Stratcom Commander Ignites Controversy After Saying He Would Not Execute ‘Illegal' Nuke Order
The answer to concerns expressed here yesterday is to go beyond the pull quotes. | [Breitbart] 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."
...
"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,"
Um, that would be me.-A.S.
Stratcom spokeswoman Julie Zeigenhorn told Breitbart News...
Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter recently pushed back against the fear-mongering that Trump alone could start a nuclear war against North Korea, explaining there is a deliberative process that includes multiple cabinet secretaries.
"The way it is set up, it is a deliberative process that involves the secretary of defense ‐ the principal adviser to the president on these matters ‐ the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and others in the chain of command, but also the secretary of state, the national security adviser, the director of national intelligence, the director of CIA," he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour earlier this week.
"That’s the way it’s set up, and there’s a discussion and there’s an exploration of all the options on something so grave," he said. "People have this idea that there’s a button," he said. "There is a process, a consultative process."
Amanpour told Carter she thought it would be a "great comfort" to people for people to hear him say that.
Watch Hyten’s full comments here:
Click at link.
Posted by: Anomalous Sources 2017-11-20 |