missile defenses will only intensify antagonism, and it doesn’t help to solve the issue," a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said Monday.

Beyond stirring the pot of "antagonism" with North Korea, strengthening of the U.S. anti-missile capability in Alaska affects the global nuclear balance of terror. In the genocidal logic of superpower nuclear weapons strategy, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction has been embraced in Moscow and Washington for decades. The MAD concept is as simple as it is horrific: You blow me up; I blow you up.

U.S. officials say missile interceptors are needed in Alaska to shoot down projectiles fired from North Korea and Iran. But they also could be used to shoot down Russian and Chinese nuclear missiles.

The B-52 Stratofortress was originally designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union. It was the only aircraft capable of carrying the biggest nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, a 10,000-pound thermonuclear device that could reduce an entire metropolitan area to rubble. The last B-53 bomb was built in 1962 and dismantled in 2011. /Image via AFP