[12B]

Just my interpretation but I think he's trying to kick Europeans into a higher gear in terms of confronting Iran.

[12B]

Forgot to mention, is in German press reports, only English language article is in Bloomberg.

[seppel]

under the armistice agreement germany is barred from developing nuclear weapons or a major navy, even though the technology has been there since WWII.

[RWR8189]

Isn't that the entire purpose of Article V of the NATO Charter?

[LibWhacker]

Okay, okay, okay!... But they can only build one, and they have to use it to carry out the order Hitler gave von Choltitz.

[wolf78]

Just to quote what Scholz actually said:

"Wir brauchen von unseren Partnern und der NATO bindende Zusagen, dass sie Deutschland auch vor einer nuklearen terroristischen Bedrohung oder Erpressung mit dem Einsatz von Atomwaffen schützen.

Translation: "We need binding guarantees from our partners and from NATO, that they will protect Germany also in case of a nuclear threat or blackmail with the use of their nuclear arsenal."

He continues:

"Wenn solche Zusagen nicht erreichbar sein sollten - dazu müsste gegebenenfalls auch die NATO-Doktrin in entsprechend klarstellendem Sinne geändert werden - müssen wir die Frage ernsthaft diskutieren, wie wir auf eine nukleare Bedrohung durch einen Terror-Staat angemessen, im Notfall also sogar mit eigenen Atomwaffen, reagieren können."

Translation: "If such guarantees should not be attainable - because for such guarantees NATO doctrin would have to be rendered more precisely in a certain sense - we have to seriously discuss the question of how we can react to the nuclear threat of a terror state, in case of emergency even with own nuclear weapons."

[thoughtomator]

Germany should be no more allowed to have nukes than Iran. They have conclusively demonstrated in so many ways that Germany simply cannot be trusted with that kind of power.

[WoofDog123]

in reality, how many steps does germany have to take to assemble a nuke? I would assume it is days for them, if not a few weeks.

[Brilliant]

Why would Nato not offer such guarantees? Seems like that ought to be a gimmee.

[wolfcreek]

If Iran or N. Korea are the reason for other nations wanting nukes, then take care of these and other rogue regimes now and there will be no need for deterrents.

[sono]

Maybe they can buy 'em from Iran?

[x]

I guess he's serious, but "Germans and Nuclear Weapons" sounds more like a series on the History Channel or a James Bond retrospective on TNT than a real policy initiative -- more pop culture than real politics, at least to a lot of Americans.

[Petronski]

Somewhere, Leo Szilard is clenching his fist.

[Just mythoughts]

Right now considering that Putin seems bent on supplying every communist and mooolah dictator nuclear, Germany might be on to something.

[bert]

The easiest way for Germany to obtain nuclear weapons is to reconquer France. Pay off Chirac et al and it would be a lasting relationship.