Is the President really in control of our Nukes?

According to this publication by CDI, the President of the United States is not necessarily in control of our nuclear capabilities.

"Presidents were innocent victims of the prevailing overarching principle of deterrence based on second-strike retaliation, never the wiser to the thorough-going engineering of the complex early warning and command system operations so as to deny them any semblance of wartime options aligned with that very principle. Almost no senior civilian official, let alone president, ever caught on to the egregious deception that kept them in the dark about their true options in wartime."

www.cdi.org...


Mr. M

well, I'm not really suprised. Actually, I have been told that by people who work on subs. The thing is, since this was made during the cold war, everyone knew that we needed fast reaction time - and quite frankly, with some of the presidents we have had in or up for office, I'm kinda glad it's this way. I mean, put Kerry back in the cold war...

"Mr. President, we are under attack - we need to launch sir."

Kerry: "Hmmmmmmm, I need to discuss this with my campaign advisors, then go talk to the UN - I'll get back to you in a few hours."

I can see why it is not logical for only one man to have total control over our nuclear capability. In the event of an attack, D.C. is a primary target, and the possibilities of Executive elimination during the first strike are too great to deny, therefore the Executive's have determined that a "chain of command" is more suitable for these situations.


Mr. M

What worries me is how well we actually detect a nuclear attack. How likely is it that we could pick up a false attack and fire, thus WWIII is an accident?

Originally posted by American Mad Man
What worries me is how well we actually detect a nuclear attack. How likely is it that we could pick up a false attack and fire, thus WWIII is an accident?

it almost happened in 1998 that way...

in '98?

I was aware that it almost happened quite a few times during the cold war, but not this recently - do you have a link?

Yeah could we have a link? What did happen in 1998 that nearly caused WWIII?

They took the "football" - the suitcase with the nuke controls away from Dubya.

For Christ's sakes Braatz....you got a credible and factual source for that?
Good grief....


seekerof

Originally posted by minimi
Yeah could we have a link? What did happen in 1998 that nearly caused WWIII?

Ask General Clark....you know, the guy who was running as a Democratic presidential nominee.
Wesley Clark: The Guy Who Almost Started World War III
WESLEY CLARK A �LOOSE CANNON� UNFIT TO BE PRESIDENT - ALMOST STARTED WWIII WITH ORDER TO
ATTACK RUSSIANS IN KOSOVO



seekerof

AFAIK, the President is the only person who can give the order for a Nuclear Attack. But the rules are much more...lenient on who orders a Nuclear Counterattack.

[Edited on 4-15-2004 by Esoterica]

Starchild, I am aware of this articles existence and have read it a few times.
Saying that the President is not necessarily in control of our nuclear capabilities is based on the process of reaction, as indicated in the article:
This is what is said after your selected quoting:

One exception was former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga. His close scrutiny of nuclear affairs, combined with a keen intellect, led him to realize that the United States long ago adopted a strategy of launch on warning (LOW) � that is ordering and carrying out U.S. missile launches after early warning sensors indicate an incoming nuclear missile strike but before enemy missiles hit their targets on American soil.

Even with such and reading further on, it seems that the President may not have overseeing authority to 'launch'. In this event or circumstance, would it still be thought that the President is "warned" before or after" early warning sensors detected a possible incoming?
Ahh, never mind, here it is:

They built a construct that powerfully biased the president�s decision process toward launch before the arrival of the first enemy warhead.

Here's the question though, if the President doesn't have control of the "nuclear football," then who gives the final authorization?



seekerof

the president is in control of ALL military stuff. including nukes. if he wants to go to area 51, he probably could. if he wanted to nuke the world, he probably could....
although i think that he would be a little smarter than that (unless the president is bush)...........o dear god....

Originally posted by silQ
the president is in control of ALL military stuff. including nukes. if he wants to go to area 51, he probably could. if he wanted to nuke the world, he probably could....
although i think that he would be a little smarter than that (unless the president is bush)...........o dear god....

Errr......

The silos confirm the presidential orders for a reason...

Here's the question though, if the President doesn't have control of the "nuclear football," then who gives the final authorization?



seekerof

Whoever has the watch on the Looking Glass.

BTW the President is always reachable by the watch officer at Cheyenne MT no matter where he is or what he is doing.

Originally posted by Braatz
They took the "football" - the suitcase with the nuke controls away from Dubya.

Umm

He wasn't President then.

Might want to check facts before posting in the future.

Originally posted by Seekerof

Originally posted by minimi
Yeah could we have a link? What did happen in 1998 that nearly caused WWIII?

Ask General Clark....you know, the guy who was running as a Democratic presidential nominee.

Wesley Clark: The Guy Who Almost Started World War III
WESLEY CLARK A �LOOSE CANNON� UNFIT TO BE PRESIDENT - ALMOST STARTED WWIII WITH ORDER TO
ATTACK RUSSIANS IN KOSOVO



seekerof

Ahhhh yes - I remember this.
Wasn't this at an airport or something and an English officer refused to attack - oh well, I will read it soon enough

BTW - I don't know, but I would Imagine that if it came down to it, the CO at the missle launch site/center would have final say as a fail safe that we can get our nukes off. I fon't knoww for sure though...

One human is way too unpredictable and dangerous to be trusted with control over *drum roll* the big red button.