U.S.-Nuclear Withdrawl from Europe?
Berlin, April 15, 2004
U.S. nuclear weapons stored on European soil might become fewer or even entirely eliminated, sources indicate. While NATO's Supreme Commander, General James Jones, surprisingly announced “significant reductions” to these weapons, when talking to Belgian Senators in early March, a prominent group of Pentagon advisors has meanwhile taken an even more radical approach.
In a study outlining the requirements for U.S. “Future Strategic Strike Force,” the Defense Science Board (DSB) recommended, that the Pentagon “should consider eliminating the nuclear role for Tomahawk cruise missiles and for forward-based tactical, dual-capable aircraft. There is no obvious need for these systems, and eliminating the nuclear role would free resources that could be used to fund strategic strike programs of higher priority.” Indeed, the 150 B-61 Mod.10 nuclear bombs estimated to be still deployed on eight European airbases in six countries do no longer have any major military purpose. They lack both, the precision and the small yield, that could make them weapons that could be really used in limited conflicts.
However, “their continuation is a policy decision,” as the DSB notes correctly. Some of these bombs are stored in Europe to enable European non-nuclear NATO allies to employ nuclear weapons during times of war if the weapons are released on the command of the U.S. President. This arrangement is dubbed “nuclear sharing” and its legality under Articles I and II of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has been questioned by the majority of the NPT member states since a couple of years.
