Request for Question Clarification by
tutuzdad-ga
on
28 Oct 2006 19:44 PDT
MUCH more is needed besides "two keys" as the commenter suggested, but
he/she wasn't very far off on the basic idea of how it all actually
takes place:
While at remote locations the President has at his immediate disposal
a ?briefcase? (usually carried by a military aide) that is presumed to
carry authentication codes and perhaps a SATCOM radio and satellite
laptop that enables him to ?authorize? the use of nuclear weapons in
an emergency. This briefcase is often referred to by its codename:
?the football?. While others refer to it as ?the button? there is no
actual button in the briefcase that, when simply pushed, activates the
US arsenal of nuclear weapons. To entrust such a responsibility to one
man is simply preposterous and there are many failsafe systems in
place to confirm the President?s authority, reason, necessity, etc. of
such an order.
While at the White House the President does not have ?the football? in
his bedroom closet or at his bedside. Such an order can only be given
from one of the primary command centers, the node of which is located
in the White House Situation Room. Needless to say this location is
most certainly guarded and constantly manned 24/7 by military, DOD and
armed personnel. The President cannot simply walk into the room by
himself (expecting to be alone in there), close the door behind him
and start pushing buttons at will. It just doesn?t work this way. The
security measures are indeed intended to prevent unauthorized
intrusion but they are also clearly in place to prevent such madness
of happening should a President simply go bonkers.
Even if he could go in unaccompanied, he would have to have the
authentication codes (which are changed daily) and would have to match
them up with the authentication codes of one or more other authorities
who have the other necessary portions of the code to authenticate the
order. For example, the President might have the code ABCD and he
would call the next authority that would have DEFG, who would call the
next authority who would have GHIJ, and so on. The actually ?trigger?
is located at the launch site where the crew would be given the
assembled authentication code ABCDEFGHIJ. Two parties at the site
would then open a sealed code container (mind you it is changed daily)
using a two party key system, and attempt to confirm that the card
inside the seal says ABCDEFGHIJ. If it doesn?t there is no valid
order. This scenario of course is not exact (since the ?who?s who? and
?how many?s? in such a scenario is kept secret) but I?m sure this
conveys a fundamental idea of why the President cannot, as an
independent individual, launch an impromptu nuclear strike against
ANYONE on his own. He has no magic ?red button? on his desk; at least
not one that launches any missiles.
Does this explain the situation well enough?
Tutuzdad-ga
