Idle curiosity: What is the procedure by which a nuke is launched ?

[steve2470]

Isn't there some sort of "failsafe" system so that a maniac President cannot just launch nukes at Iran ? Isn't there a vote of some kind involving the Joint Chiefs of Staff ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Football

Some information is in this article, but nothing on how the exact decision and execution is arrived at.

[BattyDem]

1. I certainly hope so!

:scared:

[tabasco]

2. Just think about a bombproof bunker.

Big enough to hold several hundred people (neocons).

Are they crazy enough to create an all-out nuclear war so they can emerge years later and be rulers of the Earth?

Sometimes I wonder.

There are a number of procedures in a nuclear launch, but a psychological exam of the Prez isn't one of the steps. A psycho Prez would be really dangerous.

It's sad that we are even contemplating this. Bush is easily the most unqualified and ill-motivated President we have ever had. I am reminded of incapable monarchs of history. The great difference being nobody ever voted for those morans.

[steve2470]

3. according to this snippet, Rumsfeld and * could make that decision

The National Security Agency is in charge of distributing the daily Gold Codes to the White House, Pentagon, STRATCOM, and the TACAMO aircraft. Use of the Gold Code constitutes an order to execute the SIOP by the National Command Authority (NCA). The National Command Authority (NCA) consists of the President, the Secretary of Defense, or their duly deputized alternates and successsors.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/nuclear-football.htm

[punpirate]

5. And, here's the other side of that situation....

http://www.cdi.org/blair/launch-on-warning.cfm

Don't know which is worse--a maniacal president or a twitchy sensor somewhere....

[steve2470]

7. Excellent informative article, thanks nt

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. Make sure you have a really long fuse and...

Actually, considering how he handled the "America is under attack" news while listening to the pet goat story, I wouldn't be surprised if the real "football" is nowhere near him. (Cheney gets cranky when he can't have his doomsday briefcase handy).

Maybe Jr's is really a "See-And-Say" mocked up to look like a launch code device ("The General Says: Bombs Away!")

[[e-mail]]

6. Pray there is

but I would not TRUST the people in power today

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Not sure, but you know something's up when a host of gov't officials

become simultaneously "incommunicato" for a few hours as they go to their bunkers. On second thought, throw in a few wealthy business donors.

[Mairead]

9. It used to be a "tell me three times" process

But, 40 years ago at least, the process for doing the telling didn't involve any sort of committee decision. Whoever was minding the store could unilaterally order it done.

I think the motive behind that was that, in a MAD nuclear-holocaust situation, there's only a limited amount of time, after which the people with the power to do it might have been demoted to elementary particles. So--no dithering, no consultation, no buggering around. Which isn't to say that the person with the power to shoot couldn't dither, equivocate, consult, bugger around, and even end up doing nothing -- only that there was no requirement that he do so. And of course it was always 'he'.