The Myth of Disarmament and Trident

by Glen Milner, Free Press Contributor

eporters ask no questions about it; the candidates offer no comment. The Trident Submarine System is an issue of silence, treated as a fait accompli, accepted as a given that requires no further mention. Thus the possibility of annihilation becomes ordinary for an entire society. There is something so automatic about it that chills the soul.

The submarines at the Bangor Submarine Base are scheduled to be overhauled to carry the much larger and more accurate D-5 (Trident II) missiles on four of the eight submarines stationed there. Areas of the Subase will be rebuilt to accommodate the larger missiles and three of the existing Trident II submarines stationed at Kings Bay, Georgia will be moved to Bangor. Total estimated cost to upgrade the submarines and the facilities for the D-5 missiles is $6.4 billion. There has been almost no public debate on the Navy's proposal to do this. To talk of this issue would break the myth of disarmament that is being promoted by both the government and the military in this country.

In an attempt to bring public attention to this issue, 22 people were arrested at the Bangor Submarine Base on August 9, 1998 for either trying to enter the Subase or for blocking the entrance to the main gate. Nine of the demonstrators were arrested by the Kitsap County police. They had been inside of a 44 foot replica of a D-5 missile (made by the demonstrators) that had blocked the main entrance.

For the first time in 13 years, Kitsap County has elected to prosecute the demonstrators. It may be that the County is aware that demonstrations at Bangor will be larger and more frequent as the D-5 issue becomes better known.

Kitsap County last prosecuted demonstrators in a White Train trial in June, 1985. At that time, there was pressure on the County to stop the demonstrations as they grew larger with greater publicity with each nuclear warhead shipment. Kitsap County Prosecutor Danny Clem attempted to add a conspiracy charge to the train demonstration for a possible total sentence of 180 days in jail. When the jury found the 19 defendants not guilty in June, 1985, the Department of Energy stopped shipping nuclear warheads by train. The balance of nuclear warheads were shipped to Bangor by trucks, which were able to enter the Sub base without public notice.

Since 1985, Kitsap County continued to arrest and book demonstrators, but didn't attempt to prosecute them until now.

The Trident D-5 missile can carry eight 475 kiloton warheads. It is 44.6 feet long, 83 inches in diameter and weighs 130,000 pounds. Each submarine can carry 24 of the D-5 missiles for a combined arsenal of 192 nuclear warheads. Each warhead on top of the missile can be launched over 4,000 miles and strike within 400 feet of its target.

The fact that the Trident System exists makes any claim of disarmament a lie. Why have we as a society abandoned the issue of nuclear war? Why do we accept the madness of nuclear weapons in silence? If we no longer need the Trident System for deterrence, what other form of mass destruction does our government and our military have in mind?

The Bangor Submarine Base is 20 miles from downtown Seattle. It contains one of the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world. We in the Puget Sound area should be informed of what is happening at Bangor for no other reason than its close proximity to our lives.

These are the reasons that silence is so important for the survival of the Trident System. These are the reasons why Kitsap County is now attempting to incarcerate those who resist Trident.

The upcoming trial date is February 25th at the Kitsap County District Court in Poulsbo. One of the nine arrested entered a no contest plea and spent five days in jail in August in order to return to his home in Michigan. Among the eight to be on trial are a high school teacher and a Baptist minister.

We were all arrested on the charge of disorderly conduct.

I am the only defendant to be on trial this December who was also in the last White Train trial in June, 1985. Ironically, my defense attorney at that time in 1985 is now the Kitsap County Prosecutor.

Why prosecute now after 13 years? Because the Trident System and the upgrade to the D-5 at Bangor cannot stand the light.

Glen Milner lives in Seattle. He was one of 22 demonstrators arrested at the main entrance to Naval Submarine Base Bangor in August 1998.

For more information, please contact Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, 16159 Clear Creek Road, Poulsbo, WA 98370. Phone (360) 377-2586. E-mail jackisue@netcom.com.