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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: We Can Wipe You Off the Map Today, the very idea of a submarine permanently on patrol is mad Her Majesty's Submarine Vigilant is on patrol. As you read these words, down there in the Atlantic or North Sea deeps the Royal Navy Vanguard-class submarine Vigilant is moving at a fast walking pace. She is on a routine 90-day patrol mission, carrying 48 nuclear bombs with enough explosive power to kill a country. Sixteen Trident missiles can speed those bombs with a professional dart-thrower's accuracy to targets 4,600 miles away. Imagine every bomb and shell dropped and fired in World War II all going bang in the same instant. The Vigilant packs a bigger punch than that! In a safe on the vessel is a letter from Prime Minister Gordon Brown -- instructions on what to do and who to target in the event of a nuclear war. Only two of the 132 officers and men manning the warship know how to gain access to the safe. If that letter is ever read, the prime minister may already have died in a nuclear attack. The Vigilant has three sister submarines -- Vanguard, Victorious and Vengeance. These 16,000-metric ton vessels were built at Barrow-in-Furness, on the edge of England's beautiful Lakeland, home to the Romantic poets. As Vigilant returns to base, one of her sister ships will take over patrol duties. Britain always has one fully armed nuclear sub at sea. One of the four subs is usually out of service being refitted. The subs are based at Faslane on the eastern shore of Gare Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, 25 miles west of the city of Glasgow. Hold on there! My younger son lives in Glasgow. On the doorstep, as you might say, of the biggest arms dump in Britain's warrior history. Disturbing thoughts come to mind. What if they drop one of those bombs while loading it onto the sub? What if they accidentally press the wrong button while carrying out tests? Mad, illogical thoughts. The Royal Navy has been safely handling nuclear weapons for decades. But in this 21st century the very idea of a submarine permanently on patrol, prepared to wipe out millions of lives, is mad, bad and utterly illogical. And my taxes go toward keeping HMS Vigilant at sea. The Royal Navy Web site announces that the service is modern and relevant. But what relevance do nuclear weapons have today? Suppose al-Qaida fanatics explode a "dirty" bomb in London? Suppose also that there is proof that the terrorists came from northern Pakistan? Should Vigilant sail eastward to bomb that troubled country? Tony Blair, making a case for U.K. nuclear weapons while still prime minister, said that in an uncertain world it would be "unwise and dangerous" for Britain to get rid of them. He added, "It is not utterly fanciful [to] imagine states sponsoring nuclear terrorism from their soil. We know this global terrorism seeks chemical, biological and nuclear devices." Although the Cold War is over new threats would emerge. The U.K. government announced on Dec. 4, 2006, that the Vanguard-class submarines will be replaced by a new class of ballistic missile submarines that will begin entering service in 2024. Gordon Brown has committed himself to keeping and renewing Britain's independent nuclear deterrent. Estimates of the cost vary between $20 billion and $50 billion. Peter Hennessy, a guest editor of "Today," BBC Radio 4's prestigious morning current affairs program, was allowed aboard HMS Vigilant before she sailed from Faslane. He spoke to her captain and crew. Hennessy is professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. What manner of men did he find manning the great black cylinder -- the ultimate death machine? Ordinary chaps. The sort you'd meet down in the village pub. Men possessed of a good sense of humor who spend the long hours beneath the waves watching DVDs and reading. They enjoy quiz nights when, as you might expect, there's an ample supply of "filthy" jokes. They even take part in an improvised 18-hole golf tournament. By the way, Radio 4's "Today" program would play an important role in any action taken by one of the nuclear sub commanders should Britain ever come under nuclear attack. If "Today" were off-air that would be taken as confirmation that the very worst had happened. I find myself wondering what Gordon Brown has said in the letter locked away in those nuclear sub safes. Perhaps something like this: Sorry lads. The bluff failed. They attacked us anyway, despite all the hours you've put in on patrol. Now I'm not one for vengeance, despite one of our ships being given this name. And I realize you don't want to live the rest of your lives -- no matter how short they may be -- knowing that you have killed ten million people. So I suggest you head for the South Seas, scuttle the sub in deep water, take to the lifeboats, and find yourselves a desert island home.
Poster Comment: When everything is said and done, it's who can kill who that matters.
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#1. To: Split (#0)
Without the nukes the Brits would be speaking Russian.
Russian...that's fine by me.
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