US Military Apologises for Bomb Tweet on New Year's Eve

US Strategic Command tweeted a scary and unusual New Year's Eve message on Monday. The message featured B-2 bombers dropping 30,000-pound bombs at a test range and was followed by the message, that said it was ready to "drop something much, much bigger" than New York's Times Square ball.

"#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball...if ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger," the tweet from US Strategic Command's official Twitter account said.

The message, posted on New Year's Eve, was accompanied by a video showing a B-2 bomber dropping weapons. The video included a sizzle reel initially released earlier this year, showing a B-2 bomber dropping "a pair of conventional Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) at a test range," the Pentagon said.

The tweet was sent out a few hours before the iconic "ball drop" on top of One Times Square, a New York skyscraper, which marks the start of the new year in the U.S.

The video was seen 1,70,000 times before it was deleted and an apology posted to the account. The US Strategic command’s account said, the earlier tweet was "in poor taste", and replaced it with an apology.

However, not everyone agrees with the apology as a Strategic Command spokesperson, Navy Capt. Brook Dewalt, while speaking to the CNN said that the post was simply "part of our recap of command priorities" and is all about reassuring Americans that the armed forces were ready to serve at all times.

The message was also obviously targeted as multiple foreign adversaries – from Russia to North Korea as tensions are on the rise.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 02, 2019 09:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).