"I see wings that I do not recognize as USAF wings."
Posted on 11/19/2017 10:38:25 AM PST by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
The commander of the U.S. nuclear force ignited controversy when he said Saturday that he would not follow an illegal order from the president. U.S. Strategic Command commander Air Force Gen. John Hyten was asked during the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia what he would do if he was asked to do something that was illegal.
Hyten responded that military officers study the law of armed conflict, which has certain principles they must abide by.
“If you execute an unlawful order, you can go to jail, and you could go to jail for the rest of your life,” he said. “It’s not that difficult.”
He said if he were given an illegal order from the president in regards to a nuclear strike, he would suggest something within the legal boundaries.
“The way the process work is it’s simple. I provide advice to the president. He’ll tell me what to do, and if it’s illegal, guess what’s going to happen? I’m going to say, Mr. President, that’s illegal. Guess what he’s going to do? He’s going to say, ‘What would be legal?’ And we’ll come up with options of a mix of capabilities to respond whatever the situation is, and that’s the way it works. It’s not that complicated,” he said.
Many interpreted Hyten’s remarks as suggesting he would resist a nuclear order from President Trump, and that his comments showed a lack of trust in the president.
A U.S. Strategic Command spokeswoman called that view “a gross misrepresentation of what he said” and “very misleading.”
“If you watch the panel comments, it speaks for itself. But most people don’t take the time … to go actually see what the source said,” Stratcom spokeswoman Julie Zeigenhorn told Breitbart News.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
This is really a non issue for those who have been officers in the military. I was at SUBGRU8 in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. Things had settled down to routine, and then Henry Kissinger wanted to do his shuttle diplomacy. The National Command authority jumped the DEFCON a couple of steps. After we cleaned our pants we had to let CINCUSNAVEUR know what the DEFCON meant for the FBMs in the Med. We weren’t actually questioning an illegal order, but we were questioning a one that was really difficult to execute. They kept the DEFCON, but threw in enough “except for”s to get us effectively down to only one above the original setting.
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Go read what the General really said!
This is fake news to the max.
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This jerk knows it, there is no time to consult a lawyer to determine if the President of the United States command is "lawful" or legal. That is not this buffoons job: his job is to fully OBEY and carry out the orders of The Commander in Cheif, period! The President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have the facts, not this guy.
He has stated he can not and will not do his job as ordered and should therefore be removed from his position and post ASAP for national security reasons alone.
The General is eagerly preparing for his new command at the Thule Early Warning Station slightly above the Arctic Circle in Alaska
Yeah, the keyboard warriors here are a bit much. We’ve trained our armed forces to respect the rule of law and it’s a good thing. He didn’t say anything about ignoring an order because of who the president is.
No, those are USAF other kind of wings.
Put him in command of the Antarctic Defense forces. Let him cool off. Help Werner von Braun collect moon rocks.
He had no REASON to be discussing -anything- with the press. The less the world knows about exactly how our deterrent works, the less of a deterrent it is.
There are a thousand ways to use his loose mouth to hurt us with what he said. The idiot should have been on base, doing his job.
In a nuke exchange, "going to jail..." is not really such a concern.
Sorry, only the best come north
They are duty bound to follow orders or face a court martial or firing squad. Until the dust settles there is nobody to determine legality.
I see wings that I do not recognize as USAF wings.
"I see wings that I do not recognize as USAF wings."
“The General is eagerly preparing for...”
A swift kick right in the pension!
As a President calling to nuke Sodom Fransicko would be an illegal order. Tempting, but illegal.
Yes, he’s a space & cyber REMF.
It depends on the circumstances and context.
If CA were a runaway state with nukes, and SF were it’s capital....and CA was preparing to strike...
My experience with nukes is vastly different than yours.
Decision to launch sent to nuke commander and the troops in the hole. They have a legal obligation to ask the question if there is a question of legality, and yes, that includes the NCA (POTUS is part of this).
Won’t go into training scenarios, sensitive information, and the question of launching is always part of the scenario(s).
Nothing new here.
Always been that way for decades and decades and decades.
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