Who Can Start a Nuclear War? Inside U.S. Launch Authority and Reform

The United States has the power and a process to respond when it is under nuclear attack, but only the president can decide if and when to launch the world’s most devastating weapons. Nuclear deterrence hinges on the notion that the U.S. military would retaliate as soon as the president gives a legal order. Past reforms—and even the policy that the president has sole authority to order a launch—have sought to ensure rogue military commanders or mistakes in missile silos, on submarines, or aboard bomber aircraft cannot launch a nuclear weapon without authorization.

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