Ok, now for a little upclose info on the B-52! I lived next to a SAC base in Maine Loring cloesest US mainland base to Europe and if during the cold war, would have been wiped out by a first strike.
Anywho, the B-52 is Big, yes the B-36 was but did not last. The B-53 even still has a tailgun, or did up through the H model I think. It will be retiered at some point, but the USAF statagy is changing again and America cannot come to turms with an aircraft program that is flexible and cost effective, say like the Euro2000
The B-1B Spirit, also had fuel problums in the begining and was designed for first strike raids over Soviets. So the B-52 is just a better platform to carpet bomb the desert with. I should never be retiered and well why not bring it back? I know that is not really an option, but the plane is older then me and some on this forum, but I do not see even the F-22 becomming operational in the numbers it needs to be in and the F-35 project is in trouble because this war is sucking a lot of cash.
In close well I have stood beside a B-52 and seen them fly and nothing can compair to the sould, well maybe a B-24 on take off, but that big massice bombbay filled with bombs or 12 plus cruis missles. Or some 2k bombs to make the ground shake.