Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
washingtonpost.com
Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
1–10 of 75 posts
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#2The article states that the president can use the 'biscuit' and the 'football' to instigate a nuclear attack on his sole discretion, but haven't those rules been changes in recent years to require a second government official to confirm and acknowledge the order?
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#3The article states that the president can use the 'biscuit' and the 'football' to instigate a nuclear attack on his sole discretion, but haven't those rules been changes in recent years to require a second government official to confirm and acknowledge the order?
Why would you believe that?
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#4The article states that the president can use the 'biscuit' and the 'football' to instigate a nuclear attack on his sole discretion, but haven't those rules been changes in recent years to require a second government official to confirm and acknowledge the order?
Why would you believe that?
Because I think I read something along those lines in a journal somewhere that was analysing some of the near accidental launches over the decades. I am not 100% sure I remembered this fact correctly, hence me framing it as a question on here in case more knowledgeable readers could confirm or deny and actually add value to the conversation...
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#5The article states that the president can use the 'biscuit' and the 'football' to instigate a nuclear attack on his sole discretion, but haven't those rules been changes in recent years to require a second government official to confirm and acknowledge the order?
That's probably the case. Attack authorization surely involves more than opening a briefcase and pressing a big red button. (Edit, yep: 'The National Command Authority comprising the president and Secretary of Defense must jointly authenticate the order to use nuclear weapons to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff').
The Washington Post detests Trump so the purpose of this piece is not to inform, but rather to plant the potential devastation of nuclear weapons and Trump's temperament in the mind of the reader.
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you believe that?
Because I think I read something along those lines in a journal somewhere that was analysing some of the near accidental launches over the decades. I am not 100% sure I remembered this fact correctly, hence me framing it as a question on here in case more knowledgeable readers could confirm or deny and actually add value to the conversation...
Gotcha, didn't mean to come off aggressive but trying to understand if I missed something. To my knowledge, numerous failsafes have been improved over the years (human and technical) but the President is still the sole decider.
They have definitely adjusted procedures to correct for historic screw-ups but, given a lack of mistakes at the executive level, there's been no precedent to change the President's nuclear capabilities.
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#7The article states that the president can use the 'biscuit' and the 'football' to instigate a nuclear attack on his sole discretion, but haven't those rules been changes in recent years to require a second government official to confirm and acknowledge the order?
That's probably the case. Attack authorization surely involves more than opening a briefcase and pressing a big red button. (Edit, yep: 'The National Command Authority comprising the president and Secretary of Defense must jointly authenticate the order to use nuclear weapons to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff'). The Washington Post detests Trump so the purpose of this piece is not to inform, but rather to…
My understanding is that target selection is more involved, but launching is essentially reading numbers off a list into a cell phone...
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's probably the case. Attack authorization surely involves more than opening a briefcase and pressing a big red button. (Edit, yep: 'The National Command Authority comprising the president and Secretary of Defense must jointly authenticate the order to use nuclear weapons to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff'). The Washington Post detests Trump so the purpose of this piece is not to inform, but rather to…
My understanding is that target selection is more involved, but launching is essentially reading numbers off a list into a cell phone...
Some insight on the process here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Codes
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#9The article states that the president can use the 'biscuit' and the 'football' to instigate a nuclear attack on his sole discretion, but haven't those rules been changes in recent years to require a second government official to confirm and acknowledge the order?
Perhaps the confusion stems from the difference between discretion and confirm/acknowledge? According to http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/34644, the order has to be acknowledged and verified, but cannot be overruled, and the second person (Secretary of Defense) is there to verify it, rather than check for whether it makes sense.
Re: Nervous about nukes again? Here’s what you need to know about the Button
#10> The president can order this without consulting Congress, without being checked by the Supreme Court.
Perhaps a single person's power to launch up to 2,000 nukes needs to be revisited?