Meanwhile, security alert levels have been raised at defence bases and establishments across Australia.
President George Bush's plans to site so-called missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic are facing further problems.
As it is, the country has found itself strained by fighting three wars at a time of tight defence budgets, as well as by the rationalisation of regiments and defence bases at home.
See articleThe commander of Russia's strategic forces warned Poland and the Czech Republic that they could be targeted with nuclear weapons if they agree to host American anti-missile defence bases.
If that was passed by Scottish voters, the Scottish government would negotiate with the UK government terms of independence including such issues as division of the national debt, North Sea oil, the future of the defence bases on the Clyde, Scotland's membership of the EU.
Atlanticist opinion has been bruised and battered by American blunders in presenting the case for missile defence bases in the region.The latest fiasco was when American officials said Russian military experts could be based at the planned anti-missile radar station in the Czech Republic.
