We know the plans have been made by Bush to attack Iran. The Iranians know it too. Arab countries in the region are already planning how they will respond once the attack comes, even while their ambassadors are warning us that any attack would be a catastrophe. And the greatest fear we all share is that Bush will authorize the use of nuclear weapons against Iran for the purported purpose of destroying underground bunkers shielding Iran’s alleged WMD programs.
Everyone except the Bush/Cheney Cabal in the White House knows that the actual evidence of such programs is, as Representative Jane Harman (D-CA) has put it, very thin, not least among them the Joint Chiefs of Staff (“JCS”) who Seymour Hersh reported are opposed to the use of any nuclear weapons against suspected targets inside Iran. Unfortunately, what the Joint Chiefs think on this matter is irrelevant.
The chain of command regarding the use of nukes doesn’t flow through the Joint Chiefs. When If Bush decides to order a nuclear attack, he will issue his order directly to the US commander in the field, which in this case means the Commander of CENTCOM (the US forces unified command responsible for Iran). He’s the only General who matters in this discussion. The only General who can stop George Bush from using nuclear weapons against Iran:
General JOHN ABIZAID.
That’s right. General Abazaid is the only commanding officer who can refuse to carry out Bush’s order to use nukes against Iran. An order which we know would be illegal under US and international law, since the US in 1995 formally pledged to the UN that it would never use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state who was also a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (“NPT”). It probably doesn’t need to be said, but Iran is a party to the NPT, and no one, not even the Bush administration, claims that Iran currently possesses nuclear weapons.
When questioned directly on the point of whether a member of the US armed forces should obey an illegal order, General Peter Pace, the current Chairman of the JCS, stated unequivocally that . . .
“It is the absolute responsibility of everybody in uniform to disobey an order that is either illegal or immoral.”
Seems pretty clear to me. It would be illegal for the United Stares to use nuclear weapons against Iran. Therefore, any US commander or officer who is ordered by President Bush to use nukes against Iran is obligated (according to general Pace) to disobey that order.
Unfortunately, General Abazaid appears much more sanguine about the use of nukes than General Pace and the Joint Chiefs. While he hasn’t come right out and said on the record that he favors using nukes against Iran, he has made veiled threats which imply the Iran should be very careful not to anger the United States, in light of it’s overwhelming military capability:
“Why the Iranians would want to move against us in an overt manner that would cause us to use our air or naval power against them would be beyond me . . .”
“We can generate more military power per square inch than anybody else on Earth, and everybody knows it,” Abizaid said. “If you ever even contemplate our nuclear capability, it should give everybody the clear understanding that there is no power that can match the United States militarily.”
Now perhaps Abazaid was just blowing bellicose smoke Iran’s way back in 2004. Maybe if push comes to shove, and Georgie boy says he wants to play with some nuclear toys, General Abazaid will just tell him “No Sir. We’re not starting a nuclear war on my watch, Mr. President.”
Maybe.
