Nuclear war is “a very real possibility.” That makes the proposed move of Space Command a very dangerous idea. Without time to waste, President Joe Biden should quash this order immediately.

If concern about nuclear conflict sounds overly dramatic in this post-Cold War era, hear Adm. Charles Richard. He heads U.S. Strategic Command, the agency responsible for the Defense Department’s Global Information Grid. Richard has the responsibility of warning the world about potential nuclear conflicts.

The command’s responsibilities include “nuclear” and “space” operations and providing the “most accurate and timely information for the President,” explains the command’s website.

“There is a real possibility that a regional crisis with Russia or China could escalate quickly to a conflict involving nuclear weapons, if they perceived a conventional loss would threaten the regime or state,” Richard wrote in the US Naval Institute journal Proceedings.

“Consequently, the US military must shift its principal assumption from ‘nuclear employment is not possible’ to ‘nuclear employment is a very real possibility’, and act to meet and deter that reality.”

Nuclear and space operations are inseparable. Nuclear missiles are designed to travel through space. The United States and other advanced countries monitor nuclear activities with space-based satellites. Among the greatest threats to world peace is the detonation of an atomic bomb in space, which would destroy technology on Earth with an electronic magnetic pulse.

It means the Pentagon must immediately advance the size, scope and sophistication of the recently recommissioned Space Command. In what appears a parting shot to Colorado — prior to Richard’s warning — then-President Donald Trump in January ordered the relocation of Space Command from Colorado Springs to Alabama.

Colorado voters had soundly rejected Trump and a close ally, former Colorado Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, in November. Alabama voters favored Trump and replaced Democratic Sen. Doug Jones with a Trump ally, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville. Six of seven Alabama House members supported Trump’s request for Congress to reject Biden’s electoral votes.

The Space Command move was a weird and troublesome announcement that looks like a reward for Alabama’s politics. With Richard’s dark reality check, the decision appears more dangerous than ever.

Space Command won’t move for at least five years because it will take that long to duplicate in Alabama the valuable assets paid for in Colorado. During this proposed transition, it is safe to assume the Pentagon will have no congressional or presidential approval to invest significantly in Space Command’s Colorado location. This anticipated move will slow meaningful military space progress for at least five years.

Instead of immediate and rapid progress, we will see a five-year holding pattern as the command prepares to move. China, Russia, and other foreign threats to our sovereignty and worldwide human rights will take advantage of this delay and race ahead of Space Command.

“Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Department of Defense has not had to consider the possibility of great power competition, crisis, or direct armed conflict with a nuclear-capable peer. Unfortunately, the current environment no longer affords us that luxury,” Richard wrote.

The proposed move, which will cost billions over time, comes as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders — a “Democratic socialist” from Vermont — heads the Senate budget committee. Sanders wants an immediate 10% cut in military spending, which would make us less able to afford the move of a crucial military command.

“The disconnect between our defense spending and the threats Americans actually face has never been wider,” said Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “It’s long past time to rethink and refocus how we spend our money to protect this country.”

To heed Warren’s advice, Biden can start by rescinding former President Trump’s Space Command order. He would make the world safer and save billions by doing so.

Trump, to his credit, increased military spending by 15%. To their credit, Democrats advocate more efficient use of military funds. They will find few military decisions more wasteful and counterproductive than moving Space Command.

With Richard’s foreboding warning to the world, we haven’t the time, money, or “luxury” to carry out the former commander in chief’s order. Biden should waste no more time in ordering Space Command to remain in place while ramping up its mission. As the admiral warned, nuclear war “is a very real possibility.”

The Gazette Editorial Board