Washington
is pressuring Berlin to keep U.S. nuclear weapons
By Finian
Cunningham
May 29,
2020 "Information
Clearing House"
- When Germany’s Social Democrats – the junior
governing coalition partner – renewed long-standing
calls for withdrawing U.S. nuclear bombs from the
country, the backlash from Washington was fast and
furious.
Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Berlin,
wrote an
oped for German
media slamming the move as “undermining” NATO’s
nuclear deterrence in Europe. Grenell, who is also
the acting U.S. Director of National Intelligence,
was scathing, reiterating President Trump’s
vituperative claims that Germany was not pulling its
weight in NATO commitments.
Grenell has
been the bane of many German politicians of all
stripes over what they view as his high-handed
interference in the country’s internal affairs, with
one former Social Democrat leader likening him to a
“colonial officer”.
Then
came the intervention from the American ambassador
to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, who mischievously
proffered that if
Germany didn’t want to station U.S. nuclear
warheads, then Poland would provide an alternative
site for the weapons. Given the history of bad blood
between Germany and Poland, not to mention the
incendiary provocation to Russia, Mosbacher’s
suggestion is ludicrous. Nevertheless it illustrates
the strenuous pushback by Washington to the renewed
calls for removing U.S. nuclear weapons from German
soil.
There
are
believed to be some
20 B-61-3/4 nuclear bombs stored at the Bucher
airbase in western Germany under U.S. command. In
the event of a nuclear war, the bombs would be
fitted to German aircraft flown by Luftwaffe pilots
and activated by American secret codes. The
arrangement is part of a wider historical NATO
nuclear-sharing agreement in Europe dating back to
the Cold War, which sees U.S.-commanded bombs
assigned also to Belgium, Netherlands and Italy.
German citizens have long called for the removal of
the U.S. bombs from their territory, fearing that
the weapons increase instability and the danger of
war with Russia. In 2010, the German parliament
(Bundestag)
voted for the
Berlin government to work towards Washington’s
removal of the bombs.
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However, successive German governments have ignored
the parliamentary vote. Most recently, earlier this
month, Berlin
vowed it would
continue to uphold the NATO nuclear-sharing
agreement.
It must
have come as considerable alarm to Washington when
the Social Democrats – junior partner to Angel
Merkel’s Christian Democrats – recently
reinvigorated calls for the U.S. to withdraw its
nuclear arsenal.
Rolf
Mützenich, the parliamentary leader of the Social
Democrats is quoted as
saying: “It is time
Germany ruled out them [U.S. nuclear weapons] being
stationed here in future.
He added:
“Nuclear arms on German soil do not strengthen our
security, quite the contrary.”
Having its nuclear weapons on European territory is
a crucial element of Washington’s control over NATO
and European foreign policy. In particular, the
bombs allow the U.S. to project power at Russia. But
more importantly, the strategic value stems from
Washington being able to impose a scaremongering
agenda in order to divide Europe from conducting
normal relations with Moscow. That has long been the
real purpose of the U.S.-dominated NATO alliance.
“To keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in and
the Germans down,”
remarked one of its
founders.
But there
is also a more contemporary factor –
multi-billion-dollar profits for the U.S. military
industry.
There
has been a long-running political fight in Berlin
over the upgrade of Germany’s air force. The
Luftwaffe’s aging fleet of Tornados dating from the
early 1980s are due to be replaced by 2025. German
officials have been
mulling whether to
replace the Tornados with European-made Eurofighter
Typhoons or U.S.-made F-35s and F-18s. Sometimes
Berlin seems to
favor the
Eurofighter, and then at other times the American
option.
The Airbus
consortium involved in manufacturing the Eurofighter
is a joint venture between several European
governments, including Germany’s. Apart from
lucrative revenue from aircraft sales, there are
also follow-on benefits from employment and service
maintenance contracts.
Boeing, the
maker of the F-18 fighter bomber, has been hit with
devastating financial losses over the past year due
to deadly crashes involving its civilian Max-8
airliner. There is thus a lot at stake for the
company – a flagship of American manufacturing –
depending on the decision by Germany on what
aircraft it will purchase for upgrading its fleet of
Tornados.
German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
reportedly informed
her American counterpart Mark Esper in April that
Berlin had finally made the decision to buy at least
45 F-18s.
Kramp-Karrenbauer is also head of the Christian
Democrat party, having taken over the leadership
from Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2018. She is a keen
advocate of Germany remaining part of the NATO
nuclear-sharing agreement, which means retaining
U.S. nuclear bombs on German territory.
Kramp-Karrenbauer has
emphasized that any
German aircraft upgrade must “seamlessly” fill the
dual role of the aging Tornadoes to operate in
conventional and nuclear warfare.
If a
future Berlin government were to achieve the removal
of American nuclear weapons from Germany that would
obviate the need for nuclear-capable warplanes. The
F-18 and F-35 are easily certifiable by Washington
to carry the U.S. B-61 bombs whereas the Eurofighter
is not certified and it would face long-drawn-out
delay to gain American authorization, if it
eventually did, which is not certain. The Americans
have openly
said that the
Eurofighter would be disadvantaged compared with the
F-35 or F-18 in acquiring authorization to operate
with U.S.-made nuclear bombs.
However, if
Germany were no longer part of the U.S. nuclear
arsenal and its aircraft no longer providing
delivery capability, the Eurofighter option would
become even more attractive especially given the
advantage for European industries and jobs.
This would
explain why the recent German debate calling for
removal of U.S. nuclear weapons has sparked such a
fierce reaction from Washington. It’s not just about
American dominance over Europe through its historic
NATO nuclear pact. In addition, there are billions
of dollars at stake for the makers of American
warplanes. That’s why Washington is pressuring
Berlin to keep its nuclear weapons. It’s part and
parcel of selling more U.S. warplanes.
Finian Cunningham
has written extensively on international affairs,
with articles published in several languages. He is
a Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and
worked as a scientific editor for the Royal Society
of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a
career in newspaper journalism. He is also a
musician and songwriter. For nearly 20 years, he
worked as an editor and writer in major news media
organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and
Independent. - "Source"
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