After Trump Asks Why US Can’t Use Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Launch Officer Warns ‘Buckle the Hell Up’
Former Minuteman III Launch Officer Worries if ‘Young Officers on Nuke Alert Right Now’ Will ‘Soon Answer to a Madman’
Donald Trump is under fire today for many issues, but one in particular has drawn the ire of the noted national security advisor to both the Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney presidential campaigns. MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough Wednesday morning cited a Trump foreign policy adviser who told him that during an hour-long briefing Trump asked him three times why the U.S. can’t use nuclear weapons.
“Several months ago, a foreign policy expert went to advise Donald Trump,†Scarborough told his guest, former CIA Director Michael Hayden. “And three times he asked about the use of nuclear weapons — three times he asked. At one point, ‘If we have them, why can’t we use them?’â€
“That’s one of the reasons why he doesn’t have foreign policy experts around him,â€Â Scarborough claimed.
Watch: What are some major concerns about Trump’s handling of national security? Hayden and #morningjoe weigh in. https://t.co/FyFoSmJlJI
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) August 3, 2016
While a Trump campaign spokesperson today was quick to deny Scarborough’s story, Trump’s comments lend it credibility.
Trump has suggested he might use nuclear weapons in Europe, and against ISIS, despite civilian casualties. And he has advocated for more – not less, but more – countries to get nuclear weapons including Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia.
Enter John Noonan.
Noonan, a national security commentator and analyst, served as national security advisor to both Mitt Romney’s and Jeb Bush’s presidential campaigns. And he served as a as a Minuteman III nuclear launch officer in the United States Air Force’s Global Strike Command.Â
To be clear, Noonan is not a fan of President Barack Obama’s nuclear disarmament efforts, and he is considered a war hawk by some on the left.Â
Which make him the perfect person to listen to when he says Donald Trump is “dangerous” and a “madman,” and if he gets the nuclear launch codes we will all need to “buckle the hell up.”
Noonan took to Twitter Wednesday, after Scarborough’s stunning revelation (which has some wondering why he sat on that knowledge for months.)
On Twitter, conservatives like columnist John Podhoretz, and liberals like Keith Olbermann, not to mention many journalists, are urging everyone to read Noonan’s comments, so here they are. They should scare every person on the planet.
1. I cant get this in one tweet. So bear with me as I air some laundry here on Scarborough’s claim Trump’s interested in nuclear First Use
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
2. Pulled 300 nuclear alerts, 100 ft under the Wyoming turf. Job is serious and full of serious people.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
3. When we went into ICBM training, we went through a battery of tests and interviews. Are you sane? Are you willing to turn your key?
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
4. I see how those might sound at odds.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
5. But the whole idea behind nuclear deterrence is that you don’t use the damn things. So I thought the mission credible and worthy.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
6. There are a hell of a lot of bad actors out there who have nukes. They are restrained only by our ability to instantly lay waste to them.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
7. The nuke triad, which Trump doesn’t have a clue about, has been the single greatest contributor to global peace for decades. You heard me
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
8. I dont know if Scarborough is telling whole truth here. Anonymous sources suck. BUT… if he is… buckle the hell up.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
9. Because Trump would be undoing 6 decades of proven deterrence theory. The purpose of nukes is that they are never used. Trump disagrees?
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
10. This would be the single greatest strategic shift in US national security in decades. In a Trump Presidency, our foreign policy
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
11. ….would be this. “Leave our alliances, fall back on a nuclear first use policy.” Does he understand just how F’ing dangerous that is?
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
12. But what really concerns me, as a former nuke guy, is the idea of a narcissist walking around with nuclear authenticators.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
13. I could sit 100ft underground, on alert, knowing that the POTUS would not make me do my duty — not unless it was absolute last resort
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
14. But imagine having to turn launch keys not knowing if we were under attack or if it was b/c foreign leader said a mean thing on twitter
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
15. The power is there to kill millions. Permanently alter the geopolitical landscape. It is a sacred, sobering responsibility.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
16. Idea that nukes would be used, say over Raqqa or Mosul, simply because we have no more allies and it’s a simple, easy fix is nauseating
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
17. Simply signaling that you’re open to using strategic weapons as a tactical solution rewrites the rule book. Russia, China, others will
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
18. respond. Nuclear deterrence is about balance. Trump is an elephant jumping up and down on one side of the scale. So damn dangerous.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
19. But geopolitics aside, I can’t get my mind off the young officers on nuke alert right now. Wondering if they’ll soon answer to a madman.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
20. And be asked to do a duty that should morally be asked of no human being, ever. //end
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC licenseÂ
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