14. But imagine having to turn launch keys not knowing if we were under attack or if it was b/c foreign leader said a mean thing on twitter
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
15. The power is there to kill millions. Permanently alter the geopolitical landscape. It is a sacred, sobering responsibility.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
16. Idea that nukes would be used, say over Raqqa or Mosul, simply because we have no more allies and it's a simple, easy fix is nauseating
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
18. respond. Nuclear deterrence is about balance. Trump is an elephant jumping up and down on one side of the scale. So damn dangerous.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
19. But geopolitics aside, I can't get my mind off the young officers on nuke alert right now. Wondering if they'll soon answer to a madman.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
20. And be asked to do a duty that should morally be asked of no human being, ever. //end
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
Via Raw Story. Also see: 9 Terrifying Things Donald Trump Has Publicly Said About Nuclear Weapons.
Marcus Ranum says
Ranum’s catch-22: a launch order for a 1st strike is incontrovertible evidence that a president is incapacitated under the 25th amendment and the vice president becomes the acting president.
Caine says
Marcus:
I wish I could believe that would matter, and that it would stop him. Even if it did, we’d have Pence? That’s hardly better.
Marcus Ranum says
Caine@#2:
I wish I could believe that would matter, and that it would stop him
So far there have been several incidents in which individuals, on both sides of the cold war, stopped the nukes from flying.
Of course that means it’s guaranteed that on some occasion the launches will proceed because none of the right people are there. Then humanity will solve global warming and overpopulation the hard way.
Dunc says
Call me naïve, but I tend to feel that anybody who isn’t in favour of immediate unilateral nuclear disarmament is a dangerous lunatic. I don’t give a damn about MAD -- that’s just accepting the premise that everybody else is equally insane, if not worse. Maybe they are, but in case we’re fucked anyway.
Caine says
Dunc @ 4:
I share that feeling.