Labour's CND Scam - a conversation.

Me: This is a stupid idea and completely in error that NATO membership means Scotland will have to keep nuclear weapons on its soil. It does not. It is like their out of date argument with regards MAD. There is no tactical or strategic point in nuclear weapons as they are unusable, first use by any state is a suicide ticket for their own people. They are simply political willies.

Here is what is true, an independent, nuclear weapon free Scotland means an end to the current and future UK sea bourne ballistic missile system whether Scotland is in NATO or not. France will remain the only NATO state, except for the US, with a ballistic missile capcity.

No matter what the official status of NATO and Scotland, the Scottish Defence Force will be operating and exercising alongside NATO as our sea boundaries and one land boundary are shared with NATO countries and our mutual defence needs are the same.

SNP/CND:  Yes, with "friends" like Angus Robertson and Jim Sillars, who needs enemies? Like I said, it was so OBVIOUS to everybody that their pro-NATO move would deeply divide the Yes Campaign, you have to wonder if that was in fact the intention. The parliaments of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands all voted to get nuclear weapons out of their countries. But it turned out that, because these countries were members of NATO, getting rid of the nukes was easier said than done. They're still there. So, why do you want to do something which, from experience, seems to make getting rid of nuclear weapons far more difficult, AND why do you want to do something which is certain to deeply divide the Yes Campaign?

‎Me:  "The USA keeps non-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons in Europe because a few eastern European NATO allies are nervous about Russia, and as a card to play to get Russia to reduce its larger inventory of such weapons. Russia, for its part, maintains a large inventory of mainly outdated non-strategic weapons partly to compensate for what it sees as NATO's superiority in conventional weapons."(Federation of American Scientists report May 2012).

"The United States does not disclose the number of its non-strategic nuclear weapons. The secrecy is partly precipitated by the fact that a significant portion of U.S. weapons is deployed in Western European countries where the public sentiments are overwhelmingly against nuclear weapons.... This included the complete withdrawal of U.S. non strategic nuclear weapons from Britain by 2006...... Most of the weapons are in Italy and Turkey on NATO’s southern flank, reflecting a shift from a decade ago when the majority of the stockpile was based in northern Europe." (Ibid May 2012)

These weapons are held or can be held on US sovereign bases which have been leased by the US from the UK (Mildenhall) Germany, Holland and Belgium. The point is they are US sovereign bases - the same as Deigo Garcia is and Woodham Common that was. That is US territory for the terms of their lease.

Now can you point me to one US sovereign base in Scotland?

SNP/CND:  You attempted to answer ONE of my questions, (and I will get around to responding to what you said re that). HOWEVER , I notice you didn't even attemot to answer my other question: why do you want to do something which is certain to deeply divide the Yes Campaign?

Me: The majority of folk who will vote Yes do not give two hoots whether Scotland is in NATO or not. You are conflating SNP policy, yet to be decided at conference in Perth, with the message of the 'Yes campaign' which is about our future. Your scare tactics over the internal SNP NATO issue are reminiscent of the Unionists too poor, too wee, too stupid line. It is not SNP policy, it is a resolution for SNP conference or do you think you have already lost that vote?

If there is no 'Yes' there will not be a nuclear free Scotland as the next version of Trident and the submarines to carry them will remain parked in Scotland. The SNP CND faction have to ask themselves is that what they really want before taking the huff and threatening the Yes vote.

Your argument about having to store NATO nuclear weapons on independent Scottish soil has no credence in fact or in NATO's own strategic plans. The increasing incursion by Belgian activists onto the air base in Belgium has the US worried. The paper I quoted from states the tactical nuclear weapons stored in Belgium under US lock and key may already have been removed from Belgium due to this activity.

SNP/CND:  ................... (for the last twelve hours).

Source:   http://www.fas.org/_docs/