US Nuclear Weapons in Europe
Eric Schmitt reported in The New York Times on Feb. 9, 2005, about findings of the report “US Nuclear Weapons in Europe. A Review of Post-Cold War Policy, Force Levels, and War Planning” prepared by Hans M. Kristensen for the Natural Defense Resource Council (NRDC).
“The United States still keeps as many as 480 nuclear weapons at air bases across Europe, more than twice what independent military analysts had previously estimated, according to a new study that says the weapons’ presence is hurting efforts to curb nuclear proliferation worldwide.
Military officials insisted that the size of the nuclear stockpile in Europe, while classified, was smaller than that, but acknowledged that it still existed to deter terrorists or rogue nations that could threaten America or its allies with unconventional weapons. These officials also say the stockpile’s presence and its long-term fate has caused simmering tensions among senior NATO political and military officials.
The report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a private group here that advocates arms control and monitors nuclear trends, says short-range nuclear bombs are stored under American control under secret military agreements at eight bases in Germany, Britain, Italy, Belgium, Turkey and the Netherlands. The bombs are kept in hardened sites under tight security.
American and allied air forces regularly rehearse nuclear bombing missions at training ranges in Europe in case a war calls for striking nuclear, chemical or biological weapons sites or command posts in countries that threaten to use unconventional arms, the report states. Military officials confirmed that this training continued as part of prudent military contingency planning. ...
Hans Kristensen, a nuclear arms specialist and consultant for the organization, relies on recently declassified documents, commercial satellite imagery and other documents. The report challenges the rationale for keeping short-range weapons in Europe ...”
