Democrats have warned that a “rogue” leader could someday take control of America’s atomic arsenal
Lawmakers push to limit US president’s nuclear authority
FILE PHOTO: A mushroom cloud rises after a nuclear detonation at a US military test site in Nevada, June 24, 1957 © AP / US Department of Energy
US Democrats in the House and Senate have introduced a bill that would force the White House to seek Congressional approval before ordering a nuclear strike, insisting the president should not have unilateral authority to start a nuclear war.
Introduced by Senator Ed Markey and Representative Ted Lieu on Friday, the ‘Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act’ would prohibit any US president from “launching a nuclear strike without prior authorization from Congress,” as well as reaffirm lawmakers’ war powers under the US Constitution.
“No president has the right or the constitutional authority to unilaterally declare war, let alone launch a nuclear first strike,” Senator Markey said in a statement, while Lieu added that “no one person should have the ability to launch a war that would end life as we know it.”
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Both lawmakers went on to accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of “nuclear threats,” arguing that the risk of nuclear warfare “has never been clearer” amid the conflict raging in Ukraine. Moscow has dismissed such charges, however, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently stating that the US and its allies are “prone to hysterical reaction” on the subject of nuclear arms.
In their joint statement, Markey and Lieu also marked the anniversary of the April 15, 1969 shootdown of a US spy plane by North Korean forces over the Sea of Japan, claiming that an “intoxicated President Richard Nixon” ordered a nuclear strike in response. They noted that the order was “disregarded,” but said the incident nonetheless “exposed the dangerous possibility of a rogue US president ordering a nuclear strike without Congressional authorization.”
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While an American reconnaissance craft was shot down by the DPRK in 1969 and the Nixon administration contemplated a nuclear strike in retaliation, there is little evidence to support the claim that the president ordered an attack while drunk.
The two Democrats have introduced similar bills on several occasions in recent years, each seeking to rein in the president’s authority to launch nuclear strikes, but they have failed to pass. Though President Joe Biden vowed on the campaign trail to work toward a policy which would only see Washington use nuclear weapons in response to nuclear attacks, he later backtracked, instead reaffirming a longstanding US policy of using the bomb to deter conventional and other non-nuclear threats.
https://www.rt.com/news/574780-democrats-president-nuclear-powers/
American officials worry about the rapid depletion of the US military’s advanced weaponry amid the ongoing military aggression on Iran.
American officials and analysts are expressing serious worry about the rapid depletion of the US military’s stocks of advanced weaponry amid the ongoing military aggression against Iran.
Just days after the aggression began, US military leaders warned that the American armed forces have already expended thousands of sophisticated missiles and hundreds of costly interceptors, according to The Washington Post.
The report suggested the US may soon have to prioritize targets as its inventory shrinks.
American worries over dwindling ammunition are now affecting allies such as Israel and Persian Gulf states. CNN reports that a Persian Gulf ally’s missile interceptor stock is exhausted and urgently needs replenishment.
The US confirmed that Iran has destroyed a key $300 million radar system used by US THAAD missile defense systems at Muwaffaq Salti Air ...
An Iranian Army spokesman says 220 American soldiers and commanders have been killed or wounded and significant damage has been inflicted on American assets in the region in retaliatory attacks by the Iranian Armed Forces over the past 24 hours.
The spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Zolfaghari, said on Saturday that 21 American service members were killed and a number of others injured during Iranian attacks on the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
He added that some 200 American personnel were also killed and wounded during strikes against the US military base in Al Dhafra Air Base.
The Armed Forces also targeted an oil tanker owned by the United States in the northern part of the Persian Gulf, he noted.
The US and Israel waged a fresh round of unlawful military aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country and its nuclear facilities.
The attacks led to the ...
Prior to the arrival of the United States, the Persian Gulf was essentially the domain of the British Empire which ended up handing over its holdings to the US to ensure that the latter would be at the forefront of any major war in the region, Middle East affairs expert Mais Kurbanov tells Sputnik.
Currently, the US controls a network of military installations that don’t just serve as military garrisons – these are all elements of a system of control of the Gulf ‘gas station,” Kurbanov remarks.
This defensive network was never meant to protect the Arab states of the Gulf – it’s real purpose was to protect Israel.
“This entire shield was created to keep Israel safe and to intercept missiles. They were more or less able to intercept them during the previous conflicts, before Iran started targeting their radars. And now they got nothing to intercept because Iran destroys the early warning system itself,” notes Kurbanov.
The US is unwilling and unable to defend the Gulf states – it ...
