U.S. Admiral Admits He Would Hit China With Nukes If Ordered By Trump
- 7 years ago
The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet has said that he would launch a nuclear attack against China if President Trump ordered it.
The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet has said that he would launch a nuclear attack against China if President Trump ordered it, reports NPR.
Admiral Scott Swift made the admission on Thursday during a security conference in Australia where he was asked hypothetically, “when you return to your command next week, you were to receive an order from the commander in chief, the president of the United States, to make a nuclear attack on China, would you do it?”
Amid the audience’s reaction of laughter, Swift replied, “The answer would be yes.”
He explained, “Every member of the U.S. military has sworn an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as the commander in chief appointed over us.”
Swift added, “This is core to the American democracy and any time you have a military that is moving away from a focus and an allegiance to civilian control, then we really have significant problems.”
Despite his affirmative response, Captain Charlie Brown, a spokesperson for the fleet, told Reuters afterwards, “Frankly, the premise of the question was ridiculous. It was posed as an outrageous hypothetical, but the admiral simply took it as an opportunity to say the fact is that we have civilian control of the military and we abide by that principle.”
Newsweek notes that Swift oversees the largest U.S. Naval fleet consisting of more than 130,000 crew members and staff, and more than 1,000 ships, submarines, and aircraft.
The commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet has said that he would launch a nuclear attack against China if President Trump ordered it, reports NPR.
Admiral Scott Swift made the admission on Thursday during a security conference in Australia where he was asked hypothetically, “when you return to your command next week, you were to receive an order from the commander in chief, the president of the United States, to make a nuclear attack on China, would you do it?”
Amid the audience’s reaction of laughter, Swift replied, “The answer would be yes.”
He explained, “Every member of the U.S. military has sworn an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as the commander in chief appointed over us.”
Swift added, “This is core to the American democracy and any time you have a military that is moving away from a focus and an allegiance to civilian control, then we really have significant problems.”
Despite his affirmative response, Captain Charlie Brown, a spokesperson for the fleet, told Reuters afterwards, “Frankly, the premise of the question was ridiculous. It was posed as an outrageous hypothetical, but the admiral simply took it as an opportunity to say the fact is that we have civilian control of the military and we abide by that principle.”
Newsweek notes that Swift oversees the largest U.S. Naval fleet consisting of more than 130,000 crew members and staff, and more than 1,000 ships, submarines, and aircraft.