Pentagon Reevaluating Security Around ‘Nuclear Football’ After Capitol Rioters Almost Grabbed It

After it was revealed that rioters inside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, were within moments of potentially laying their hands on the United States’ nuclear launch codes, the Pentagon ordered a review of its policies concerning the device, commonly known as the “nuclear football.”

Its formal name is the Presidential Emergency Satchel – the 45-pound briefcase the US President or Vice President would use to order the use of nuclear weapons, should the unfortunate situation come to pass. If necessary, a nuclear weapon or weapons could be launched in as little as two minutes’ time. It’s carried by an aide-de-camp whenever one of the executives is away from a permanent command post, such as when former US Vice President Mike Pence went to the US Capitol on January 6 to fulfill his duties as President of the Senate in the certification of Electoral College voting results from the November 2020 election.

According to CNN, US Strategic Command, which is responsible for operating the nuclear weapons arsenal, only became fully aware of the danger weeks later, when security camera footage shown during Trump’s impeachment trial for allegedly egging on the attack was aired.

Since Trump was commander-in-chief, only he could actually order a nuclear strike, unless he was compromised and Pence rose to fill his office. Pence was also accompanied by several armed Secret Service bodyguards, who would undoubtedly have given their lives to defend the VP and the nuclear football, but even they wouldn’t have been able to hold back a determined assault by the rioters.

A Military aide carries ‘the football’, the leather briefcase stocked with the classified nuclear war plan, in his right hand as he walks up the stairs of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, in Md.

It would seem the Department of Defense Inspector General agrees: a Monday memo to the director of the Joint Staff and director of the White House Military Office notes the IG will begin an evaluation of the Pentagon’s notification procedures for the nuclear football before the month is out.

Five people died during the assault on the Capitol, but the rioters ultimately failed to capture the Electoral College ballots or any lawmakers or other officials, and were soon driven from the building. Thousands of US troops, whose absence from the Capitol grounds was itself a scandal suggesting sympathy for the insurrection inside the Pentagon, were soon positioned across downtown Washington, DC, and remained on station for several months amid ongoing claimed threats.

Sourse: sputniknews.com