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From NBC News (Editorial Side)
Turkey fired on U.S. special forces in Syria. It's absurd that it still has U.S. nukes.
Despite years of spiraling relations with Turkey, the United States has myopically continued to store an estimated 50 nuclear bombs in the country. Even now, after Turkey launched a devastating offensive on Oct. 9 against America’s Kurdish allies in Syria, disrupting the Pentagon’s war against ISIS and reportedly firing on U.S. troops that hadn’t yet withdrawn, they’re still there.
Remarkably, according to The New York Times, the State and Energy Departments are merely reviewing contingency plans at this point to remove the nukes from Turkey.While the recent developments in Syria represent a new nadir in U.S.-Turkey relations, the risks of storing them there have long been obvious — notably when their security was put at risk in 2016 during an attempted coup.
The weapons in question are B61 tactical nukes, old-school gravity bombs designed to be dropped from short-range fighters jets onto military bases and battlefield troop concentrations. They are stored in underground vaults on Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in the southern Turkish city of Adana. As such, they could be seized by a hostile Turkey or attacked by other actors in an increasingly unstable region. They should be removed ASAP.
The presence of the B61s in Turkey stems from a Cold War policy under which the United States transferred nuclear weapons to NATO allies Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. The move showed collective responsibility and solidarity in NATO nuclear deterrence against the Soviet Union. It also conveyed the political message that these countries they didn't need to developed their own nukes. The United States could always give these countries’ air forces access to the weapons if necessary.
COMMENT:-
The real question to be asked is NOT "Why does the US still have nuclear weapons in Turkey?" but rather "How is the US (with fewer than 2,000 troops [mostly {80+%} USAF aircrew and flight support staff]) going to get the nuclear weapons OUT of Turkey if the Turks (around 355,200 active [and around 378,700 reserve] troops) decide that they want to take them for themselves?".
Now isn't THAT a thought to make your blood chill slightly?
Turkey fired on U.S. special forces in Syria. It's absurd that it still has U.S. nukes.
Despite years of spiraling relations with Turkey, the United States has myopically continued to store an estimated 50 nuclear bombs in the country. Even now, after Turkey launched a devastating offensive on Oct. 9 against America’s Kurdish allies in Syria, disrupting the Pentagon’s war against ISIS and reportedly firing on U.S. troops that hadn’t yet withdrawn, they’re still there.
Remarkably, according to The New York Times, the State and Energy Departments are merely reviewing contingency plans at this point to remove the nukes from Turkey.While the recent developments in Syria represent a new nadir in U.S.-Turkey relations, the risks of storing them there have long been obvious — notably when their security was put at risk in 2016 during an attempted coup.
The weapons in question are B61 tactical nukes, old-school gravity bombs designed to be dropped from short-range fighters jets onto military bases and battlefield troop concentrations. They are stored in underground vaults on Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base in the southern Turkish city of Adana. As such, they could be seized by a hostile Turkey or attacked by other actors in an increasingly unstable region. They should be removed ASAP.
The presence of the B61s in Turkey stems from a Cold War policy under which the United States transferred nuclear weapons to NATO allies Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. The move showed collective responsibility and solidarity in NATO nuclear deterrence against the Soviet Union. It also conveyed the political message that these countries they didn't need to developed their own nukes. The United States could always give these countries’ air forces access to the weapons if necessary.
COMMENT:-
The real question to be asked is NOT "Why does the US still have nuclear weapons in Turkey?" but rather "How is the US (with fewer than 2,000 troops [mostly {80+%} USAF aircrew and flight support staff]) going to get the nuclear weapons OUT of Turkey if the Turks (around 355,200 active [and around 378,700 reserve] troops) decide that they want to take them for themselves?".
Now isn't THAT a thought to make your blood chill slightly?
