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/
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has targeted the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with four ballistic missiles.
In its seventh statement on Operation True Promise 4, which was launched immediately after the latest Israeli-American aggression against the Islamic Republic on Saturday, the IRGC’s public relations office announced on Sunday that the attack was carried out as part of ongoing operations against American and Israeli enemy targets.
According to the statement, the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was targeted by four ballistic missiles successfully.
The IRGC added that the Iranian armed forces have entered a new phase of operations and warned that both land and sea would become a “graveyard for the aggressors.”
Further information about the operation will be released later, the statement said.....more below
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced the largest wave of retaliatory attacks against the Israeli-occupied territories on the second day of the joint US-Israeli war of aggression against the Islamic Republic.
In a brief statement on Sunday, the IRGC said it has launched the seventh and eighth waves of Operation True Promise 4 as it vowed to take revenge for the blood of the martyrs, including IRGC chief commander Major General Mohammad Pakpour.
“With the grace of God, we will avenge the blood of the martyrs and defend the security, national interests and territorial integrity of the country,” the statement read.
The Israeli army radio reported that at least 38 missiles were fired from Iran toward the occupied territories. It described the operation as the largest wave of attacks by Iran.
....more below
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced the achievements of the latest waves of its Operation True Promise 4 in retaliation to the Israeli regime's and the US's unprovoked aggression against the Islamic Republic.
In a statement on Sunday, the Corps noted that the "seventh and eighth waves" the reprisal featured successive missile launches and large-scale drone deployments against American and Zionist targets.
They resulted in missile strikes on three US and British oil tankers, the shutdown of key American naval facilities in Kuwait, heavy damage to a US base in Bahrain, and hundreds of American military casualties, it noted.
Oil tankers hit in Persian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz
According to the statement, three trespassing US and British oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz were struck using missiles, causing them to become "completely" engulfed in fire.
The statement described the strikes as part of continued operations against maritime targets ...
