Seventeen former nuclear missile officers just wrote an unprecedented letter to Congress

The mental condition of our “stable genius” president has been at the forefront of every concerned American’s mind of late, particularly in light of Trump’s penchant for sending tweets bragging about the size of his nuclear button.

Now, according to a report on Raw Story, 17 former Air Force officers in charge of missile defense have issued an open letter to Congress asking them to remove Trump’s finger from the “proverbial ‘Red Button.’”

Issuing their statement through the anti-nuclear weapons group, the Global Zero Campaign, the missile officers expressed their alarm over the President’s stability, stating that “this presidency is worse than we feared.”

“In the final weeks of the presidential election, we sounded our alarm over Donald Trump’s fitness to serve as commander-in-chief, with absolute authority over the nation’s nuclear arsenal,” the Air Force officers declared.

“One year into the Trump presidency, our alarm has only intensified and we must raise our voices again,” they continued. “The president has had ample opportunity to educate and humble himself to the grave responsibilities of his office. Instead, he consistently shows himself to be easily baited, stubborn in his ignorance of world politics and diplomacy, and quick to brandish nuclear threats.”

These former military officers, who were once responsible for executing the orders to launch any nuclear attacks by the U.S., point to “Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric” towards North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as diminishing diplomatic efforts and increasing “the likelihood of stumbling into conflict.” They explained the reasons for their concerns by reiterating the consequences of an order to launch a nuclear attack.

“As former nuclear launch control officers, it was our job to fire nuclear missiles if the president so directed. Once the president orders a launch, we could have missiles leaving their silos in several minutes. They cannot be recalled … There is no act of greater consequence, and it should not rest in the hands of any one person.”

“We and our nation cannot abide being hostages to the mood swings of a petulant and foolish commander-in-chief,” they write. “No individual, especially Donald Trump, should hold the absolute power to destroy nations. That is a clear lesson of this presidency and one that we, as former stewards of the launch keys, embrace with full conviction.”

Congressional Democrats including Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Senator Edward Markey (D-MA), have already introduced legislation that would forbid the president from launching a nuclear strike without first having Congress declare war, but neither bill has advanced past the committee stage.

When such a significant number of people with deep experience with nuclear weapons issue a statement as dramatic as the one these missile launch officers have staked their reputations on, the American people and the Congress that represents them should take heed. We have been warned,

Vinnie Longobardo

is the Managing Editor of Washington Press and a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile, & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art.