[Sender]

As others have pointed out, what really happened here was that a message was sent. There was no accident. Someone was reminded that we can and will put nukes on planes.

[wrench]

"As others have pointed out, what really happened here was that a message was sent. There was no accident. Someone was reminded that we can and will put nukes on planes."

The message may have been that our military is trained and has the ability to carry out their mission even in the event of a traumatic breakdown in the chain of command. ie, had the original 9/11 attack destroyed the pentagon, whitehouse, and congress, the mission of defending the country and prosecuting the attackers would initially be carried out on the local level at every base. Then, the real response would come when command and control was once again co-ordinated.

It was a demonstration and a reminder of what we can and will do.