http://www.bellona.no/en/international/russia/nuke_industry/co-operation/31750.htmlItaly furious after US Navy tried to cover up sub accident
The US Navy covered up for nearly a month an incident during which a 7,000 tonne nuclear powered submarine from the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet in Italy ran violently aground in the Mediterranean Sea north of Sardinia last month, a US Naval official confirmed Thursday.
The US Navy—by its own admission in an interview with Bellona Web—sought to cover up the accident until relatives of the vessel’s crew, who spoke to US papers about the sailors’ early return after the accident, made the incident impossible to conceal.
The Los Angeles class submarine, the USS Hartford, hit the rocky sea-bed of the Mediterranean with such force that rudders, sonar and other electronic equipment were severely damaged, the US naval official said. The 114-metre long USS Hartford had left its Sardinian base at La Maddelena carrying Tomahawk missiles, possibly loaded with nuclear warheads, the British Independent reported. The US Navy official, who requested anonymity, however, would not confirm this.
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"It's the umpteenth demonstration not only of the grave risks to which the civilian population is exposed <...> but also of the culture of silence that invariably covers military activities in Sardinia," Italian Green Party MP, Mauro Bulgarelli said in Parliament, according to the Independent. "Our country was denuclearised nearly 20 years ago, due to the wish of the overwhelming majority of the Italian population. It is unacceptable that, thanks to American troops based in our territory, the nuclear risk should be reintroduced. In another age, that would be called colonisation."
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wouldn't it be wonderful if we were a denuclearised country
why does our military always lie first and have to be dragged screaming to the truth?