~by Sean Paul Kelley
Kerry Burgess on X is reporting this: “General Caine cited Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice on Saturday night, as he refused Trumps order to execute a nuclear strike on Iran.”
Gen. Caine is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and therefore not in the direct chain of command. Would Trump even know that? Probably not.
But this story is gaining traction, from Sky News, the Mirror, and the Daily Express.
I’m speechless.
different clue
If the Republican officeholders know about this, they would absolutely approve of Trump’s desire to nuke Iran. Most especially the Rapturaniacs and the Armageddonites in Congress and out in the base would have approved.
If Presidents Miller, Patel, Hegseth, Gabbard, et al ( under ” President Trump” Trojan Horse cover) try to send in various ICE, Federal Marshalls, Secret Service, etc. to “arrest” General Caine, what would the Armed Forces in general do? Fracture into pro-Caine and pro-Trump fractions? All come together to neutralize the “President Trump” arrest threat by neutralizing all personell tasked to carry it out? What?
Is a Military Coup and a National Constitution Emergency Restoration Council the last hope that America’s non-Trump/ non-Republican supporters have for effective civic survival?
Huntly
Just for the fact that it is too scary to contemplate, this feels more like a CIA psyop to scare the Iranians into negotiating.
Chipper
Well, we’ll know when he gets fired and then is investigated by the DOJ for some unrelated thing, right?
spud
which oligarch, or oligarchs ordered the strike. its time the chinese and russians step up to the plate and tell the U.S. military whats really at stake.
i am sure many will listen. they must know by now how antiquated america is compared to the first world.
Tony Wikrent
Speechless – why? Many people foresaw this – that’s why I put forward the proposal to have Congress pass legislation making it a war crime to order first use of a nuclear weapon (see my week-end wrap one or two weeks ago.
Back before the 2024 election, a lot of posters at Naked Capitalism were making noises sympathetic to Trump. Mostly, in my diagnosis, out of disgust with the non-threatening (to the status quo) alternatives offered by the Democratic Party. I finally blew my cool and posted a rant, that they would all be ashamed in a year or two after some Trump malfeasance or other.
Looking back now, I wish I had explained more fully why I knew Trump would lead inevitably to some sort of policy disaster. It’s simple – as a human being, Trump is morally flawed.
Now, the argument can be made everyone is morally flawed — “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god” — but Trump’s flaws are so deep, so wide, and so unchecked as to be practically irredeemable.
Carborundum
I listened to the full clip. Sounds a lot like “I read it on Twitter”: https://x.com/jaokoomoses/status/2045811313851375939
If Larry Johnson told me the sun rose in the east, I wouldn’t believe it.
As a technical matter, the CJCS is the principal military advisor to the President. In a situation of considering a deliberative attack with special weapons, he would almost certainly be involved. However, I don’t believe that he would be in the direct chain of command – IIRC, it runs SECDEF and then down through STRATCOM.
Feral Finster
Don’t kid yourself. If the military is trained to do nothing else, it is trained to obey orders without question. Any talk of “illegal orders must be disobeyed” is a moral figleaf.
A general who refused to authorize nuclear weapons would be dismissed and replaced with someone more pliable.
jrs
These seems to be a baseless claim that is circulating. I don’t say that because Trump wouldn’t, because he very well might. But there doesn’t seem any actual evidence to support this claim. If this happened how would Larry Johnson know? He hasn’t been in the CIA for over 3 decades.
elkern
Caine might be an important figure in a situation like this, even if he’s not technically in the Chain of Command for Nukes.
Trump doesn’t care about Org Charts; he imagines that he can just fire anybody who doesn’t kiss whichever cheek he presents. But there are a small number of people who he defers to on an almost animalistic level: Men who he recognizes as Bigger Dogs. Caine might be one of these, and if so, he could be in a position to save us (all!) from some of Trump’s darkest urges.
OTOH, maybe I’m just smoking Hopium again…
Oakchair
Any talk of “illegal orders must be disobeyed” is a moral figleaf.
—-
Yea, the US military commits war crime’s no questions asked all the time under every president since WW2. It literally bragged about causing famines in North Korea, Afghanistan, and Venezuela and Africa. It’s committed genocide after genocide after genocide all over the world. The only difference now is that a large segment of the population knows it and opposes it where as before Americans didn’t know or care.
The only reason the Epstein Military would refuse to use Nukes is because they fear retaliation and the after effects blowing back on them. The West has been evil for a long time. It’s amoral or to give it the benefit of the doubt follows the morals of materialism, the prosperity gospel and might is right.
different clue
@Tony Wikrent,
I also felt that way about Naked Capitalism’s support for Trump and for their poorly disguised desire to see Trump elected instead of Harris. Of course I couldn’t say anything there due to having been banned over there years ago. ( Maybe I should experiment to see if the ban has worn off over time).
I missed your rant. If you were able to link to the thread which contains it, I would be able to read it, if that is not a problem or a timesuck to do.
I would say this: they are proud of preferring to Trump over Harris, not ashamed. They will never be ashamed. They will always be proud. They will always be the “above-it-all, two-cheeks-one-butt, moral-superiority stuff-strutting lefto-puristocrats they showed themselves to be. Thatwill never change. ( Someone offered the word ‘puristocrats’ over there in a comment, and quite a few of them were offended enough to reply. ” Do you realize many of us are in the ” Plague on Both Their Houses” camp? etc.etc. etc.”
Maybe I will write my own little rant about that in a suitable thread here some day.
different clue
also @ Tony Wikrent,
Here is a little cartoon from a subreddit which is sort of about this problem.
https://www.reddit.com/r/me_irl/comments/1sswz0r/me_irl/