WHATEVER variety of devoution – max, plus, or extra – is on offer should be rejected in the referendum, because anything short of full independence will mean we are stuck with Trident.
It is time we recalled what Trident was actually designed for.
Moscow is the only city in the world that has an anti-misile missile system round it, called Galosh. If you are going to annihilate Moscow, it hardly matters whether your bomb lands on Red Square or the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, half a mile away. The accuracy of Trident D5 is essential only if it is designed to strike these deep underground missile silos. Trident is a first-strike weapon. Its technical characteristics determine its function. It is a grotesque relic of the collective lunacy that was the Cold War.
Undetectability is an essential part of this first-strike capability. When Trident surfaces at the Clyde and berths at Faslane, it is inoperable, as its cover is blown. Any use of Trident from Faslane will have the Russians reply by remaking the geography of Scotland.
Few people know more about Trident than Robert Aldridge, senior engineer in Lockheed, who worked on its development. He resigned from his job because he realised from the technical specifications he was given that this was an offensive. He told me this personally, one memorable evening many years ago.
It is reasonable for an independent Scotland to demand that the remainder of the UK keeps Trident berthed pending inter-governmental negotiations regarding its removal. And as long as it is berthed, it is unusable. By this simple step, we have in fact, started the long, slow road to nuclear disarmament, as we agreed to by the Non Proliferation Treaty signed way back in 1968.
Brian Quail,
2 Hyndland Avenue, Glasgow.
Those becoming weary of the independence debate are invited to forget the pros and cons and find refuge in the new SNP2: "Say No, Punters".
Alternatively, and not mutually exclusively, the SLD2: "So long, David," is there for anyone weary of a certain coiffeured visitor.
R Russell Smith,
96 Milton Road,
Kilbirnie.
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