Would you turn the key launching nuclear missiles?

[jwmorrice]

An interesting article on command and control of nuclear missiles and on the larger question of the morality of ever launching same. http://www.slate.com/id/2286735/pagenum/all/

I have to admit that I'd have no qualms about sending those birds into flight. So you'd assist in the killing of tens of millions and mess up the rest of the world real good, a nuclear rain on peoples' parades, so to speak. So what. I'm not particularly happy so fuck everybody else! Where do I sign up?

jwm

 

[simon482]

if you are going to fight with someone you have to understand that they are going to bring whatever they need to the fight to win the fight. i would launch without hesitation.

 

[The Saint]

If women ruled the world there be no key to turn.They are so much smarter then men.

 

[rld]

if you are going to fight with someone you have to understand that they are going to bring whatever they need to the fight to win the fight. i would launch without hesitation.

There is no "win" in those circumstances. That is why the doctrine is called "MAD".

 

[diehard]

Depends, if I'm having a lousy day then I may turn that key!

 

[nottyboi]

The question is... would you turn the key on a FIRST launch... knowing you will be killing all your loved ones, family and children when the retaliatory strike arrives. I think the best movie that debated this question is without a doubt Crimson Tide... Denzel and Gene Hackman... that movie KICKED ASS!!!

To me if you are so filled with hatred that you would wipe out the world with hesitation, you should a) try making some changes in your life b) if that fails kill yourself and spare us all.

 

[jwmorrice]

anyone suprised that the OP is a self proclaimed republican?.....figures(smh)

I am?? That'll come as a surprise to some.

jwm

 

[fuji]

So you'd assist in the killing of tens of millions and mess up the rest of the world real good, a nuclear rain on peoples' parades, so to speak. So what. I'm not particularly happy so fuck everybody else! Where do I sign up?

Psychopath!

 

[jwmorrice]

Psychopath!

Nope. Not that either.

jwm

 

[jwmorrice]

lol...i read the politics section, no suprise to me

I read the politics section too and it still comes as a surprise to me. I'm not even an American. Perhaps you could enlighten me as to where I proclaimed I was a Republican. Good luck hunting for that.

jwm

 

[red]

The question asked in the article:

Should you question the order to launch such an attack, not knowing for sure it doesn't come from a president off his meds? Or a cyberworm disguised as a president?

Do you have the right to question? Do you have the duty, under the Nuremberg precedent in international law, which denies a "just-following-orders" defense for genocide?


Maj. Hering, I should emphasize, did not ask his question because he was some kind of peacenik or a pacifist. You wouldn't have seen him at a Jackson Browne no-nukes concert in the '80s. He had done multiple tours of duty in Vietnam, doing dangerous Air Rescue Service work, flying copters into live-fire zones to pick up the wounded and the dead. He hoped to make the Air Force his lifetime profession and was expecting a promotion to lieutenant colonel when he asked his Forbidden Question.

He asked his question, he later told the Air Force Board of Inquiry that heard his appeal, because his fidelity to his oath as an officer required him to carry out only "lawful orders." The Air Force maintained that the information he sought, about how he'd know a launch order was lawful, was beyond his "need to know."

To which Maj. Hering replied, in an interview, "I have to say, I feel I do have a need to know, because I am a human being." Yes!

"It is inherent in an officer's commission that he has to do what is right in terms of the needs of the nation despite any orders to the contrary," he went on. "You really don't know at the time of key turning, whether you are complying with your oath of office."

 

[homer]

I think that anyone who is in a position to "turn the key",probably would do so, if ordered. Pretty sure there would be a long intense screening process to weed out the right or wrong ones. Hope it never comes to it though!!!! On another note, watch the movie Fail Safe, with Henry Fonda. It's probably one of the most frightening cold war movies ever made, absolutely riveting.

 

[landscaper]

the people who are in control of the weapons, submarine commanders etc, are specifically choosen for the ability to push the button... the question of whether an order comes through legitimate channels( an off his meds president is outside legitimate channels) is iffy, the American system has people in the link in order to stop a computer worm or virus, and a president being off his meds the JCS have a responsibility to ensure its a legitimate order as does the civilian chain of command.

All that said it is an interesting question, one I would have to think about before I actually answer

 

[anon1]

Would you turn the key launching nuclear missiles?

NO

 

[5hummer]

Would you turn the key launching nuclear missiles?

YES!
The way the Earth is de-evolving.
Some kind of Armageddon is coming anyways.
Might as well be me that pulls the trigger.

And, we can start over again (like the previous generations).

 

[fuji]

Nope. Not that either.

jwm

I would say someone who kills millions for no better reason than they're unhappy with their life is a psychopath. Wouldn't you?

 

[fuji]

the people who are in control of the weapons, submarine commanders etc, are specifically choosen for the ability to push the button... the question of whether an order comes through legitimate channels( an off his meds president is outside legitimate channels) is iffy, the American system has people in the link in order to stop a computer worm or virus, and a president being off his meds the JCS have a responsibility to ensure its a legitimate order as does the civilian chain of command.

All that said it is an interesting question, one I would have to think about before I actually answer

Some of the people responsible for the holocaust also claimed they were just following orders. What makes an order legitimate? For an act of that magnitude more is required than "the President told me to".

 

[Aardvark154]

A fair number of people who are initially asked if they would be willing to volunteer to either go to Submarine School (with the possiblity of being assigned to an SSBN) or for training as a Space and Missile Operations Officer, choose not to do so. I know I was.

 

[jwmorrice]

I would say someone who kills millions for no better reason than they're unhappy with their life is a psychopath. Wouldn't you?

If you're using the term merely as a pejorative...

jwm

 

[fuji]

If you're using the term merely as a pejorative...

Nope. I think I used it accurately. I wonder whether you would really pull the trigger as easily as you claim....