Saturday, January 17, 2009
Weapons of mass destruction
I did not have time to highlight this yesterday but the views of two retired defence chiefs that the Trident missile system should be scrapped are sufficiently important to merit a late comment.
Lord Ramsbotham, a former adjutant-general who became the chief inspector of prisons, and Field Marshal Lord Bramall, a former chief of the defence staff, have appealed to ministers to think again about their 2007 decision to renew Trident at a cost of up to £20bn. They argue that the money would be better spent on the precision weapons needed for current conflicts.
I believe that their case has merits. Britain's obsession with holding a nuclear deterrent cannot be justified by our status in the world. There is a strong argument in my view to let our present nuclear arsenal wither on the vine and to reinforce our conventional forces instead.
Perhaps the intervention of these two authorative figures will cause the Liberal Democrats to rethink their policy on Trident.
Lord Ramsbotham, a former adjutant-general who became the chief inspector of prisons, and Field Marshal Lord Bramall, a former chief of the defence staff, have appealed to ministers to think again about their 2007 decision to renew Trident at a cost of up to £20bn. They argue that the money would be better spent on the precision weapons needed for current conflicts.
I believe that their case has merits. Britain's obsession with holding a nuclear deterrent cannot be justified by our status in the world. There is a strong argument in my view to let our present nuclear arsenal wither on the vine and to reinforce our conventional forces instead.
Perhaps the intervention of these two authorative figures will cause the Liberal Democrats to rethink their policy on Trident.
Comments:
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I would hope that the Lib Dems soon make the abandonment of the Trident replacement party policy (currently I believe the policy is "wait and see" since the "drop dead" date for a decision has not been reached).
I would hope a nuclear tipped cruise missile system, held on Astute class submarines (or upgraded variant) would become policy.
Such a system could be implement for a fraction of the cost of Trident MK 2
I would hope a nuclear tipped cruise missile system, held on Astute class submarines (or upgraded variant) would become policy.
Such a system could be implement for a fraction of the cost of Trident MK 2
# posted by 
: 2:37 PM
: 2:37 PM
what is the point of having any kind of nuclear weapons programme?? They can Never Ever be used!! If they were it would almost certainly result in a world wide nuclear war - end result the end of human kind!
As einstein wisely observed if there is a third world war the fourth world war will be fought with sticks and stones!
We (the UK) should be doing all we can to eliminate nuclear weapons in the world not adding to the useless and hugely expensive nuclear stockpile
Leigh
swansea
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As einstein wisely observed if there is a third world war the fourth world war will be fought with sticks and stones!
We (the UK) should be doing all we can to eliminate nuclear weapons in the world not adding to the useless and hugely expensive nuclear stockpile
Leigh
swansea
# posted by : 4:34 AM
: 4:34 AM<< Home
