{"id":1630766,"date":"2024-04-26T05:53:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T05:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/?p=319931"},"modified":"2024-04-26T05:53:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T05:53:25","slug":"us-nuclear-weapons-in-europe-violate-treaty-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/26\/us-nuclear-weapons-in-europe-violate-treaty-law\/","title":{"rendered":"US Nuclear Weapons in Europe Violate Treaty Law"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image bu Maria Oswalt.<\/p><\/div>\n

The US Air Force practice of deploying nuclear weapons on military bases in other countries \u2014 and training foreign pilots to attack third countries with H-bombs \u2014 is called \u2018nuclear sharing\u2019 or \u2018forward basing.\u2019 The system has been repeatedly condemned in recent years by lawyer\u2019s groups, international law experts, UN delegates, civil society, and foreign affairs offices from around the world.<\/p>\n

The US currently stations around 100 of its B61 thermonuclear gravity bombs in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Holland and Turkey. It may soon station more in England. All six plus the US have ratified the 1970 Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). International criticism was directed at Russia when it moved some of its H-bombs into Belarus in 2023. Little attention has been paid to the clear and authoritative condemnation of the transfer of US to Europe that has only increased in recent years.<\/p>\n

Critiques of US nukes stationed in Europe are based on the nonproliferation treaty\u2019s first two articles. The Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, explained the violation in\u00a0a July 25, 2023 working paper<\/a>, submitted to the UN\u2019s 11th<\/sup>\u00a0Review Conference for NPT:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incompatibility of nuclear sharing with the NPT is based on a straightforward application of NPT Articles I and II. Article I requires NPT nuclear-armed states \u2018not to transfer to any recipient whatsoever nuclear weapons \u2026 or\u00a0control\u00a0<\/em>over such weapons directly, or indirectly.\u2019 It further requires the nuclear-armed states \u2018not\u00a0in any way<\/em>\u00a0to assist, encourage, or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State to \u2026 acquire nuclear weapons or\u00a0control<\/em>\u00a0over such weapons.\u2019\u00a0<\/sup>(emphasis added) Article II imposes the corollary obligation on NPT non-nuclear weapon states not to be the recipient of any such transfer or assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese provisions should be read in light of NPT Review Conference commitments made subsequent to the 1995 decision to indefinitely extend the NPT. \u2026 The 2000 Final Document, \u2018reaffirms that the strict observance of the provisions of the Treaty remains central to achieving the shared objectives of preventing, under any circumstances, the further proliferation of nuclear weapons and preserving the Treaty\u2019s vital contribution to peace and security.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (German section) in an\u00a0April 5, 2023 submission to the UN Human Rights Council<\/a>\u00a0said: \u201c\u2026the components of technical nuclear sharing together with Germany\u2019s participation in operational planning in NATO\u2019s Nuclear Planning Group under Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, constitute a violation of the spirit and purpose of the NPT.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), in\u00a0an August 2, 2023 statement to the United Nations<\/a>\u00a0in Geneva, said nuclear sharing: \u201c[R]uns counter to the fundamental tenets of the treaty and is a threat to the entire regime.\u201d<\/p>\n

In\u00a0<\/em>its July 28, 2023 edition,\u00a0The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists\u2019<\/em>\u00a0article on nuclear sharing, by Moritz K\u00fctt, Pavel Podvig, Zia Mian, reported: \u201cThe NPT prohibits\u00a0both<\/em>\u00a0the acquisition of nuclear weapons by non-weapon states and the transfer of nuclear weapons to such countries by the five nuclear weapon states who are parties (Russia, China, the US, the UK, and France).\u201d (emphasis added)<\/p>\n

China explicitly condemned U.S. nuclear sharing<\/a>\u00a0on August 2, 2022, when the head of its United Nations delegation, Fu Cong, addressing the United Nations NPT Review Conference, said: \u201cThe so-called nuclear sharing arrangements run counter to the provisions of the NPT and increase the risks of nuclear proliferation and nuclear conflicts. The United States should withdraw all its nuclear weapons from Europe and refrain from deploying nuclear weapons in any other region.”<\/p>\n

Indonesia, speaking on behalf of all 120 countries<\/a>\u00a0of the Non-Aligned Movement at the August 2022 NPT Review Conference, said: \u201c\u2026 nuclear weapon-sharing by States Parties constitutes a clear violation of non-proliferation obligations undertaken by those Nuclear Weapon States under Article I and by those Non-Nuclear Weapon States under Article II.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US H-bombs\u2019 threatening nearness to Russian territory did not deter President Putin\u2019s military incursion into Ukraine. The invasion has proved that nuclear deterrence is a fraud, that the weapons are useless and can be eliminated, and that nuclear de-escalation in Europe can be accomplished simultaneously with the US coming into compliance with the NPT. Only weapons profiteering and imperial military hubris keeps it from happening. ###<\/u><\/p>\n

PS. The attached image is a photo of the official patch, complete with a US B61 H-bomb, of the USAF 701st Munitions Support Squadron (MUNNS) stationed at Belgium’s Kleine Brogel Air Base.<\/p>\n

The post US Nuclear Weapons in Europe Violate Treaty Law<\/a> appeared first on CounterPunch.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on CounterPunch.org<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US Air Force practice of deploying nuclear weapons on military bases in other countries \u2014 and training foreign pilots to attack third countries with H-bombs \u2014 is called \u2018nuclear sharing\u2019 or \u2018forward basing.\u2019 The system has been repeatedly condemned in recent years by lawyer\u2019s groups, international law experts, UN delegates, civil society, and foreign More<\/a><\/p>\n

The post US Nuclear Weapons in Europe Violate Treaty Law<\/a> appeared first on CounterPunch.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1067,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1067"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1630766"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1630767,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1630766\/revisions\/1630767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1630766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1630766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1630766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}