Berlin 05-03-2010
Since he assumed office in October 2009, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has often repeated that he wants removal of US nuclear weapons from Germany to be one of the accomplishments of his time in office.
In fact all three German coalition parties CDU/CSU and FDP want to have the nuclear weapons situated in Germany withdrawn – in cooperation with the US.
Foreign Minister Westerwelle, has recently welcomed the news that US President Obama is said to be contemplating withdrawing US nuclear weapons from Europe. The fact that the US controls the nuclear arsenal on German soil is patently absurd and should be opposed.
However the timing of these comments by a main-stream German politician is significant. The fact that Westerwelle raises this question means that others are thinking it – perhaps just using this as a trial balloon.
Westerwelle is of course correct in his sentiment, but things are not always as they seem to be, especially in politics. This begs the question – and it is not just a rhetorical one – what will replace the US nuclear weapons.
Could it be that Germany would consider having its own nuclear warheads at some point in the future?
While it used to be just the former USSR/Russia who were afraid of a revanchist Germany – presently it is probably more France and the UK who would strongly oppose a nuclear armed Germany.
Westerwelle ‘Berlin wants US nukes out of Germany’ from OTA Berlin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Germany License. If you use this article or parts of it, please refer to http://www.ota-berlin.de.
Tags: US nukes out of Germany
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