What is it with the Americans and Prestwick airport? It was the only bit of UK territory that Elvis Presley blessed with his sainted feet and, as if that act somehow marked the Tarmac as American territory, Washington now seems to treat the place as home turf.
First there were those rendition flights. Now it emerges that Prestwick is being used to transport "bunker-buster" bombs to Israel. Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, last night announced herself "not happy" at the development.
The US hasn't said how many of the 5,000lb bombs have passed through the airport, but we already know that the Pentagon has sold 100 of them to the Israelis.
One explanation involves the great circle - the shortest as-the-crow-flies distance between two points. Airlines map their routes along great circles to minimise fuel costs, and the same applies to military freight flights.
Any direct flight between the Middle East and the western US - and any flight between Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan - will pass just a few miles north of John O'Groats.
Most flights linking the US and points east of Cairo need to stop off at some point to refuel, and Prestwick is the nearest major freight airport to these great circle routes. The further you deviate from the great circle the more you spend, and even a rough estimate based on the cost per ton-mile of flying freight in the US suggests it would cost around $11,000 to fly each bunker-buster from the US to Israel.
The convenience of the site means Prestwick has long been a favourite refuelling stop for US, Canadian and British aircraft, with 5% of its income coming from its military operations. Refuelling was the reason Elvis ended up at Prestwick back in 1960, on his way home from military service in Germany.
It's good to see the foreign secretary being pro-active on the subject, but curious that she's getting so vocally involved in an issue - the movement of hazardous materials through UK airports - that would normally be the responsibility of the departments of transport, trade and industry and the home office.
You have to wonder if she would be making such a fuss if she hadn't spent the past week being forced to go against her party and most of the world community in parroting Downing Street's line supporting Washington's refusal to call for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
