US Nuclear Bases In Turkey, Germany Accidently Exposed
The US Air Force is investigating if its soldiers had accidentally disclosed the locations of its nuclear bases in Europe through an application they used to memorize security protocols, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.
“The Department of the Air Force is investigating the
suitability of information shared via study flashcards… All US weapons are safe
and secure,” Kirby said during a briefing.
Kirby added that it is a Defense Department policy “to
neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any
specific location.”
Last week, the Bellingcat investigative website reported
that US soldiers designated to guard nuclear weapons in Europe used publicly
visible flashcard applications and accidentally exposed several crucial
security protocols about the US nuclear weapons and their location.
According to reports, the defense staff turned to sites such
as Quizlet, Chegg Prep and Cram to record codes, jargon, and even the status of
nuclear vaults.
Author Foeke Postma described that the researchers were able
to identify the flashcards belonging to the soldiers by searching for certain
terms known to be associated with nuclear bases.
The result was the uncovering of several sets of flashcards
exhibiting critical data about several nuclear bases in Germany, the
Netherlands and Turkey.
One set of 70 cards with the title “Study!” revealed the
number of live and non-live nuclear weapons at the Volkel Air Base in the
Netherlands, which the country considers ‘highly classified’.
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