"US warships don't have nuclear weapons on board" ???

Letter to the Editor, The Listener

From Larry Ross, November 5, 2003

Dear Sir/Madam

On the Sunday programme of November 2nd, Dr Michael Bassett said that US warships don't have nuclear weapons on board, even the few nuclear warships in the the American navy. He said that our nuclear-free legislation is irrelevant nonsense and should be repealed. He is wrong. There are assertions but no agreements or treaties that US war ships are nuclear disarmed and certainly no verification inspections of their claim.

Casper Weinberger, a previous US defence secretary said the nuclear weapons free ships policy can be reversed at any time the US decides that circumstances warrant it. There is no reasons or obligations for the US to inform others if they rearmed. Escalation of the continuing war in Iraq or new wars theatened by the Bush Administration as outlined in the Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review could result in nuclear rearmament. If the Iraq war is any guide, new US wars may be based on false assertions flimsy excuses or outright lies.The pressures of new wars could radically change the circumstances.We would never know if the warships had been nuclear re-armed. The US has already threatened the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons against both nuclear and non-nuclear states, thus violating a number of treaties and understandings. Providing harbours for American warships would automatically sacrifice New Zealand's image as a nuclear-free, clean, country and as a leader in nuclear disarmament initiatives. US warships in our harbours would make NZ a potential nuclear target in times of war. It is better for New Zealand to try to prevent war and back nuclear disarmament measures than submit to American pressures as Dr Bassett suggests.


Yours sincerely,
Larry Ross, Secretary, NZ Nuclear-Free Peacemaking Association
PH: 03-337 0118