Today, October the 19th, the Belgian Coalition Against Nuclear Weapons demonstrated against the military nuclear exercise ‘Steadfast Noon’ that is taking place on Belgian territory. The coalition went to the NATO headquarters in Brussels to express their outrage.
by Belgian Coalition Against Nuclear Weapons, Vrede
NATO is currently conducting a nuclear air strike simulation exercise. This exercise is organised annually by some NATO member states to train pilots, including Belgians, in transporting and delivering nuclear bombs. Several NATO countries take part, including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium. These are the same countries that house US nuclear bombs on their territory as part of NATO’s “nuclear sharing”. The presence of these weapons in Belgium, their imminent replacement with more modern B61-12 bombs and the holding of such exercises are explicit violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

This year’s nuclear exercise is being organised in Belgium, at the military base of Kleine-Brogel, where US nuclear weapons have been stationed since 1963. It is only since 2020 that NATO has publicly announced the Steadfast Noon exercise. Emphasising its annual nature makes it sound like a routine event. This is how NATO normalises the existence of such an exercise, while also downplaying the use and danger of nuclear weapons.
The countries of the transatlantic alliance are participating in an exercise that prepares them for the use of a weapon that kills hundreds of thousands of people at a time and has consequences that no state can face. The whole discourse around nuclear weapons aims to minimize their consequences and normalize their use (e.g. they talk about so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons, a “limited” nuclear strike, or in this case a “nuclear exercise”). This discourse contributes to making their use more and more plausible.
Recent Posts
NATO Admits That Ukraine War Is A War of NATO Expansion
September 25, 2023
Take Action Now In testimony to the European Union Parliament, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made clear that it was America’s relentless…
‘The World Is At Stake’: Defuse Nuclear War Kicks Off Nationwide Week Of Action
September 25, 2023
Take Action Now “The need for action to curtail the possibility of nuclear conflict could not be more urgent,” said the campaign’s…
A Judge Has Thrown Out Charges Against Line 3 Protestors
September 25, 2023
Take Action Now A Minnesota judge ruled that criminalizing Enbridge Line 3 water protectors would be a crime. by Alleen Brown, Exposed by CMD……
Is The U.S. Violating International Law With Its Claims In The Pacific?
September 25, 2023
Take Action Now Officials argue that Washington has the authority to block enemy navies from an area ‘nearly as large as the continental United…