US Bombs Out of Germany

October 23, 2019 by Nukewatch Leave a Comment

US Delegation Again Joins Protests Against US Nuclear Weapons in Germany

Nukewatch Quarterly Fall 2019

By John LaForge and The Nuclear Resister

“… our estimates were that we would kill every European, a hundred million Europeans, without a single US or Soviet warhead landing on West Europe. Just from the fallout of the attacks we were planning on Russia and East Europe. One hundred million. … Our best first-strike, then and now, has never for a moment—since the ‘50s—never been able to keep the Soviets from annihilating every last person in West Europe.”

—Daniel Ellsberg, in Things That Can and Cannot Be Said, by Arundhati Roy & John Cusac

The US delegation standing just outside the Büchel Air Base, and in front of inflatable mock B61 nuclear bombs, included from left, Brian Terrell, Andrew Lanier, Susan Crane, Cee’Cee’ Anderson, Ralph Hutchison, Richard Bishop, Cindy Collins, Kevin Collins, and John LaForge. Not pictured, Fred Galluccio and Dennis DuVall.

BÜCHEL, Germany—A delegation of 11 peace activists from the United States arrived at the anti-nuclear action camp outside Büchel Air Base in southwest Germany July 5, to join protests against the US nuclear weapons held there and against plans for replacing them with new bombs.

From left, Brian Terrell, Susan Crane and Birke Kleinwächter used rhyme on a new banner while blockading the main gate.

The US group—with participants from Iowa, Georgia, Montana, California, Tennessee, Arizona, and Wisconsin—was coordinated by Nukewatch for the third year in a row. It joined the popular nation-wide campaign to rid Germany of the remaining remnant of US nuclear weapons, 20 Air Force B61 gravity-drop H-bombs. (In the 1980s there were over 6,000 US nuclear weapons in Germany.)

This third delegation joined hundreds of Europeans who participated in vigils, blockades, marches and other nonviolent actions against the nuclear weapons’ deployment. The German group Nonviolent Action for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (GAAA) convenes “International Week” together with Nukewatch, and invites peace groups to come to peace camp conduct nonviolent actions highlighting three goals: 1) permanent ouster of the unlawful US nuclear weapons; 2) cancellation of plans to replace today’s B61s with new nuclear bombs; and 3) ratification by Germany of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

A bird’s eye view of part of the action camp.

The US delegation came for “International Week” which was part of a 20-week-long series of actions against US nuclear weapons, the object of scores of protests for over 20 years. From March 26 to Aug. 9, members of dozens of peace and anti-nuclear organizations came to the camp to facilitate nonviolent protests against the nuclear war complex.

A diverse group of student activists from the EIRENE Project in Stuttgart wrote a spontaneous protest song and rallied at the main gate. Signs read: “Make peace instead of nuclear weapons,” and “Atomic weapons are illegal and inhuman.”

During International Week, July 7 to 16, activists from Germany, The Netherlands, the UK, Austria, and a two activist student groups with participants from around the world.

GAAA and now Nukewatch are part of the 70-member, nation-wide coalition called “Büchel is Everywhere! Nuclear Weapons-Free Now!” working to oust the last of the US H-bombs. The coalition began the annual 5-month series of nonviolent protests four years ago, calling them “20 Weeks for 20 Bombs.” The council is a coalition of peace and justice organizations that have endorsed nonviolent civil resistance at the base.

US Replacement Bombs Planned for Europe

The resistance campaign also calls for cancellation of US military production of a new B61 H-bomb (version 12), and its plans to replace the B61s now at Büchel and at five other NATO air bases in Europe. Production of the B61-12 has been delayed recently by faulty components. (See Glitches Delay B61 H-Bomb Replacement.)

“Crime” reads the sign of the “Treaty Enforcement Action” activist Ralph Hutchison who entered the Buechel nuclear weapons base on July 10, 2019.

“In view of the 2017 treaty ban, it’s clear the world wants to abolish nuclear weapons,” said delegate Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, in Tennessee. On July 7, 2017, the UN General Assembly adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. “To spend tens of billions replacing the B61s instead of eliminating them, when tens of millions need disaster relief, food aid, housing, and medical care, is a criminal waste,” Hutchison said.

Nuclear War Preparations Called “Sharing”

Under a NATO policy called “nuclear sharing,” five NATO states deploy the US B61s: Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Turkey. All five countries and the United States are parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) which explicitly prohibits nuclear weapons from being transferred to, or accepted from, other countries. The governments claim that their nuclear war-planning cooperation does not violate the treaty.

Germany’s Tactical Air Force Squadron 33 at Büchel Air Base carries out the formal “nuclear sharing agreement” between the United States and Germany. The squadron reportedly uses its PA200 Tornado fighter jets to practice flying the US bombs to target areas for detonation in the event of an order from the White House. The air base is home to the US Air Force’s 702nd Munitions Support Squadron and its “protection level 1 stockpile” of US hydrogen bombs.

The apparent violation of the NPT prohibitions have led activists and resisters to call “nuclear sharing” an “unlawful conspiracy,” and to label Büchel Air Base a “crime scene.”

The banner of Susan Crane and Magriet Bos of the Treaty Enforcment Action activists explains why they have entered the Buechel Air Force Base.

This year’s US delegation included Cee’Cee’ Anderson with Women’s Action for New Directions in College Park, Georgia; Richard Bishop, from the Missoula, Montana Catholic Worker; Susan Crane, from the Redwood City, Calif. Catholic Worker; Ralph Hutchison, Kevin Collins, and Cindy Collins, all with the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance in Knoxville, Tennessee; Dennis DuVall, formerly of Prescott, Arizona, with Veterans for Peace (now residing in Germany); Fred Galluccio from Newport Beach, Calif., with the Physicians for Social Responsibility; Andrew Lanier, Jr., with the San Jose, Calif. Catholic Worker; and Brian Terrell, with Voices for Creative Nonviolence who lives at the Maloy, Iowa Catholic Worker. The peace activist Ann Wright from Hawaii made plans to join the group, but was called away unexpectedly.

Christiane Danowski, Ralph Hutchison and Cee’Cee’ Anderson in the meeting tent.

Camp life involved daily vigils and blockades of the main gate, regular planning meetings, meals prepared by the kitchen staff, volunteer chores, presentations by delegates, a documentary film, and a puppet-making project and performance led by Cindy and Kevin Collins.

Johanna Arlickes and Petra Kalter take a break from cooking duties in the camp kitchen.

A Series of “Go-in” Actions

Eleven international peace activists entered the main gate of the Büchel Air Base southwest of Frankfurt, Germany to deliver a self-named Treaty Enforcement Order declaring that the sharing of US nuclear weapons at the base is a “criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes.”

Eleven activists entered the base early on the morning of July 10 to deliver a self-styled “Treaty Enforcement Order” declaring that the sharing of US nuclear weapons at the German base is a “criminal conspiracy.”

The treaty reference is to the international laws on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (2017), on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons (1970), and 1949 Geneva Conventions which prohibit mass destruction.

July 10 Go-In Action Appeal

The early morning group’s prepared statement said in part:

We come from the United States and many other countries … to bring a halt to the ongoing criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes using these weapons of mass destruction.

As an act of crime prevention and responsible citizenship, we … act in accordance with common humanitarian law, Treaties governing the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, and the authoritative (1996) opinion of the United Nations International Court of Justice, which says: “… the use of nuclear weapons could constitute a catastrophe for the environment. The Court also recognizes that the environment is not an abstraction but represents the living space, the quality of life and the very health of human beings, including generations unborn. …The destructive power of nuclear weapons cannot be contained in either space or time. They have the potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecosystem of the planet.”

After passing through the main gate with a printed “Cease and Desist Order,” the group insisted on seeing the commander to deliver the order in person.

“We refuse to be complicit in this crime,” said Brian Terrell, a drone warfare expert with the Chicago-based Voices for Creative Nonviolence. “We call for the nuclear bombs to be returned to the US immediately. The Germans want these nuclear weapons out of Germany, and so do we.”

All 11 were detained by military and civilian authorities and later released after providing identification.

“Our delivery of the ‘Cease and Desist Order’ is an act of crime prevention,” said Susan Crane. “The authorities think the entry is a matter of trespass, but nuclear bomb threats coming from this base violate the UN Charter, the Nonproliferation Treaty, and the new Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” she said, adding, “Interrupting government criminality is a duty of responsible citizenship.”

Over 1,000 people attended a rally outside the base’s main gate July 7, the 2nd anniversary of the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The TPNW has been ratified by 32 governments. It will enter into force when it is ratified by 50.

The early go-in group included: Crane, Terrell, Richard Bishop, Andrew Lanier, Ralph Hutchison, and Dennis DuVall; Richard Barnard (from the UK); Margriet Bos and Susan van der Hijden (from The Netherlands); and Dietrich Gerstner and Birke Kleinwächter (from Germany).

Van der Hijden, of Amsterdam, said of the bombs at the base, “The planning and training to use the US H-bombs that goes on at Büchel cannot be legal, because organizing mass destruction has been a criminal act since the Nuremberg Trials after WWII.”

Peace Activists Cut Into the Base, Challenging Increased Security

International peace activists cut through new “security” fencing meant to keep nuclear weapons under control.

Around 4 p.m. July 10, another four activists (from the US, Germany, the UK, and The Netherlands) cut through the two perimeter fences and quickly entered the Büchel Air Base. Calling themselves “Treaty Enforcement Action,” they carried banners calling the nuclear weapons base a “crime scene.” While pausing for photographs, the four were detained by air base security personnel.

Outside the high-security base, four others from the group posted “Crime Scene” notices on the outer fence and along a perimeter bike path. All eight activists were detained by security personnel and found in violation of a “stay-away”order issued after the earlier main gate go-in. For violating the order, all eight were taken into custody, brought to the nearby town of Cochem for court, and later transferred to jail in Koblenz. All eight were released early the next day.

“The nuclear weapons must be removed, not just because they are unlawful, but because of the poor security at the base,” said Marion Küpker, spokesperson for the campaign Büchel is Everywhere!! “Members of the military and civil police declared several times that nonviolent go-in actions would now be impossible. Soldiers, a new private security company, and civil police are working together closely this year to guard the base, but they failed,” Küpker said, “even after months of publicity announcing that protesters would defy the newly increased base security this July.”

Susan Crane of the US delegation said, “There have been hundreds of accidents with nuclear weapons that show that deterrence is an illusion. And, with amateurs like us getting on base, it’s impossible to keep the weapons themselves secure.”

The eight who were jailed overnight were Crane, Hutchinson, Lanier, Bos, Dennis DuVall, Richard Barnard of the UK, Gerstner, and van der Hijden.

The July 10 daytime go-in actions followed a series of others, in 2017 and 2018, in which a total of 60 protesters got far inside the air base at different times. In four separate events, resisters managed to occupy the runway and three different Protected Aircraft Shelters or bunkers where nuclear weapons can be stored. Since these highly publicized incursions, the military constructed a new but long-planned, multi-million dollar perimeter fence directly outside the old one, hired additional private security personnel, and increased its regular police patrols.

Earlier in the year, on April 30th, a group of 11 German peace activists was the first to foil the base’s newly expanded protections when they both cut through and dug under the barrier to gain entry.

Go-in Actions Continued

There were three additional go-in actions during International Week, one July 14, two on July 16, and two subsequent go-ins July 22 and 27.

On July 14, Brian Terrell, Crane and van der Hijden cut into the base and were briefly inside. Terrell wrote, “The military policeman who found us was unreasonably obsessed about the hole we made in the fence, not so much concerned about the weapons of mass destruction he was guarding. Some people are funny. We left after hearing his threats of future prosecution and after getting another ‘stay away’ order.”

Military and civilian police were reluctant to take anyone to jail. The authorities issued “stay away” orders over and over again to people blocking the gate and to others who’d cut the fence. Repeat violations of the stay away orders were often ignored.

Susan Crane, Ralph Hutchison, Margriet Bos and Andrew Lanier “go-in” July 10 carrying banners. They were later jailed for violating a “stay away” order issued earlier by the civil police.

Even after repeatedly violating standing stay-away orders, Crane was only jailed again following her July 27 action.

July 16 is the double anniversary of the first-ever detonation of an atomic bomb (1945), and the Churchrock uranium waste spill (1979), both of which took place in New Mexico (See “Radiation and Colonialism Leave a Permanent Stamp on New Mexico—Part II“). The day was chosen for an early morning action by five resisters who walked through the main gate carrying a banner that read: “16 July 1945, the nuclear terror begins, first atom bomb test, New Mexico.” The five were escorted outside the base but not issued a stay-away order.

On July 16 four resisters cut in, but were quickly detained.

Again July 16, van der Hijden, Crane, Richard Bishop and Dennis DuVall cut through fences and hastily entered the base around 7 p.m., intending to occupy a weapons bunker. DuVall and van der Hijden were able to cross the airbase permitter road, and begin climbing toward the bunkers but were stopped by soldiers using a police dog. Crane suffered an injured hip when she was harshly knocked to the ground by a body slam from a military policeman. Two soldiers crawled through holes cut in the fences by the resisters and detained John LaForge; they also confiscated his phone reportedly for taking photographs. All five were released with another 24-hour stay-away order. The phone was returned Sept. 25 still holding the suspect photographs.

On July 22, Crane was given a 6-day stay-away order after she cut through the fence in a different area of the base. Then on July 27, Crane walked through the main gate to deliver a German language version of the UN Treaty Ban. The police issued her another 24-hour stay-away order, and took her off the base. Later the same day she started a walk around the outside of the base near the fence and was stopped and arrested for violating the order. She was kept in jail in Cochem as a “danger,” and later had a “video conference” with the judge rather than a court appearance. Judge Römer heard Susan’s appeal to treaty law and the Nuremberg Principles, but did not address the issue of unlawful weapons, and saying Crane would be held until 6 a.m. the next morning.

About the judge’s refusal to speak to the legal status of nuclear weapons, Crane said on the record, “I thought judges in Germany would be different.”

Five of the 11 US delegates promised to return for International Week in 2020 if the bombs haven’t been withdrawn by then.

July 11, 2019 by Nukewatch 1 Comment

Peace Activists Cut into Nuclear Weapons Base, Foiling Increased Security

BÜCHEL, Germany — Calling themselves “Treaty Enforcement Action,” four peace activists (from the United States, Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands) cut through two perimeter fences and quickly entered the Büchel Air Base here around 4 p.m. July 10, 2019, carrying banners declaring the US and German Air Force’s planned use of nuclear weapons here makes the base a “crime scene.” While posing for photographs, the four were detained by air base security personnel, and later taken to jail in Koblenz and held overnight. All eight were released early Thursday.

Outside the high-security base, four others from the group posted “Crime Scene” notices on the outer fence and along a perimeter bike path. All eight activists were detained by security personnel and found in violation of a “Stay Away Order” issued earlier the same day. For violating that order, the eight were taken into custody, brought to Cochem for a court hearing, and transferred to jail in Koblenz.

The earlier “go-in” Wednesday at the Air Base saw 11 activists walk through the air base’s main gate and try to serve officials there with a self-styled “Treaty Enforcement Order.” The reference is to the international treaties on prohibition of nuclear weapons (2017), on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons (1970), and Geneva Conventions which prohibit mass destruction.

The protesters’ order called for the immediate removal of US B61 nuclear bombs from the base, and their prompt return to the United States for dismantlement. The base is the site of the US 702^nd Munitions Support Squadron which controls a “Priority Level 1” stockpile of twenty B61 thermo nuclear bombs.

“The nuclear weapons must be removed, not just because they are unlawful, but because of the poor security at the base,” said Marion Küpker, spokesperson for the 68-member German-wide campaign Büchel is Everywhere! Nuclear Weapons-Free Now! “Members of the military and civil police declared several times that nonviolent go-in actions would now be impossible. Soldiers, a new private security company, and civil police are working together closely this year to guard the base, but they failed,” Küpker said, “even after months of publicity announcing that protesters would defy the newly increased base security this July.”

On April 30 this year, a group of 11 peace activists was the first to foil the base’s new fence, when they cut and dug under the wire and steel barrier to gain entry.

“Crime” reads the sign of the “Treaty Enforcement Action” activist who entered the Buechel nuclear weapons base on July 10, 2019.

This year marks the 3rd time in three years that a delegation of US peace activists has joined Europeans and others in nonviolent actions against the US nuclear weapons. The German group Nonviolent Action for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (GAAA) convenes “International Action Week”, and invites peace groups to conduct nonviolent actions highlighting three goals: 1) permanent ouster of the unlawful US nuclear weapons; 2) cancellation of plans to replace today’s B61s with new nuclear bombs; and 3) ratification by Germany of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

John LaForge, of the US peace group Nukewatch [www.nukewatchinfo.org] and coordinator of the US delegation, said, “There have been hundreds of accidents with nuclear weapons [see the website www.atomkriegausversehen.de(Belgium)], which show that deterrence is an illusion. And, with amateurs like us getting on base, that it’s impossible to keep the weapons themselves secure.”

Four international peace activists reached far beyond the two security gates surrounding Buechel Air Force Base where US nuclear weapons are housed.

Wednesday’s daring go-ins follow actions in 2017 and 2018 in which 60 protesters got inside the base, occupying the Air Force’s runway and even three different Protected Aircraft Shelters where the nuclear weapons can be stored. Since then, the military constructed its new perimeter fence.

The eight who were jailed are: Susan Crane, 75, of California; Ralph Hutchinson, 62, of Tennessee; Andrew Lanier, 26, of California; Magriet Bos, 32, of The Netherlands; Dennis DuVall, 77, of Arizona; Richard Barnard, 45, of the UK; Dietrich Gerstner, 54 of Germany; and Susan van der Hijden, 49, of The Netherlands.

July 10, 2019 by Nukewatch 1 Comment

Nuclear Weapons Are Illegal – Büchel Is a Crime Scene

For decades, the United States military has deployed its nuclear weapons on German soil. Here in Büchel, the 702^nd Munitions Support Squadron is responsible for the deployment and threatened use of its “Priority Level One” stockpile of B61 gravity bombs.

We come from the United States and many other countries to the Büchel Air Base on this 10^th of July 2019 to bring a halt to the ongoing criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes using these weapons of mass destruction.

Each and every B61 nuclear bomb is designed and intended to unleash uncontrollable and indiscriminate heat, blast and radiation. Therefore, any planning, preparation, possession, deployment, threat or use of any variant of the B61 nuclear bombs, as a matter of fact, violates peremptory rules of law including the laws of war, the rules and principles of humanitarian law or the Nuremberg Principles.^[1] These weapons are a crime against humanity and the planet itself.

As an act of crime prevention and responsible citizenship, we are here to resist the ongoing unlawful conspiracy by the United States and German Air Forces to commit mass destruction. We are here on behalf of everyone who is unaware of the existential threat that such planning poses to life, liberty, and the planet Earth; who are unaware of the binding legal prohibitions that outlaw planning for nuclear war; or who feel powerless to take effective action against the Büchel Air Base’s criminal war planning.

We act in accordance with common humanitarian law, Treaties governing the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, and the authoritative opinion of the International Court of Justice, which says: “The Court recognizes…that the use of nuclear weapons could constitute a catastrophe for the environment. The Court also recognizes that the environment is not an abstraction but represents the living space, the quality of life and the very health of human beings, including generations unborn. …The destructive power of nuclear weapons cannot be contained in either space or time. They have the potential to destroy all civilization and the entire ecosystem of the planet.^[2]

For these reasons, guided by our conscience, the legal authority of the International Court of Justice, and the moral imperative to act residing in each person recognized by the Nuremberg principles, we call upon the personnel, powers and authorities at Büchel Air Base to take all such steps as are necessary to immediately stand down the US B61 nuclear weapons deployed there and to demand the permanent removal from sovereign German soil of these weapons of mass destruction.

Further, we call for these weapons to be returned to the United States of America from whence they came, to the Pantex facility in Amarillo, Texas, for immediate disassembly, dismantlement, and disposal.

[1] According to Professor of International Law Anabel L. Dwyer, University of Michigan: “The US, Germany and NATO know that each and every B61-3 and B61-4 nuclear bomb is designed and intended to unleash uncontrollable and indiscriminate heat, blast and radiation. The B61-3 is a 170-kiloton nuclear weapon. The B61-4 is a 50-kiloton weapon. Therefore, any planning, preparation, possession, deployment, threat or use of any variant of the B61 nuclear bomb, as a matter fact, violates peremptory rules of law including the laws of war, the rules and principles of humanitarian law or the Nuremberg Principles.”

[2] Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons, Advisory Opinion of 8 July 1996, International Court of Justice, The Hague.

July 10, 2019 by Nukewatch 2 Comments

Activists Bring “Cease and Desist” Order To Nuclear Weapons Base

BUECHEL, Germany — Eleven international peace activists entered the Büchel Air Base southwest of Frankfurt early this morning to deliver a self-named Treaty Enforcement Order declaring that the sharing of US nuclear weapons at the base is a “criminal conspiracy to commit war crimes.”

Upon entering the base’s main gate with a printed “cease and desist order,” insisted on seeing the base commander to deliver the order in person.

“We refuse to be complicit in this crime,” said Brian Terrell of Voices for Creative Nonviolence in Chicago, Illinois. “We call for the nuclear bombs to be returned to the US immediately. The Germans want these nuclear weapons out of Germany, and so do we.”

The group included people from Germany, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. All eleven were detained by military and civilian authorities and were released after providing identification.

This is the third year in a row that a delegation of US peace activists has joined Europeans and others in protesting the US nuclear weapons at Büchel. The local group Nonviolent Action for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (GAAA) convenes the International Action Week, demanding permanent ouster of the US nuclear weapons, cancellation of plans to replace today’s B61s with new hydrogen bombs, and Germany’s ratification of the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

“Delivery of the ‘Cease and Desist Order’ is an act of crime prevention,” said John LaForge, of the US peace group Nukewatch and coordinator of the US delegation. “The authorities think the entry is a matter of trespass. But these nuclear bomb threats violate the UN Charter, the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.” he said, adding, “Interrupting government criminality is a duty of responsible citizenship.”

The activists included: (from the United States) Susan Crane, Richard Bishop, Andrew Lanier, Jr., Brian Terrell, Ralph Hutchison, and Dennis DuVall; (from the UK) Richard Barnard; (from The Netherlands) Margriet Bos, and Susan van der Hijden; and (from Germany) Dietrich Gerstner, and Birke Kleinwächter.

Susan van der Hijden of Amsterdam, who is just back from the US where she visited the Kansas City, Kansas site of a factory working on parts of the new replacement bomb, known as the B61-12. “The planning and training to use the US H-bombs that goes on at Büchel cannot be legal, because organizing mass destruction has been a criminal act since the Nuremberg Trials after WWII,” van der Hijden said.