U.S. nuclear general says would resist
'illegal' Trump strike order
Send a link to a friend
[November 20, 2017]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S.
nuclear commander said on Saturday that he would resist President Donald
Trump if he ordered an "illegal" launch of nuclear weapons.
Air Force General John Hyten, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command
(STRATCOM), told an audience at the Halifax International Security Forum
in Nova Scotia, Canada that he had given a lot of thought to what he
would say if he received such an order.
"I think some people think we're stupid," Hyten said in response to a
question about such a scenario. "We're not stupid people. We think about
these things a lot. When you have this responsibility, how do you not
think about it?"
Hyten, who is responsible for overseeing the U.S. nuclear arsenal,
explained the process that would follow such a command.
As head of STRATCOM "I provide advice to the president, he will tell me
what to do," he said in his remarks, retransmitted in a video posted on
the forum's Facebook page.
"And if it's illegal, guess what's going to happen? I'm going to say,
'Mr. President, that's illegal.' And 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 to whatever the situation is, and
that's the way it works. It's not that complicated."
Hyten said running through scenarios of how to react in the event of an
illegal order was standard practice, and added: "If you execute an
unlawful order, you will go to jail. You could go to jail for the rest
of your life."
[to top of second column] |
U.S. Air Force General John Hyten, Commander of U.S. Strategic
Command, testifies in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on
Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 4, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on
Hyten's remarks.
They came after questions by U.S. senators, including Democrats and
Trump's fellow Republicans, about Trump's authority to wage war, use
nuclear weapons and enter into or end international agreements, amid
concern that tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile
programs could lead to hostilities.
Trump has traded insults and threats with North Korea's leader Kim
Jong Un and threatened in his maiden United Nations address to
"totally destroy" the country of 26 million people if it threatened
the United States.
Some senators want legislation to alter the nuclear authority of the
U.S. president and a Senate committee on Tuesday held the first
congressional hearing in more than four decades on the president's
authority to launch a nuclear strike.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Mike Stone; Editing by Mary
Milliken)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|