US President Donald Trump will not scrap America’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and hence will not be able to stop an accidental nuclear war with Russia, because he is completely committed to “an obsolete military technology,” according to E. Michael Jones, an American political analyst in Indiana.
Jones, a writer, former professor, media commentator and the current editor of the Culture Wars magazine, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Thursday.
Arms control specialists and nuclear strategists have called on the United States to scrap its ICBMs, saying they are most likely to cause accidental nuclear war with Russia.
“[There are] Two questions: First of all, can the United States’ ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) cause a nuclear war by accident? Second question, would the United States then would be willing to limit them or just scarp them?” Jones said.
“Answer to the first question: Yes. They can cause war by accident. This has almost happened in the past. The fact that it hasn’t happened is a good sign,” he stated.
He also observed that "recently, in the United States one of the generals announced if Trump ordered him to fire the intercontinental ballistic missiles that he would not do it, which is an indication of the lack of confidence in the president among the military people.”
“The second question: Is the United States going to do anything about it? The answer is no – not under Donald Trump. Donald Trump has shown himself completely committed to what many people are saying, ‘simply an obsolete military technology,’” he noted.
“He seems to be lost in a technological time-warp sometime back in the late 1970s, [with] no recognition of the state of military technology, the fact that some of this technology has become obsolete, no sense of negotiating out of this position, [and] no sense of the reality of the situation. So, no, it is not going to happen,” Jones said.
“What I should say is the United States military-industrial complex [will not change], because what you have here is a large number of people who are getting money for producing these things. There are congressional districts that fight each other over these military contractors that can land military contracts in their particular districts,” he said.
“The F-35, the new jet, is a classic example of a political weapon. It is basically something that was created according to all sorts of parameters - according to all sorts of needs - some of which have nothing to do with the military whatsoever,” he observed.
“So, what you’re talking about is not something that one man can change unless there is complete change of mind on the part of the United States. And that’s not going to happen under this administration as far as I can see,” the commentator stated.
“Donald Trump seems committed to all of the failed policies [from] the past. Now, to give him credit, he seems willing to disengage from Syria now in a way that is rational by working out some type of agreement. But other than that he seems to be committed to the same policies that have gotten us into the mess in the world that exists today,” he concluded.