The US military has been muddling through crises and failures for the past few years. Recent events include the embarrassing evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021, COVID vaccine mismanagement, return to WW2 era dress uniforms, and DEI. While the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff cannot be held responsible for civilian policy regarding military matters, he/she does give advice to the Commander in Chief. Further, the Chairman is active duty and still required to adhere to the same regulations of conduct.
On 21 September 2021, Bob Woodward published Peril. In the book, Woodward conducted research and interviewed numerous civilian and military leaders regarding the events of the 2020 election and the events leading up to President Biden’s inauguration. The book was very critical of Donald Trump and made numerous allegations of ‘fascism’ and illegal actions.
One of the leaders Woodward interviewed was the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. Milley confirmed that he had talked about the sitting president, Donald Trump in numerous interviews after the book was published.1 The book outlines actions Milley took in regards to speaking to a Chinese general about the mental state of the President without the President’s knowledge and his actions leading up to the Inauguration of President Joe Biden.
In an interview in September 2021, Milley said that the call to General Li of the People’s Liberation Army was “perfectly within the duties and responsibilities of his job.”2 In the book Peril, Milley called General Li in October 2020 supposedly to reassure the Chinese that the US was not going to war with China.3 Quotes from the book include:
Milley: “General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay. We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you. General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we are going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise. It’s not going to be a bolt out of the blue. If there was a war or some kind of kinetic action between the United States and China, there’s going to be a buildup, just like there has been always in history. And there’s going to be tension. And I’m going to be communicating with you regularly. So, this is not one of those times. It’s going to be okay. We’re not going to have a fight.”
General Li: “Okay, I take you at your word.”4
The problem is that what apparently prompted Milley to call Li was intelligence showing that the Chinese military was increasing its readiness due to fears of a US attack in the days leading up to the 2020 election. If this was the case, Milley, who’s stated job is to advise the President, should have let President Trump know the Chinese actions and further that he was going to call the head of the Chinese military to calm them down. However, what is clear is 1. Milley didn’t let Trump know and 2. The likely reason for the call and the failure to notify the President of the call is Milley believed Trump was unstable and a fascist dictator and was at risk for taking complete power in the US through the military.
Peril describes one instance after the 2020 election where General Milley spoke privately with Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State. Milley stated he believed Trump was in mental decline.5 Milley went on to serve for two years as Chairman under President Biden. Biden had many publicly documented (print and video) episodes showing mental decline culminating in his party pulling him from the ticket for the 2024 election. If Milley was truly apolitical, he would have pushed for a 25th Amendment investigation into Biden’s lack of mental fitness for office under the guise of lack of fitness to be Commander in Chief of the US military. He also should have contacted the leaders of the armies of our adversaries to say the same. Milley did neither. Why?
Instead of doing his duty without regards to politics, Milley admitted that he took steps to ‘safeguard’ nuclear weapons from Trump who he feared with going ‘rogue.’6 Similarly, when Biden directed the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, Milley appeared to stay quiet. When Biden made many public gaffes concerning the Ukraine-Russia conflict, one with the potential to start WW3, Milley remained quiet and loyal as the Chairman (to a democrat). Milley publicly apologized for appearing in uniform with President Trump touring a church during 2020 riots but was publicly silent when Biden was flanked by armed and uniformed Marines during a political speech in Philadelphia.
The House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight finally published transcripts in late 2024 concerning the discussions surrounding military security for the 6 January 2021 protests. The transcript, which validated Trump’s assertions he directed a pre-emptive military presence on site to help prevent violence, shows this exchange between Milley and Trump on 3 January 2021:
Milley: “The President just says, “Hey look at this. There’s going to be a large amount of protestors here on the 6th, make sure you have sufficient National Guard or Soldiers to make sure it’s a safe event.”7
The directive from Trump was clear. The troops in question were not in place prior to the protests. Milley failed to use his influence to carry out the directive. He failed to protect the President in the ensuing investigations by stating the truth. Cowardice on Milley’s part?
On page 387 of Peril, Milley told the Joint Chiefs “We don’t play games. That’s not what we do as a military. We don’t undermine the President. We don’t box the President in. That’s the rules we play by. It’s that simple. And if someone can’t abide by those, they’re going to be gone.”8
In his own words, Milley stated his job as the Chairman and the consequences for failing to do his job. Ironically, he did exactly that which he cautioned against. He should be held accountable for his actions that, if he were anyone else in the chain of command, could have been investigated and punished for insubordination and other misconduct. By taking Milley off the hook and to serve for two more years sent and continues to send a dangerous message to current generals that it is okay to be belligerent and disobey the President if the President is from a party you disagree with. Milley was obviously a political general, acting what appears to be out of motivations emanating from politics and self-preservation, not out of patriotism and duty.
Generals cannot be pardoned for insubordination. They must be held accountable. General McChrystal was justifiably fired for his disrespectful interview for Rolling Stone Magazine by President Obama. Perhaps that was because the object of the disdain was a sitting democrat. Similarly, a USAFA cadet publicly and in uniform insulted a sitting Republican member of congress at a military sanctioned DEI conference at West Point in 2022 and the room full of senior military officers did nothing. The event was reported later by a civilian attendee at the conference to the Congressman in question who then demanded a letter of explanation from the Superintendent of the US Military Academy who apparently condoned such behavior (ie ok for cadets to insult a federal elected Republican official).9
A purge of the generals in the US military is long overdue. However, targeted investigation and punishment for failed general officer leadership could be more effective and if a retired general is brought back to active duty to be investigated, tried, and, if found guilty, punished in a court martial it would send a message to the current generals of the consequences of their bad behaviors. Milley’s words and actions are clearly on the record for several years. He needs to be investigated under oath (and under fear of perjury) as he appears to have made false statements, undermined the President of the United States, and been privately and publicly disrespectful to the Commander in Chief while on active duty.
- https://thehill.com/policy/defense/574295-milley-reveals-he-spoke-to-woodward-other-authors-for-books-on-trump/#:~:text=Joint%20Chiefs%20of%20Staff%20Chairman%20Gen.%20Mark%20Milley,scrutiny%20of%20the%20four-star%20general%20in%20recent%20weeks.
- https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-china-joint-chiefs-of-staff-1b23ba339e50a7c17c43c1281a0b4e04
- Woodward, Bob and Bob Costa. Peril. New York: Simon and Schuster. 2021.
- Woodward p 129
- Woodward 152
- https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/14/politics/woodward-book-trump-nuclear/index.html
- https://cha.house.gov/2024/9/transcripts-show-president-trump-s-directives-to-pentagon-leadership-to-keep-january-6-safe-were-deliberately-ignored
- Woodward 387
- https://www.foxnews.com/politics/veteran-gop-lawmakers-grill-military-academies-condone-dei-speakers-controversial-statements?msockid=1eef7f9c69b861f53d476c7b689d607e
He commited treason and should be courtmartialed and be punished SEVERELY.
Absolutely. He is a traitor.
Yes. No room for traitors.
It's hard to tell from the photo if Milley is wearing a thong or conventional panties.
Yes he should be chrged with treason
Absolutely... he has disgraced the US Army, his office, his oath and he has failed as a commissioned officer. He should be stripped of all pay and allowances and his rank and other military privileges. Once found guilty by a Court Martial.
He can live off the scum of the defense contractors he thought more of then his own men!
WHATEVER GETS THAT JOB DONE.