‘Individuals’ in US military can override Trump’s order for nuclear war
"Individuals" holding key positions in the US military and the intelligence community are the ones to truly decide about launching a nuclear war against North Korea, an analyst suggests.
Speaking to Press TV on Wednesday, Scott Rickard, a former American intelligence linguist, speculated that a first strike by the US is unlikely.
He was commenting on a Tuesday hearing by US Senate Foreign Relations Committee to examine US President Donald Trump authority to launch a nuclear strike.
“The US military and a lot of strategic individuals involved at the Pentagon in the civilian and military as well as intelligence spaces all have the ability to override the president in the event that he makes an illegal first strike request to conduct a nuclear attack on another country,” said the Orland-based abalyst. “There is a lot of politicized influence in those respective groups.”
Trump has adopted a fiery rhetoric against North Korea, threatening Pyongyang with “destruction,” but Rickard said a nuclear war launched by the US would actually depend on “the individuals that are working in these key positions.”
The political commentator further suggested that the “fair mix” in the US military could make a potential first strike request end up rejected.
“Thankfully, there are some checks and balances in place.”
Trump who has just returned from his 13-day visit to Asia has set the bar even higher for negotiations with Pyongyang by parroting threats against the nuclear power.
“Donald Trump is incredibly bombastic; he’s created a lot of turmoil with very immature and thoughtless comments,” Rickard said, predicting that a nuclear war will not happen.
“In my opinion, we won’t see a first strike nuclear attack,” unless the US is attacked first, he said, adding that “I certainly don’t think North Korea is going to do anything like that. Certainly, Russia wouldn’t do anything like that as well.”
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