Donald Trump ‘Poses A Clear And Present Danger,’ Say Former Nuclear Launch Operators
A handful of people who knows what it’s like to have the fate of the whole world at their fingertips are crying foul regarding United States President Donald Trump having access to the country’s nuclear weapons. A group of former nuclear launch officers, who could’ve started a nuclear war during their time, are now asking Congress to keep the nuclear button away from Trump.
The group, which includes 17 former nuclear launch operators, sent Congress a letter signifying their belief that Trump “poses a clear and present danger to the country and the world,” Time reported. These veterans who make up the international nuclear disarmament advocacy group Global Zero also indicated that Trump may not be fit enough to have the “absolute authority over the nation’s nuclear arsenal” and that he could easily launch a nuclear missile whenever he feels like it. The group of former U.S. Air Force officers stressed that “there are no reliable safeguards” to prevent such a scenario from ever happening.
Global Zero already made their concerns known even before Trump was elected. Back in 2016, the group said Trump lacked the “composure, judgment, restraint and diplomatic skill” to become president and that he “should not have his finger” on the launch button.
"The top national security priority of the United States should be to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used. Trump’s plan fails on that score in almost every respect." – @derekjGZ responding a draft of the nuclear posture review
Our full statement:
https://t.co/BBr8DpQbOP— Global Zero (@globalzero) January 12, 2018
According to the former officers, Trump “has shown himself time and again to be easily baited and quick to lash out.” They also said Trump was “ill-informed of even basic military and international affairs,” especially when it comes to the country’s nuclear arsenal.
Almost a year since Trump held the highest office in the land, the former nuclear launch operators are still saying the same thing. One main difference, as the group indicated, is that it has become clearer that Trump is indeed capable of starting a nuclear war with North Korea.
“One year into the Trump presidency, our alarm has only intensified, and we must raise our voices again,” the group said. “The president has had ample opportunity to educate and humble himself to the grave responsibilities of his office.”
“Instead, he consistently shows himself to be easily baited, stubborn in his ignorance of world politics and diplomacy, and quick to brandish nuclear threats,” the former officers said further.
“The reality of this presidency is worse than we feared.”
The former nuclear launch officers are not the only ones trying to convince lawmakers to take action against Trump. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Congressman Ted Lieu of California, both Democrats, sponsored a legislation that will require Trump to seek approval from Congress before he could launch weapons of mass destruction, Newsweek reported.
The majority of Americans are not confident Trump can handle nuclear crisis with Kim Jong Un https://t.co/dmDxqQk3mi pic.twitter.com/RpDkf2Y086
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 12, 2018
“No one person should have the power to decide when the U.S. will be the first to use nuclear weapons,” Markey said on Twitter on January 3.
Markey, Lieu, and other politicians and common folk alike were up in arms after Trump tweeted about having a “bigger and more powerful” nuclear button than Kim Jong-un. The tweet is generally regarded as an invitation for a nuclear war by a president whose “inflammatory rhetoric has put the United States on a collision course with North Korea,” as Global Zero stressed in its latest letter.
