Germany is chastised for stance on nuclear arms

In a report to be published Tuesday by the Centre for European Reform, in London, George Robertson, who served as NATO secretary general from 1999 to 2004, says Germany cannot remove the missiles and still expect to enjoy the protection of US nuclear forces. "For Germany to want to remain under the nuclear umbrella while exporting to others the obligation of maintaining it, is irresponsible," the report says. It is highly unusual for a NATO country’s government to announce that it wants to remove US nuclear weapons from its soil. The 2,000 or so US weapons that were based in Europe at the end of the Cold War had been reduced to around 200 by last year.