NATO is considering whether to move nuclear weapons out of storage and place them on standby. The civilian head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, also called on member states to increase spending on weapons.
In an interview with the Telegraph published on Sunday, Secretary General Stoltenberg said the bloc could soon bring more of its nuclear weapons online. “I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” he told the outlet.
While the official noted that “transparency” is an important part of a nuclear doctrine, he did not indicate how NATO’s nuclear policy might change other than by expanding the number of operations for nuclear weapons. NATO’s largest nuclear power, the US, has about 1,700 deployed nuclear weapons. Additionally, France and the UK have smaller nuclear stockpiles.
Stoltenberg explained that part of NATO’s rationale for expanding its nuclear capabilities was to counter China’s expanding arsenal. Beijing’s growing military capabilities have come in response to Washington’s growing role in the region. An international arms watchdog released a report on Sunday saying China’s nuclear arsenal increased from 410 to 500 warheads last year.
President Barack Obama kicked off the world’s largest military buildup since World War II in the countries and islands surrounding China. Washington signed the AUKUS pact with Australia and the UK that will see more nuclear submarines operating in the region. Additionally, the White House has engaged in talks to bring Taiwan under Washington’s nuclear umbrella. Beijing has characterized all these actions as highly provocative.
Stoltenberg also used the interview to call on members of the alliance to spend more on weapons, even if that means difficult cuts to domestic programs. “The reality is that we all reduced defense spending when tensions went down after the end of the Cold War. And now we need to increase defense when tensions are going up again.” He added, “I have been prime minister for 10 years, I know that it’s hard to find money for defense because most politicians always prefer to spend money on health, on education, infrastructure and other important tasks.”
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
Perfect, just perfect. Strong evidence exists that verify peace could have been at hand in 2022. Stronger evidence that we, the indispensable nation, needed more killing in Ukraine, to "bleed" Russia,to make more money for the MIC, et al. Members of NATO are really, really stupid. Someone is going to f*ck up. WE all die.
The more nuclear weapons online, the more opportunities for a firing error!
1960 – 1995: 9 Times the World was at the Brink of Nuclear War
Thankfully they all happened when the American government was talking to the Russian government.
Maybe the fate of the world would be more secure if Antony John Blinken worked for the US Government instead of Israel's!
Stoltenberg is one of the biggest idiots in the EU. He has zero understanding of military matters. NATO is a pipsqueak in nuclear armament. Only the US, Russia and China are significant in that area. And only Russia (and possibly China if they have actual hypersonic weapons) has nuclear weapons that can not be countered by any defenses Europe or the US has.
Martyanov on Stoltenberg:
Big Fluffy Words
Stoltenberg also used the interview to call on members of the alliance to spend more on weapons, even if that means difficult cuts to domestic programs. “The reality is that we all reduced defense spending when tensions went down after the end of the Cold War. And now we need to increase defense when tensions are going up again.” He added, “I have been prime minister for 10 years, I know that it’s hard to find money for defense because most politicians always prefer to spend money on health, on education, infrastructure and other important tasks.”
But first we had to expand an anti Russia "defense" alliance right up to their borders to get that tension going up again. And I guess he hasn't met our politicians since they don't give two shits about "education, infrastructure and other important tasks.". And is this guy the biggest warmongering asshole on the planet (rhetorical since the answer is obvious)?
Psychotic children have control over doomsday weapons. What could go wrong?
Who reduced defense spending? In the USA it has done nothing but grow. "Health, education, infrastructure and other important tasks" sounds like Socialsm. God forbid we should all spend in honor of "ourselves and our posterity." Because there won't be much posterity left after their much-lusted-after nuke war, and they think it won't be "as big a deal" as global warming… (Just wait til you get global warming and nuke winter, together…)
The sociopathic nature of world leaders has never been so easily in evidence, and that's saying a lot, considering the cards history has dealt out in the past.
Petty Tyrants.
Use of nuclear weapons creates an extinction level event for humans.
Cancer rates sky rocketed in the late 1950s and beyond due to atmospheric nuclear testing.
"Atmospheric testing All told, of the over 2,000 nuclear explosions detonated worldwide between 1945 and 1996, 25 % or over 500 bombs were exploded in the atmosphere: over 200 by the United States, over 200 by the Soviet Union, about 20 by Britain, about 50 by France and over 20 by China."
"From 1945 to 2017, more than two thousand nuclear test explosions were conducted around the world, resulting in epidemics of cancers and other chronic illnesses. Large swathes of land remain radioactive and unsafe for habitation, even decades after test sites were closed. The victims of these toxic experiments must not be forgotten – and their demands for justice and assistance must be met."
"In the New Mexico desert just three weeks before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States conducted the world’s first nuclear test explosion, code-named “Trinity”. Its giant fireball turned the sands into glass, illuminated the surrounding mountains, and sent a mushroom cloud of radioactive debris 12 kilometres into the sky."
"In the seven and a half decades since that fateful July morning in 1945, at least eight nations have carried out a total of 2,056 nuclear tests – around one-quarter of them in the atmosphere – causing long-term harm to human health and the environment. “The legacy of nuclear testing is nothing but destruction,” reflected the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, in 2019."
How quickly the EU crusaders for climate policy can pivot to crazed war crusaders. If there is anything that shows their hypocrisy, surely this is it. Of course, its not too big a swing in reality since even their "environmental" policies have long been a war on their own farmers and small fishing communities.
Use of nuclear weapons creates an extinction level event for humans.
Cancer rates sky rocketed in the late 1950s and beyond due to atmospheric nuclear testing.
"Atmospheric testing All told, of the over 2,000 nuclear explosions detonated worldwide between 1945 and 1996, 25 % or over 500 bombs were exploded in the atmosphere: over 200 by the United States, over 200 by the Soviet Union, about 20 by Britain, about 50 by France and over 20 by China."
"From 1945 to 2017, more than two thousand nuclear test explosions were conducted around the world, resulting in epidemics of cancers and other chronic illnesses. Large swathes of land remain radioactive and unsafe for habitation, even decades after test sites were closed. The victims of these toxic experiments must not be forgotten – and their demands for justice and assistance must be met."
"In the New Mexico desert just three weeks before the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States conducted the world’s first nuclear test explosion, code-named “Trinity”. Its giant fireball turned the sands into glass, illuminated the surrounding mountains, and sent a mushroom cloud of radioactive debris 12 kilometres into the sky."
"In the seven and a half decades since that fateful July morning in 1945, at least eight nations have carried out a total of 2,056 nuclear tests – around one-quarter of them in the atmosphere – causing long-term harm to human health and the environment. “The legacy of nuclear testing is nothing but destruction,” reflected the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, in 2019."
Now it turns out that this whole report is WRONG.
Bernhard (back from hospital and recovering) takes it all apart today:
Couldn't Such Fake News Start Wars?
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2024/06/couldnt-such-fake-news-start-wars.html