Bangor an indicator of military intentions

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, has become home to the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal. In November 2006, the Natural Resources Defense Council declared that the 2,364 nuclear warheads at Bangor are about 24 percent of the entire U.S. arsenal.

Most of the warheads are deployed on "launch-ready" or hair-trigger alert status.

The Trident submarine system at Bangor has long been a leading indicator of U.S. military intentions. During the Cold War, the Trident system represented a major shift in nuclear war fighting strategy -- from mutually assured destruction to a pre-emptive first strike.

Today, new types of Trident missiles and plans for a new strategic mission advance the Pentagon's ability to wage pre-emptive strikes using conventional and nuclear warheads.

In December 2001, the Department of Defense released the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review, which called for the development of new tactical nuclear weapons and more "flexible, adaptable strike plans," including "options for variable and reduced yields, high accuracy and timely employment."

The 200l U.S. Nuclear Posture Review also directed the development of a "Global Strike" capability, providing the delivery of either conventional or nuclear weapons anywhere on Earth in a few hours or less.

In 2001, the Navy announced that four older Trident submarines at Bangor would be converted to SSGN cruise missile platforms, each capable of launching 154 Tomahawk land attack missiles within six minutes. The first of the two SSGN submarines to be deployed at Bangor, the USS Ohio, is now on patrol.

In 2005, the Prompt Global Strike Mission declared the United States must now prepare itself for a wider range of known and unknown adversaries and called for the capability to strike any target in the world within 60 minutes.

In June 2005, the Submarine Launched Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile, a new missile specifically for Trident submarines, was announced by Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy.

The new SLIRBM is capable of delivering a 1,000-pound conventional payload 1,200 miles within 15 minutes of launch and represents the latest U.S. military strategies for global dominance.

In 2005, the U.S. Navy transferred two Trident D-5 ballistic missile submarines to Bangor from the submarine base at Kings Bay, Ga. The increase in the Pacific force, the largest nuclear submarine force in the Pacific since 1979, reflects increased targeting of Middle Eastern and Asian targets.

On March 2, the Bush administration selected the design for the nation's first new nuclear warhead in nearly two decades, a replacement for the W76 warhead for the Trident system.

Trident ballistic missile submarines currently deploy with six nuclear warheads for each of the 24 missiles on one submarine. The W76 warhead, initially based at Bangor, is equal to 100 kilotons (about six Hiroshima-size bombs). The W88 warhead, equal to 455 kilotons, was later developed and deployed. The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that 264 W88 warheads are deployed at Bangor.

During the Cold War, weapons of mass destruction were considered to be weapons of last resort whose use risked the destruction of those who used them. Today, our war fighting plans are making weapons of mass destruction the weapons of choice.

Should those weapons be used, our Puget Sound region will long be remembered for hosting the most advanced and massive nuclear arsenal on the planet. The world will wonder why Puget Sound-area residents gave their support to our weapons of mass destruction.