[Split Thread] The President's Authority To Use Nuclear Weapons

Split from here.

Posted By:Loss Leader

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob001 (Post 12207804) Iraq and Afghanistan certainly were not, despite claims made at the time

At the time the decision to intervene was made,Iraq was believed to be an imminently hostile force. It was only well after that intervention that the false nature of the intelligence came to light. It still remains a situation in which the president was responding to a threat, not a case in which the president was initiating a conflict by himself - he had the full support of the military and intelligence community behind his actions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob001 (Post 12207804) and the others -- certainly Vietnam and Cambodia -- are debatable.

No, they really aren't debatable. It might be debatable whether our intercession was reasonable or moral - that is certainly up for debate. But again, in neither of those cases did a US president initiate a conflict. The conflict existed prior to our intervention, and the interventions were made with the support of our military and intelligence leaders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob001 (Post 12207804) The point is that the President does not need a declaration of war to use military force against a perceived enemy, and he can do it without calling it a war or seeking a declaration of one. The Korean War was called a "police action." And even using your standard -- which is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution -- the President could declare North Korea, Iran or anyone else an eminent threat requiring an urgent response.

Sure, he could claim them to be so... but without the support of the military and the intelligence community, it would be an illegal act on his part. The president doesn't get to just willy-nilly declare enemies and then order attacks. He can REACT very quickly. He cannot INSTIGATE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob001 (Post 12207804) Trump has actually asked "Why do we have nuclear weapons if we don't use them?" Why do you insist on claiming the President can't do what multiple presidents have done?

Well, for one thing because no president has done what you're so worried about him doing. No president has INSTIGATED a conflict, and no president post WW2 has launched a nuclear weapon.

Seriously, is it so hard to understand the difference between reacting to a threat and instigating a conflict? We're at DefCon 5 people - there is no threat, and the entire military apparatus is aware of this.

The military is not full of dummies, and I really wish you'd stop assuming this to be the case.

via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/2tAV6BK