A USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber sits on the ramp at Andersen AFB in Guam "Tip of the Spear" USA. Via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060917.htm (medium, large)
The Photographer
Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III, United States Air Force
Food For Thought
From the September 2007 article "The Plane That Would Bomb Iran" by Robert D. Kaplan
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2007/09/the-plane-that-would-bomb-iran/6133/
"The B-2 makes a statement. And that statement is, 'We mean business!'" He [U.S. Air Force Colonel Robert "Wheels" Wheeler] banged his fist on the table. Wheeler is the classic intense Air Force intellectual. He has degrees in both engineering and strategic studies and is a veteran of three wars and a diplomatic posting in Europe. His insights came in hyperactive bursts between sips from a quart-sized plastic coffee mug. "The deterrence effect of this airplane may be as important as its destructive capability," he went on. "Any adversary knows that the B-2 can enter relatively unseen with the power and accuracy to destroy. Merely by having the B-2, we can better influence the decision-making process in rogue nations and encourage any other countries to perhaps go another route in their national defense. The stealth bomber is a diplomatic instrument as much as it is a military instrument."