Remember when the military leadership wanted to use nuclear weapons against Moscow in 1950, but the civilian President Truman refused?
Remember when military leadership wanted to use nuclear weapons to ensure victory in Korea, but the civilian President Truman refused?
Remember when the military leaders wanted to invade Cuba and use nuclear threats against Moscow during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but the civilian President Kennedy refused?
If you ask me, it is the role of the military to win wars. It is the role of the president to prevent them when practical and to place the waging of wars into the larger political, cultural, and moral context, as a proxy for the American people.
The military should not, in the modern era, have “total authorization” to do anything.
My two cents.