Nuclear MADness

From END Info 32 | DOWNLOAD

By Ludo De Brabander

Ludo De Brabender from the Belgian peace organisation Vrede gave the following speech at CND’s Lakenheath demonstration on 21 May 2022.

Russia’s nuclear threats confirm the weaknesses of the idea of ‘deterrence’. Nevertheless deterrence was and still remains the main argument in the US/NATO doctrine for maintaining and upgrading nuclear arsenals. According to US documents new US B61-12 nuclear bombs are planned to be deployed at the military base in Lakenheath. Do we have to fear a new nuclear arms race? How to create a nuclear weapon free zone in Europe?

A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, President Vladimir Putin announced that he had ordered nuclear weapons to be placed on ‘special alert’ status. Russia has a large arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons that are designed to be used on the battlefield, against troops or military installations.

Regardless of whether president Putin is playing bluff poker and the risk of nuclear war has actually increased, his multiple nuclear threats are an illustration of how dependent we are on the whims of a small group of rulers, their missteps, miscalculations and emotions in times of crisis. In the summer of 2017, president Trump also threatened to launch a nuclear attack to “completely destroy North Korea”. These threats are confirmation of the weaknesses of the idea of ‘deterrence’ attached to most nuclear doctrines. Deterrence is based on the concept of ‘Mutual Assured Destruction’ often referred to by the acronym MAD. But it is not only an acronym. Nuclear arms are MADness. Nevertheless deterrence was and still remains the main argument in the US/NATO doctrine for maintaining and upgrading nuclear arsenals.

As long as nuclear weapons exist, their use is possible. Humanity has escaped nuclear war or accidental deployment of nuclear weapons dozens of times. Before fortune fails us, we must get rid of these planet-threatening weapons of mass destruction!

The various nuclear threats from Moscow are irresponsible and must be condemned. But they also make it clear that the war must not escalate further. They show the importance of diplomacy, of serious negotiations. Europe must not go along with the US military strategy aimed at weakening Russia. A wounded animal can strike unexpectedly.

The war is causing tremendous human suffering. But it is also used by the military industrial complex to militarise Europe to levels unimaginable just a few months ago. Military budgets are skyrocketing. NATO was last year responsible for more than half of world wide military spending, 17 times more than Russia. Soon it will be may be 25 times Russia’s military spending. So, let us have no illusions. The militarisation is not intended to serve our security or to defend us, but to prepare and expand hegemonic combat, with what NATO calls systemic rivals.

The new arms race has also a nuclear component. The deployment of new US nuclear B 61-12 bombs at Lakenheath to make the UK part of NATO’s nuclear sharing policy, is a manifestation of that. Poland, too, has already made it known that it wants to deploy nuclear weapons if asked so. On the other side, Belarus has already lifted its nuclear-weapon-free zone status and threatened that it may well open its territory to new nuclear weapons from Russia. NATO's expansion to include Finland and Sweden or the deployment of nuclear weapons in Poland could lead to new Russian nuclear weapons being deployed in the Baltic Sea area.

If the UK joins the nuclear sharing countries there will be six of them. The atomic bombs in today's countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey) will be replaced by new ones in the coming years. These new B61-12 bombs are equipped with an electronic tail kit that can guide the bomb to its target. They have also lower yield options. The mixture of both, precision and lower yield options make them very dangerous. They could be seen by war planners as more ‘useable’. The new B61-12 will increase the danger of a war with nuclear weapons eroding the concept of ‘deterrence’ even more. So it is MADness that we’ll have to stop.

In every crisis there is an opportunity. The recent nuclear threats may set people in motion for nuclear disarmament and pressure those in power. When hopefully the war in Ukraine can soon be ended, Europe’s political world needs to reflect on lessons learned. One of these lesson’s should be that we need to get rid of the threat of a nuclear armageddon. That’s why we’ll have to re-establish a constructive political environment in which negotiations towards European nuclear disarmament are possible for all nuclear weapon systems in Europe. This is achievable if we rebuild relations with Russia, based on mutual respect for each other’s security interests and confidence building measures. Common indivisible security and disarmament is the path towards a peaceful and secure future. Europe should become a nuclear weapon free zone as soon as possible!!!