Whoops

U.S. officials claim that parts to nuclear missiles have been mistakenly shipped to Taiwan instead of their destination somewhere in America. It was stated that the parts shipped to Taiwan were 4 electrical fuses used in the missile construction, but do not actually contain nuclear material. Experts on security says that this incident is a good indicator of the deterioration in the safeguards and controls that the military has over nuclear warheads. Previously, Taiwan had ordered batteries for helicopters and the Defense Logistics Agency sent four shipping containers that officials thought contained the batteries, but that actually held the fuses. Officials don't know whether the package was mislabeled or improperly stored.

Air Force Secretary Michael W. Wynne stated: "In an organization as large as the DOD, the largest and most complex in the world, there will be mistakes. But they cannot be tolerated in the arena of strategic systems, whether they are nuclear or only associated equipment." Other officials eagerly notified the Chinese government upon realization of the incident to clear any possible misunderstanding. It was figured that there could have well likely been action upon this incident if the Chinese thought the United States was arming Taiwan with nuclear weapons. This is related to the Cuban Missile Crisis in which the Soviet Union placed missiles aimed at the United States in nearby Cuba. Confrontation was avoided making the mishandling of the fuses similar to this crisis.