Speaking to reporters less than two weeks before he takes office on Jan. 20 and as a delegation of aides and advisers that includes his son Donald Trump Jr. is in Greenland, Trump left open the use of the American military to secure both territories.
“I’m not going to commit to that,” he said, when asked if he would rule out the use of the military. “It might be that you’ll have to do something. The Panama Canal is vital to our country.” He added, “We need Greenland for national security purposes.” Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime U.S. ally and a founding member of NATO.
While I understand this is just a distraction ….
I am somewhat curious how it would play out. As the upcoming Commander-in-Chief, Trump will be in command of all military. He can say “go”. However any officer with any ethical backbone should reply “no”. So, will he get enough sycophants in enough places instead of competent leaders, that he could actually pull shenanigans like this?
Legally, only Congress has the right to make war.
Not that the law has really stopped him so far.
Commander in chief can legally initiate all sorts of military responses short of war. Even for all out war, commander in chief can legally initiate as long as he brings it before Congress fairly soon.
On the other hand, military officers “have a duty to refuse illegal orders”
If you call it something else you can do whatever you want. It’s an old Bush trick.
But it’s also a legitimate trick. I’m pretty sure there was some legislation that the president can take necessary military action as long as he brings it to Congress in like 60 days or something. That lets us react quickly when needed, but supposedly lets Congress continue being the ones to declare war. Obviously there are also many possible levels of military intervention short of war. Of course by the time Congress gets a say and we’ve been at war”not war” for a couple months, you really can’t take that back.
I blame Congress’s incompetence. While there’s actually some good ideas be hinged this, it’s mainly Congress refusing to act, refusing to act quickly, refusing to define more specifically what is allowed and not. I don’t blame Bush for usurping Congress’s power, I blame Congress for making it possible, and then not caring
It’s an old Nixon trick. Actually an old Truman trick, using the US military in un-declared wars started with the Korean conflict, but Nixon and Kissinger really amped things up with their secret war in Cambodia.
Special Operation Green Initiative
Edit: I really fucking hope I’m wrong or the military tells him to go fuck himself if he orders that.