[Ancesthntr]

Haig was spot on with what he did that day.

Damned straight. He was a bit nervous on camera for my taste, but he absolutely did the right thing. SOMEONE had to make it clear to the Russkies that the command structure of our government wasn't paralyzed, and that they shouldn't have the illusion that we wouldn't respond quickly and forcefully if attacked.

Being in DC at the time (at school), I was particularly glad that this was made clear to the gangsters in charge at the Kremlin at the time. Besides, he made it abundantly clear that as soon as Bush's chopper landed, he'd hand over whatever authority he had.

Was it 110% Constitutitonal? Probably not; but as one of our Supreme Court Justices once said, "the Constitution is not a suicide pact." With a nuclear Pearl Harbor 30 minutes away, observing all of the niceties isn't always an option. Better to have a somewhat nervous former commander of NATO in charge, just so that the bear minded his Ps and Qs. In this case, the entire military is by now accustomed to taking orders from him - so various bears, dragons and 7th century monkees will be careful.

[truth_seeker]

“He was a bit nervous on camera for my taste, but he absolutely did the right thing.”

Haig was Chief of Staff at that time. He was a military man, by experience, not a US Conbstitution career scholar.

I agree he did nothing really out of line, based on the situation, and what I mentioned above.

I’m fine with just going with Gates. I like him. Forgetabout Obama.

[squidly]

Funny thing about it is that Haig was bluffing. He didn't have the launch codes. For a few hours there neither Reagan (who was of course in the hospital), Bush, nor Haig had them, as a couple of FBI guys had spirited away the football. That was one time I know of that we were vulnerable to a first strike. Of course Haig knew this too, and knew he had to send a message to the Soviets.

A friend of mine who served under Haig in Vietnam has nothing but good things to say about him.