Posted on 08/11/2017 2:58:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
If President Donald Trump decided to authorize the use of nuclear weapons in a military conflict with North Korea, a possibility he has left open amid escalating tensions, it appears there’s little that could stop him.
The prospect of a nuclear flashpoint comes after a war of words between Trump and the North Korean government, with the president warning this week of “fire and fury” against Pyongyang if it continued making threats, and North Korea subsequently threatening an attack on the U.S. territory of Guam. Trump on Thursday suggested that his initial statement may not have been tough enough, and tweeted Friday that the U.S. military was “locked and loaded” should North Korean “act unwisely.”
Despite Trump’s bellicose rhetoric, diplomatic options are still available. And it’s far from certain that he would ever actually give an order for a nuclear strike.
But if he did, there’s little legally or procedurally to block him. While details of the process for launching a nuclear attack are largely kept secret, the delegation of authority is clear.
“There’s no veto once the president has ordered a strike,” Franklin Miller, who worked in the White House and Pentagon on nuclear issues, told the New York Times last year. “The president and only the president has the authority to order the use of nuclear weapons.”
The military employees charged with executing the president’s order could, theoretically, refuse to carry out the president’s order, but would risk a court martial, according to Michael O’Hanlon, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution.....
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
Fry ‘em.
Wait. Just weeks ago the Left was frothing at the mouth for a war with Russia.
Now all of sudden they get cold feet?
Democrats have the power to arm our enemies.
They did arm them with nukes!
We are fighting Nuclear War against our own Democrats,
so that the Democrats can fund their election.
Lovely.
Hey, Dorkbama the Muslim eunuch had that power, and he couldn’t get into college without quotas.
I’m betting on cruise missiles aimed at the main residence and the nuclear and rocket test facilities.
As I recall, it takes three people to authorize use of nuclear weapons. No President has the authority to do it on their own.
I think you are wrong, but who are the other two that the President has to ask, "Mother, May I?"
There are people who could block the order but that would be insubordination. Politico had an article on this today and, of course, it was scare mongering. According to that article, Haig and Kissinger where watching Nixon and would have “stepped in” if Nixon had gone bonkers in the last few days when Nixon was drinking heavily.
In order for Aegis or Thaad to work , they need to be up and running now with standing orders to shoot down any Nork missile that is launched. There is no time to do otherwise. So the Japanese Aegis ships need to be on full alert now. We aren’t sure whether we will have any prior warning of a launch. There is no way to know if a launch is a test or the real thing.
In order for Aegis or Thaad to work , they need to be up and running now with standing orders to shoot down any Nork missile that is launched. There is no time to do otherwise. So the Japanese Aegis ships need to be on full alert now. We aren’t sure whether we will have any prior warning of a launch. There is no way to know if a launch is a test or the real thing.
We will know whether a launch is the real thing by projecting its trajectory.
Nope. Just the President.
Any president does regardless of name or political party. That has been true since 1945.
“Remember the articles about this during the Obama administration?”
The thought of Obama even defending the USA is laughable.
True, but as soon as Congress gets back into town they will make a big show out of trying to limit his actions. A lot of republicans will join the democrats in doing so.
In an ICBM/SLBM launch scenario there are two launch officers in the chain that turn the keys after they receive a valid go code so that may be where you get the impression there are three people involved. But still one has the power to release the code, the POTUS.
Disobey a command like that and risk being shot, never mind court martial.
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