Former General Mini on the Use of Tactical Nuclear Weapons

Oct. 6, 2022 (EIRNS)—On January 3, 2022, the five nuclear-weapons states, that are also the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, issued made a joint statement that “We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” Well, nuclear powers are responsible for banning the use of nuclear weapons, yes, but only among themselves. According to Italian Gen. Fabio Mini (ret.), that means accepting the use of the bomb between a nuclear weapons power against one that is not. “It almost seems to me that with that statement a kind of green light was given,” Mini told Ottolina TV on Oct. 3.

The problem then is that the decision to use tactical nuclear weapons, as opposed to strategic nuclear weapons, is completely left to those directing operations on the ground, who do not need authorization from Supreme Command. “Every theater commander, such as the U.S. commander of U.S. forces in Europe, has permanent authority to employ the tactical nuclear weapons at his disposal.”

In previous statements, released during a public conference on Sept. 11, General Mini warned that a tactical nuclear weapon “is the prelude to a global nuclear weapon.”