EAR sponsors weapons inspection team

Media Advisory

For Immediate Release - February 24th, 1998

Libby Davies, M.P., To Lead Search For U.S. Nuclear Weapons Of Mass Destruction

(Vancouver) Libby Davies, Member of Parliament for Vancouver East, will lead a Citizens' Weapons Inspection Team composed of community and church leaders to search for U.S. weapons of mass destruction suspected to be deployed in neighboring Washington State.

The team's visit to Washington State will occur as nuclear-armed U.S. and British military forces, backed by Canadian forces, stand poised for a military assault against Iraq to enforce U.N. weapons inspections.

"Canada should play the role of peacemaker by working to ensure that all weapons of mass destruction are banned," said Libby Davies. "Our team will begin by inspecting the country which possesses thousands of the most deadly weapons ever created - nuclear weapons."

Analysts suspect that 1600 active nuclear weapons are based in Washington State - more active weapons than Britain, France, and China combined. The team will focus its inspection on Submarine Base Bangor, the homeport of eight Trident submarines located near Puget Sound, west of Seattle. A Trident submarine can carry 24 missiles and 200 nuclear bombs - enough to destroy an entire country.

Joining Libby Davies, M.P., will be Peter Coombes, President of End the Arms Race; Murray Dobbin, National Board Member of The Council of Canadians; Ed Schmitt, Chair of the Peace and Social Justice Committee of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster; David Morgan, President of Veterans Against Nuclear Arms; and others.

The team will depart Vancouver at 7 A.M. Thursday, February 26th, (the same day the H.M.C.S. Toronto arrives in the Persian Gulf). It will be joined by U.S. members at a meeting in Seattle at 11 a.m., and the team will arrive at Submarine Base Bangor at 4:00 p.m.

The team has written the base commander requesting full and unconditional access to the site to search for nuclear weapons of mass destruction. "Only rogue states stockpile and conceal weapons of mass destruction," said Peter Coombes. "We expect to be granted our request for an inspection of nuclear weapons deployed on the U.S. submarines."

Contact: Libby Davies, Ottawa (613) 992-6030, Vancouver (604) 775-5800.

Jillian Skeet, End the Arms Race at (604) 688-8846.

The team will depart in white vans at 7 A.M. from

1207 Salsbury Drive (at William St. near Commercial Drive).

END THE ARMS RACE

Suite 405

825 Granville Street

Vancouver BC V6Z 1K9

604/ 687-3223

Fax 604/ 687-3277

info@peacewire.org

www.peacewire.org

President William Jefferson Clinton

The White House

Washington, D.C.

February 24, 1998

Mr. President:

End the Arms Race, one of Canada's largest peace and disarmament organizations, is currently working with peace workers in Washington State to organize an international Citizens' Weapons Inspection Team to visit Naval Submarine Base Bangor on Thursday February 26. We are scheduled to arrive at the Naval Submarine Base Bangor at approximately 4:00 p.m. The team will consist of eight to ten Canadians and will be joined by an equal number of Americans. Among the Canadian team are prominent community workers and a Member of the Parliament of Canada.

We trust that you will take the appropriate action to ensure that our international Citizens' Weapons Inspection Team is given full access to Naval Submarine Base Bangor in Washington State.

The team visiting the area is requesting a brief meeting with the Commanding Officer of Naval Submarine Base Bangor so we can get detailed information regarding its purpose.

It is suspected that Submarine Base Bangor in Washington State is being used to store and deploy weapons of mass destruction. It is commonly understood that at least eight Trident nuclear submarines are based at Bangor, each with the capacity to carry twenty-four intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with eight nuclear warheads each.

Continuing, indefinite reliance on nuclear weapons as the cornerstone of United States and NATO defence strategy is a clear violation of the nuclear disarmament obligation in Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was described in the 1996 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice as an obligation "to bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects."

Therefore, as ethically concerned and law abiding citizens, we acknowledge our duty and responsibility to confirm whether or not weapons of mass destruction are stored in the area. Thus, we are requesting a tour of the base and access to all documentation that confirms whether or not weapons of mass destruction or the delivery vehicles of any such weapons are present on the base.

We also request access to inspect any nuclear weapons or their delivery vehicles that may be present at Naval Submarine Base Bangor.

Once again, I wish to repeat our strong desire to meet with the Commander of Naval Submarine Base Bangor on February 26 to discuss its purpose and to learn more about the types of weapons systems that are present at the base.

I trust that as the President of the United States, you will do all that is necessary and appropriate to help ensure that the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are abiding by international law and norms.

Yours Sincerely,

Peter Coombes - President

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