On Thursday, the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet made a point of stressing the importance of civilian control over the military by indulging a hypothetical question posed by a probing academic.
Speaking at a security conference sponsored by the Australian National University, Admiral Scott Swift answered in the affirmative when asked if he would launch a nuclear strike against China in the event he was ordered to do so by President Trump.
“The answer would be: yes,” Admiral Swift said succinctly.
“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 commander and chief appointed over us,” he explained.
Originally published by The Daily Wire.
AS A RETIRED U.S. NAVY RADM WITH OVER 31 yrs OF SERVICE INCLUDING VIET NAM AND 5 OTHER CONFLICTS, I NEVER KNEW AN OFFICER OR ENLISTED MAN OR WOMAN IN THE NAVY WHO WOULD NOT OBEY THE ORDERS GIVEN BY THE PERS ASSIGNED OVER THEM. HOWEVER; IN MY NOW CIVILIAN LIFE, IT IS FREQUENTLY THE FACT THAT FOLKS OF ALL AGES AND GENDER DO NOT PLAY BY THE RULES AND FREQUENTLY DISOBEY THE RULES AND REGULATIONS THEY ARE BOUND TO FOLLOW !
THANK GOD WE HAVE DONALD J. TRUMP AS OUR CINC vs MRS CLINTON WHO WOULD HAVE FURTHER DESTROYED OUR WORLD’s GREATEST MILITARY THAT UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE SINCE THE HUMAN RACE IS NOT CAPABLE OF LIVING IN A PEACEFUL MANNER.
CALL SIGN: BACKER
As with most of you who replied, my first impression was that the Title and the actual article were ‘not in sync’. But as I reflected on it, I realized that the Title was actually a commentary on the (delusional) left’s opinion that Trump just is not (somehow) Constitutionally our president. And subsequently, anyone who WOULD FOLLOW (any of) his orders is just as ‘bad’ as he is.
SHOCKING
The President would not make a decision of that magnitude without the input from the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs—to infer that he would, or could, unilaterally make that call is more democrat BS. Time to ask for a refund on the money you spent on your college education. herrinchoker
I was X military myself during the Vietnam days, when we were given an order we obey them, as if we didn’t it would’ve been disobeying a direct order. The only high ranking military officers Obama left in were the ones who fought like he did, so that means he got rid of all the good high ranking officer’s we all know that if we followed what Obama did to the military . If Mr. Trump does not get a hold of the situation he he’ll have nobody obeying him in this country will be out of control. He must make example of these high-ranking officers court-martial them strip them of their pay and put them on the street with a dishonorable discharge. We have 1 million people in the military who do not believe in this kind of behavior from the officers or from putting transgender’s do not even exist , As entity into this man’s military. God bless America and may he bring sense to those who have moral values.
My comment
To
[email protected]
Today at 2:19 PM
Dear Sir:
I take issue with the verb or is it adjective, in the title of the commentary. Why
is it SHOCKING? The Admiral would be doing his job, and I am sure that the
decision to bomb would have been seriously debated and discussed before such
an order were to be given.
No one wants war, least of all me, but I trust that every consideration would be
addressed before such action taken.
Seems to me, and I am a democrat, that your headline is fitting in with all the other
negative commentary spewed by the left, the liberals, the commies that saturate
our news media, not to mention congress and the senate. By the way, my non
capitalization of the bodies of government was and is intentional.
I welcome your feedback.
Sandra
The way you used it, congress and the senate are not normally capitalized. If you wrote the U.S. Senate, it would be capitalized, but not the way you used it.
You need to re-register as something other than a democrat.
The only Shocking part of this story is that report claimed the Admiral’s answer was Shocking!
Nothing Shocking about a Sailor obeying orders!
I am a former Sailor, by the way!
In our Navy!
Shocking to the reporter! It is a “Duh!” to most of the rest of us.
I am a 100% disabled Vietnam combat veteran, and I am also a retired Navy Chief (E7). At the time of my enlistment in September of 1965 I swore an oath of office to “Uphold and Defend the Constitution of the United States against “All enemy’s foreign and domestic”. I have been retired for almost 32 years and I am still bound by this oath. If given an order by the President of the United States of America I would be hard pressed to disobey it. Once taken I can not “untake” the oath, nor would I want to. I truly believe that most individuals who have taken the Oath of Office feel the same way I do. We have the 2nd Amendment to insure that we can carry out our oath of office.
Following orders and doing the job, what a concept.
That oath does NOT and CANNOT require anyone who takes it to follow an “unlawful” (i.e., unconstitutional order).
That’s a moot point. If ANY government official gives an illegal order, then Congress has the right and responsibility to not act on it. Unfortunately, if Congress is in kahoots with the President he can get away with it. Example: Obama using an executive order to modify a law (ObamaCare), which he did. Congress is the only entity in our government that can change laws. But, he got away with it because the Democrats in Congress were his butt puppies. Summary? Cry me a river because all you can do is stomp your feet and cry. Fortunately you’ve been practicing just that ever since Donald Trump WON the election. Time once again to grab you sock puppets and crayons and hide in your safe spaces.
Perhaps the writer hasn’t read the Constitution. Members of the Armed Forces are sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of our United States. That includes obeying the legal and ethical orders of the Commander in Chief. The POTUS takes the same oath of office – something that OBama and Billary seem to have missed.
This definition of duties and loyalty is practically unique.
Thaddeus, All that you have posted is spot on. What many of the curent and ex military are really stating is, simply, that the likes of Billary, and OBama and Bill Clinton have never been a part of the U.S. military and they, along with most of those who are such conniving Democrats, should never have been elected to represent the U.S. in any way shape or form. Too bad that most of those who are now so against the objectionists did not have the ability to foresee where the country was heading back from the 80’s and forward.
Thaddeus, All that you have posted is spot on. What many of the curent and ex military are really stating is, simply, that the likes of Billary, and OBama and Bill Clinton have never been a part of the U.S. military and they, along with most of those who are such conniving Democrats, should never have been elected to represent the U.S. in any way shape or form. Too bad that most of those who are now so against the objectionists did not have the ability to foresee where the country was heading back from the 80’s and forward.
Why would this Admiral’s response be “Shocking” as the author put it? Admiral Swift’s response simply reflected his sworn duty as Commander of the United States Pacific Fleet. MY response to that question would have been, “In a heart beat!”
Now if Ovomit had given that order I would have to question his authority to to so as he was never really the Commander iin Chief of the United States. His sole mission in that capacity was to bring down the United States. Which, I might add, he was almost successful at and is still attempting to undermine President Trumps administration.
On Thursday, the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet made a point of stressing the importance of civilian control over the military. By making this statement this author is trying to start a movement to undermine the powers of the President thus making this author a domestic threat to our nation and the world. This author should be tried for inciting rebellion and treason, then shot.
Like most authors, this one only shows how little he knows and understands. The word I believe, is ignorance.
This author is trying to inject a false understanding of how our government works. The President is the highest authority in our military chain of command. Generals don’t get to choose what orders they obey. They obey all orders given by the President.
IF YOU CAN’T STAND THE HEAT GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN
What is shocking about it? If one doesn’t want to follow from one’s commander-in-chief, then, resign from the job?
According to you headline, this was shocking. Why? Obeying the CINC is his duty, not his choice. There is nothing shocking about it.
The Military Leaders followed Obama’s orders to dismantle Amerca’s military and response to Muslims who wish to bring a caliphate to America.
This alone violated their sworn oath to defend and protect America.
And how many of us, myself included, didn’t comply with the oaths we took when we were sworn into the military? It’s high times that starts to change. I remember no expiration date on that oath.