Posted on 09/15/2021 9:32:27 AM PDT by Red Badger
Milley made secret calls to top military official in Beijing, and held surreptitious Pentagon meeting asserting his own authority, according to new book.
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The military community erupted Tuesday in response to reports that Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held secret phone calls and meetings in a surreptitious effort to sidestep the authority of his then-commander-in-chief, President Donald Trump.
"If this is true GEN Milley must resign," tweeted Alexander Vindman, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who in 2019 was a key witness against Trump in impeachment hearings.
Milley's actions include making secret calls to the chief military officer in Beijing, and summoning top American military officers to a clandestine gathering to demand that they only obey command orders that came through Milley, according to the authors of a forthcoming book.
The actions are reportedly described in a forthcoming book, "Peril," by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. Milley took the unprecedented actions because he was afraid Trump might launch a nuclear strike, the authors wrote.
Vindman expressed outrage that Milley directly and independently contacted the foreign military official.
"He usurped civilian authority, broke Chain of Command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military," Vindman wrote. "It's an extremely dangerous precedent. You can't simply walk away from that."
If the account in the book is accurate, Milley should be brought up on charges, according to one Pentagon official who spoke to Just the News.
"He isn't a military dictator, and this isn't his decision to make, to unilaterally contact a foreign government," said the official, who is not authorized to speak to the press. "I would expect him to be brought up on charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice."
In addition to personally calling the communist Chinese official, Milley on Jan. 8 elicited oaths from senior officers inside the National Military Command Center inside the Pentagon, according to the book's authors. The four-star general aimed to solidify his authority over military decisions that belong to the commander in chief.
"No matter what you are told, you do the procedure," Milley said, according to the authors. "You do the process. And I'm part of that procedure." He looked each officer in the eye, and asked them to verbally agree.
The meeting took place around the time Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told Democrats that she had been assured that safeguards were in place to prevent Trump from launching a nuclear weapon.
Trump was not on record as having said he planned to order a nuclear strike.
Milley could not immediately be reached for comment.
Are Chinese ribbons as colorful as ours?
Mandrake, do you remember what Clemenceau once said about war? He said, "War is too important to be left to the generals." When he said that [over 100 years ago] he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought.
Thank goodness we have such a wise, strategically proficient, and thoroughly post-modern 4-star general to override those politicians. A more recent indication of General Milley's brilliance was the surrender of Bagram to the Taliban.
Some conspiracy theorists have speculated that General Milley only drinks pure grain alcohol and rainwater. This is untrue: General Milley is more of an Appletini sort of guy.
“You do the process. And I’m part of that procedure.””
He’s not a decision maker. His only task beyond giving the President his opinion is to authenticate that it was the President who gave the order. He does not have sign-off.
He is taking us back to the pre-early 60s problem of Generals have launch authority without the President needing to approve. Their duplicity is why that power was consolidated in the presidency.
No, but they are smaller.
Milley and the Biden Administration: “Screw you. I ain’t goin’ nowhere and there’s nothing you can do about it”...and he’s right.
libbons, not ribbons
Yes, they're all supported by the cabal. All viable sides get support, just in case their sails catch wind. Wherever things catch fire, there will always be cabal hooks to influence where they want them to go.
Because of PDJT's Jesuit background fostered at Fordham University, they thought he could be kept loyal. They would make sure only their approved appointments could go through. A lot of that happened, like Sessions, Elaine Chao, and Wray. But for big and personal decisions, sorry, no, PDJT had enough money not to be swayed by financial coercions.
In hindsight, it’s probably stupid pollyanna thinking, but it always seemed a very remote possibility that a coup could overthrow the US presidency, no matter who, because there was always the certainty that the military could not be co-opted. But it only takes one Milley or Austin, and they seem the perfect perps to go along with it.
Geez... even Colonel Flounder is against him?
light
This is what has been bugging me...a room full of cowards in uniform!!
And if the Woodward story is not true, why aren't at least some of these guys hollering about it.
So his official statement is an admission that he did what Woodward says, and tries to explain that it’s normal. Right.
I can’t believe I find myself agreeing with Vindman, who let’s face it, knows quite a lot about how to commit Treason.
Milley led a military coup, reporting to the Speaker of the House. They both need to be tried for Treason.
Good work democrats. You followed Satan's advice that it's better to rule in hell than serve in heaven and brought us hell so you can rule over it.
It's quite obvious that the the top brass their military position is just a job. An opportunity to get promotions, perks, and eventually a big payday. Honor and justice are not a real consideration to them.
Why should he resign? The WH is standing behind him. Hey what’s a little treason between friends? Why are we so upset? How dare we act as if this mattered. We need to get complacent like the rest of the populace and just be happy with our allotted plot of land and tv shows. Get over it! It was ONLY treason!!! It’s not as if Trump was in office or anything!!!!!
(Please read the above comment with the ultimate in sarcasm)
I think a lot of these guys are probably Woodward’s “anonymous sources,” and they’re bailing on Milley because they’re scared of prosecution…and they hate him.
ROR
He, an unelected nobody, circumvented a US President HIS Commander in Chief...
The name of the President isn't the issue.
He, like Fox News, betrayed a President. Both should be in irons.
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