The notion that Mattis, a former four-star Marine Corps general, could have blocked or defied a move by Trump to impulsively launch nuclear weapons may have seemed comforting, but it shouldn’t have been. The secretary of defense has no legal position in the nuclear chain of command, and any attempts by a secretary of defense to prevent the president from exercising the authority to use nuclear weapons would be undemocratic and illegal.

Nuclear weapons will be a big issue on Capitol Hill in 2019 writes Investor’s Business Daily. They quote Gen. James Cartwright as he  argued last year that ICBMs and nuclear cruise missiles carry greater risks of accidentally setting off a nuclear war because they can’t be recalled once launched.

In this piece Ellen O’Tauscher and Richard Burt explain the importance of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty and it is in the best interests of Russia, the United States and NATO allies to save it.

Jon Wolfsthal explains why no one should dismiss lightly an agreement that has helped keep the United States and its allies safe for a generation.

The Trump administration just announced that it will give Russia 60 days to comply with a decades-old missile treaty or the US will withdraw from it — potentially kickstarting an arms race.