Scientists aim to limit Trump’s power to launch nuclear vweapons

A group of scientists is trying to limit Trump’s nuclear authority, CNBC 25 Jan 18

A plan pushed by group of scientists would cut presidential authority to unilaterally order nuclear strikes.
As commander in chief, the U.S. president currently has the authority to order the military to launch nuclear missiles.
This proposal would require the vice president and speaker of the House to also approve any nuclear strike.
“No one person should be able to order a nuclear attack,” wrote one of the scientists proposing the plan.

Jeff Daniels | @jeffdanielsca A group of scientists proposed a plan Wednesday that would limit presidential authority to unilaterally order a nuclear attack.

The plan would require that the president first obtain approval from the next two officials in the presidential succession chain — the vice president and speaker of the House, according to a paper in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a global disarmament advocacy.

As commander in chief, the U.S. president currently has the authority to order the U.S. military to launch nuclear missiles.

The release of the paper follows President Donald Trump recently boasting about his “nuclear button” being “much bigger and more powerful” than the North Korean leader.

Back in November, there was discussion in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about limiting the president’s nuclear strike authority after some Democratic lawmakers cited Trump’s “unstable” behavior.

“No one person should be able to order a nuclear attack,” said paper co-author Lisbeth Gronlund, a senior scientist and co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). “There’s no reason to maintain this dangerous policy, since there are viable alternatives that would allow other officials to take part in any decision to use nuclear weapons, whether it’s a first use or a launch responding to a nuclear attack.”

According to the paper, “the risks are not hypothetical. During the Watergate scandal, President [Richard] Nixon was drinking heavily and many advisers considered him unstable. During the 1974 impeachment hearings, Nixon told reporters that ‘I can go back into my office and pick up the telephone and in 25 minutes 70 million people will be dead.'”

The paper was co-authored by David Wright, a UCS senior scientist, and University of Maryland professor Steve Fetter.

The authors of the paper said the “proposal applies to any use of nuclear weapons, regardless of whether it would be the first use of nuclear weapons or in response to a nuclear attack or warning of an attack.”………

military generals can essentially refuse to follow what they consider “illegal orders,” retired Gen. Robert Kehler testified at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in November. Kehler is the former commander of the U.S. Strategic Command. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/24/scientists-seek-to-limit-trumps-power-in-ordering-a-nuclear-strike.html

January 26, 2018 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war

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