more-inThe U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said Thursday he would launch a nuclear strike against China next week if President Donald Trump ordered it, and warned against the military ever shifting its allegiance from its commander in chief. Adm. Scott Swift was responding to a hypothetical question at an Australian National University security conference following a major joint U.S.-Australian military exercise off the Australian coast. Asked by an academic in the audience whether he would make a nuclear attack on China next week if Mr. Trump ordered it, Adm. “The admiral was not addressing the premise of the question, he was addressing the principle of civilian authority of the military,” Capt. Swift said China had similarly sent an intelligence ship into the U.S. exclusive economic zone around Hawaii during a multinational naval exercise in 2014.

Source: The Hindu July 27, 2017 15:56 UTC