Peace activists arrested at Trident submarine base

Sixty people were present in an early dawn demonstration on Aug. 6 against nuclear weapons at the Trident submarine base in Bangor, WA. The two main entrances at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor were briefly blocked while Navy personnel and support personnel were arriving for work at the base in the morning. Around 6 am, five peace activists blocked the Trigger entrance to the submarine base and were arrested by Kitsap County Sheriffs. Shortly after, four activists separately walked onto federal property at the Trigger entrance and were arrested as well. Meanwhile, two peace activists separately entered federal property at the main gate to the Trident submarine base, on Highway 308, and were arrested by base security. Three activists then separately walked onto the highway to block traffic and were arrested by Kitsap County Sheriffs. This marked the first demonstration in recent years when both main entrances were blocked at similar times at the Trident submarine base. Peace activists at the main gate to the base held a large banner proclaiming "Hiroshima and Nagasaki Never Again." Other activists carried posters showing the destruction to the Japanese cities caused by atomic bombs. Those who were arrested by federal officers included Denny Moore and Donna Moore of Bainbridge Island; Jody Tiller of Olympia; Marya Barr and Karol Schulkin of Ventura, California; and Woody Pidcock of Seattle. Those arrested by Kitsap County Sheriffs were named as Lynne Greenwald of Bremerton; Joy Goldstein of Vashon; Brenda McMillan of Port Townsend; Ellen Kohjima of Tacoma; Mack Johnson of Silverdale; and Rev. Anne Hall, Dr. David Hall and Rose Betz-Zall of Seattle. Demonstrators arrested on federal property were booked at the Trident submarine base and released. Demonstrators arrested by Kitsap County Sheriffs were booked at the Port Orchard jail and released. Demonstrators may be charged with disorderly conduct. The protest organizers, The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, said they were celebrating 30 years of resistance to the Trident submarine system and all nuclear weapons. This year, demonstrators were also joined with members of the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist temple on Bainbridge Island, who with Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action members and others, completed a walk for peace, starting at Eugene, OR on July 15 and ending at the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action on Aug. 4, 2007. The Bangor Trident Submarine Base, just 20 miles from Seattle, has become home to the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the US arsenal. In November 2006, the Natural Resource Defense Council declared the 2,364 nuclear warheads at Bangor comprised approximately 24 percent of the entire US arsenal. The base at Bangor is also the last active nuclear weapons depot on the West Coast and has been recently rebuilt for the deployment of the larger and more accurate Trident D-5 missile system. Each of the 24 D-5 missiles on a Trident submarine is capable of carrying eight of the larger 455 kiloton W-88 warheads (each warhead is about 30 times the explosive force as the Hiroshima bomb.) The Trident submarines at Bangor are likely to be used first in any nuclear attack: either as an isolated "tactical" assault on a specific site, bunker, or weapons location; or in a larger "strategic" nuclear attack. The Bangor-based submarines can launch their weapons in secrecy and operate near Middle East and Asian targets. The Trident submarine base at Bangor currently has eight D-5 missile submarines. In addition, four older Trident submarines are being refitted to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles. Two will be at Bangor. These SSGN submarines can fire all of the cruise missiles on one submarine, 154 cruise missiles, in six minutes. In July, 2005, Lockheed Martin and the US Navy announced a $9.2 million contract to develop a new submarine-launched intermediate-range ballistic missile (SLIRBM). The SLIRBM will be capable of delivering a 1,000 lb. payload 1,200 miles within 15 minutes of launch. A Tomahawk missile takes about 4 hours to cover the same distance. Either type of Trident submarine at Bangor, whether to launch D-5 nuclear missiles, cruise missiles, or the planned intermediate range ballistic missile, has unbelievable destructive force. The next planned nonviolent direct action at Bangor will be in commemoration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in January 2008.