Posted on 03/13/2004 8:49:39 AM PST by NormsRevenge
It might not have been a "broken arrow" nuclear missile accident, but a mishap that damaged a Bangor Trident submarine ballistic missile and was kept under wraps by the Navy until this week threatens broken trust on an international scale.
Libby Davies, a member of Canada's national parliament from Vancouver East, yesterday said she intends to seek the same kind of answers for Canadians that her U.S. congressional counterparts are seeking for Americans.
"If something happens in Bangor, we're the ones upwind. Nuclear fallout knows no border," Davies said.
"The whole issue of transparency in government is fundamental to our democratic system. I think when something is covered up it is pretty outrageous."
U.S. Reps. Norm Dicks and Jay Inslee have demanded answers, and Thursday are slated to receive a special briefing from Rear Adm. Charles Young, head of the "nuclear Navy's" Strategic Systems Program. The SSP oversees Bangor's Strategic Weapons Facility, Pacific, where the accident allegedly occurred.
The Nov. 7 incident was first brought to public light last weekend on a Web site, Jaghunter.com, by former Navy Lt. Cmdr. Walt Fitzpatrick. He has had a long-running feud with the Navy to clear his name following a questionable court martial.
Military and civilian sources confirmed many of Fitzpatrick's allegations.
The incident occurred when a missile being extracted from the USS Georgia's No. 16 tube smacked into an access ladder left in the tube, punching a 9-inch hole in the missile's nose cone.
Dicks is the No. 2 ranking Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations subcommittee on defense. Submarine Base Bangor lies in Inslee's district.
Dicks and Inslee said they are "troubled" by the lack of information about the accident, serious enough to result in firings a month later of the entire leadership of the strategic weapons facility, announced in December.
"Assuming these reports are accurate, the Navy must provide better notification to the Kitsap County community, including local emergency personnel," Inslee said.
"The safety of residents and employees is of the utmost importance when moving nuclear weapons. Congressman Dicks and I intend to discuss these allegations with the Navy in the upcoming days, and work to ensure that a comprehensive safety system exists to prevent any incident, such as those alleged in media reports, ... from occurring."
Navy officials cite a Defense Department "neither confirm nor deny" directive that handcuffs its spokesmen from discussing nuclear weapons accidents. The Navy denies an accident occurred there last November, but splits hairs over what is an "accident" and what is an "incident."
The congressmen want to cut through doublespeak.
"We want to know everything," George Behan, Dicks' spokesman, said yesterday. "The Navy has been very much cooperative so far and labors under some constraints because of a Defense Department rather than a Navy policy."
Behan said a letter from Davies would be included in Thursday's meeting to punctuate the importance of disclosure.
The Navy points to its zero-tolerance policy resulting in the career-ending firings as evidence of how seriously it takes its responsibilities. But while nuclear experts say the possibility of nuclear detonation is highly unlikely, questions left hanging by the Defense Department's silence create concern on both sides of the border about even the smallest potential for plutonium releases or rocket fuel explosions.
Davies said questions raised by the Navy's silence can galvanize peace activists on both sides of the border. In 1998, she visited Bangor, leading a "citizens weapons inspection team" to inspect U.S. weapons of mass destruction.
"I was the only elected person. We really just wanted to make a point and the point was that all weapons of mass destruction have to be dealt with, not just the ones that were supposed to have been in Iraq," she said.
"There is a strong connection between U.S. and Canadian peace activists."
Libby, babe, don't you mean DOWNWIND? Sheesh!
I am no expert in such matters, but I am given to understand that it is actually rather difficult to set off a nuclear reaction. One has dozens of shaped charges that have to be triggered just so (using ultra-high-speed electronic switches). If it isn't, all you get is a bit of bang and a bunch of radioactive dust in the local area.
Armed with this small bit of information (Robert, help me out?), this accident didn't sound like something likely to set off a nuclear explosion with fallout reaching to Canada.
(Not understanding the distinction between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation...)
No you want to broadcast everything and grandstand for votes. If it was just knowledge you needed you'd not be playing the media, instead you'd meet in committee and then assure your constituents.
Canada needs to shut up and play nice or they might find themselves placed in the "US territory" category.
Bad idea. Too many obnoxious liberals.
Probably will happen anyway, at some point. Canada isn't strong enough economically to continue functioning without being a part of the U.S., their military notwithstanding.
Phrase o' the day contest winner!
Quit your whining, you waste of human skin. If it wasn't for the US Military you'd be in a gulag in Siberia or have been lined up against a wall and shot.
Signed
Citizens of the USA
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.