Was Milley right in limiting Trump's military authority?

 

It also sounds like Trump was being impetuous over getting out of Afghanistan...

 

Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Daniel Ellsberg destroyed the Nixon administration. Bob Woodward has done much to discredit Donald Trump. His next book should be about Trump's diapers. In 2008 the mainstream media made a laughing stock of Sarah Palin. If Trump decides to run again in 2024 they can make a joke of Trump with the the diaper issue. The mainstream media has an obligation to keep that dangerous, evil man out of the White House.

The poorly educated people Trump pretends to love do not understand complex political issues. That is why they believed the lies of Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh. They can understand a man who frequently defecates into his pants.

Trump's diapers should be the main issue during his next run for office. Reporters should frequently ask him about his diapers.

 

Yes absolutely. Trump has been literally and clinically mentally ill before he even took office. But as the mental health experts warned for years with Trump's forms of mental illness the more he failed and the more he felt reality closing in on him the more dangerous he would become up toi and including starting a war just to try and change the subject. Milley was in constant contact with Trump and has the professional training to recognize mental illness in commanding officers. He could see where Trump was headed and for the sake of the nation had to head him off,

And this is not the first time something like this had happened. During Watergate when Nixon's advisors found him drunk most the time talking to the portraits of ex presidents on the walls they instituted similar safeguards to prevent Nixon from launching nuclear strikes.

There were also safeguards in place although not as dramatic when Ronald Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer's during his last two years in office

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-calls-allies-to-demand-gen-mark-milley-be-arrested-for-treason

Seems Trump thinks that Milley overstepped his authority by telling his staff to make sure they follow the proper procedures for orders intending to implement military actions.

I'm going to predict this will now be the Republican talking point. Plus I bet no conservative here will touch this issue with a ten foot pole.

 

This is another time Trump and his treasonous conservative/Republicans should be careful what they wish for. They are screaming for Gen Milley's head and demanding he testify before Congress. Which means Milley will be forced to document Trump;s mental illness which should be no problem at all.

 

MSNBC's Morning Joe absolutely shreds GOP outrage over Milley: 'Are you stupid?'





MSNBC

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough brushed off Republican outrage over Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley conducting backchannel conversations with his Chinese counterpart, saying there's plenty of historical precedent for such communications.

Republican senators, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), are irate over Milley's communications with China in the waning days of Donald Trump's administration, but the "Morning Joe" host pointed out several examples of Cabinet and military officials speaking to their foreign counterparts to prevent possible war.

"Of course, Republicans acting shocked, just absolutely shocked that phone calls would be made from generals and other people inside of an administration where a president was trying to overturn the results of a democratic election," Scarborough said. "These people are children. It might help them to actually read history books and understand that this has happened before. It has happened at times when presidents were not in the best shape, as Donald Trump was not in good shape, I would say for his entire presidency, but especially after Jan. 6."

"You can go back to October of 1973, during the Arab-Israeli war of 1973," he continued. "The war was in the fourth or fifth day, escalating towards possible nuclear war, and Henry Kissinger was fielding calls from 10 Downing Street. They wanted to speak with [Richard] Nixon, he was drunk, depressed, unable to speak, and Kissinger said no. For the next six, seven months, you had Kissinger, Alexander Haig and others from time to time calling our allies, calling our enemies and assuring them that everything was going to be okay, the United States wasn't going to act in a way that would start a world war."

"That's what leaders have to do from time to time," Scarborough added, "and there's nothing shocking and new about it."

Scarborough then zoomed out and examined what Republicans are supposedly outraged about.

"They're upset he's calling a leader in China saying, don't think you can take advantage of the United States of America, democracy can be chaotic but we're strong, we're solid," he said. "We're in good shape, nothing's going to happen, we're not going to act erratically, and you're not going to take advantage of us. I'm sorry, this is something -- Republicans don't like this, this is something, are you so stupid, I just got to ask, are you so stupid, are you so ignorant of how things work that you don't know that from time to time generals talk to generals? Diplomats talk to diplomats, and they send that message, hey, things look kind of crazy in the United States, don't take advantage of this situation. Don't take advantage of it, because we're solid."

"This is something you want a guy to be fired for?" Scarborough added. "Can you grow up a little bit? I'm asking, seriously, can you stop playing for your Twitter feed or the lowest common denominator, like in your district, because this is really about America's national security, and I just, I'm absolutely fascinated by the fact that you're attacking a general for telling China, you better not take advantage of us because the United States is strong, things get messy once in a while but that's called democracy, something you don't know anything about."



https://www.rawstory.com/mark-milley-china/

 

All this spew demonstrates is that
a) There is indeed a deep state
OR
b) More propaganda from the left
But in any case
c) rent free
tax free

 

Just as I thought. Can't address the topic, so you make shit up...

Don't bother, space alien, I know, you think I'm the village idiot...

Except this idiot doesn't ignore something so huge.

Ignorance is bliss.

And what you call the deep state is one patriot that puts country before party.

 

anon went hunting today

 

Security expert shuts down Trump's claim Milley committed 'treason' in just four words

David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement
September 15, 2021






A top national security attorney is pushing back against Donald Trump's false claim that Gen. Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff committed "treason."

The Washington Post on Tuesday published bombshell excerpts of the latest book by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward and Washington Post reporter Roberta Costa. One of those excerpts claims Gen. Milley called China and secretly spoke with his counterpart because he was terrified then-President Trump might launch an attack. Milley called Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People's Liberation Army twice, according to the new book, "Peril."

Brad Moss, a top national security attorney, shut down Trump's claim in just four words:

Bradley P. Moss
@BradMossEsq
No. It is not.

Acyn
@Acyn
Trump on Milley: If it is actually true which is hard to believe that he would have called China… that’s treason

4:17 PM · Sep 14, 2021

https://www.rawstory.com/milley-treason/

"One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Donald Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote," The Post reports.

“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay," Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you."

Milley reportedly told Li he would give him a heads up in case Trump ordered an attack.

“General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we're going to attack, I'm going to call you ahead of time. It's not going to be a surprise," Gen. Milley told Li in the first call.

After the January 6 insurrection, Milley again called Li.

“We are 100 percent steady. Everything's fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes."

On Tuesday evening Trump called in to the far right wing cable channel Newsmax and declared Milley's actions were "treason."

 

I would get much like to see Milley charged with treason, that way Trump would be forced to prove he is mentally competent to have not been a concern for Milley. Milley, after all, swore an oath to this country to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic. If Trump did somehow give the order to evacuate Afghanistan, could you imagine how the right would defend that act?

Milley, I'm sure, would welcome the chance to defend his actions.

 

Mark Milley had to 'batten down the hatches' against Trump's 'unhinged' behavior: presidential biographer

Matthew Chapman
September 16, 2021



Gen. Mark Milley (Screen Grab)
On CNN Thursday, Trump biographer Carol Leonnig broke down the new revelations about Gen. Mark Milley's efforts behind the scenes to rein in the former president in his final days in office.

"You have a lot of reporting in your book about General Milley's concerns about the former president, he met with the general chiefs about how to handle any orders they feared could come from the commander in chief," said anchor Anderson Cooper. "What do you make of the new reporting?"

"You know, Anderson, I think it pulls back an important layer of the onion," said Leonnig. "These are, I have to say in all candor, these are friends and colleagues of mine, Bob Woodward and Bob Costa, and I think their book has a lot of interesting new material. I think this tells us, you know, exactly what Pelosi was describing just then in London, the grievous concern was not just some Democrats, as Speaker Pelosi and as we reported at the time, said to Milley, you know, you know the president is not stable, you know he's not stable, right? What are you doing about it?"

Leonnig went on to explain that Milley apparently took the warnings seriously, and Woodward and Costa's reporting shows "how much he himself was worried not about somebody pushing the nuclear button but just wanting to batten down the hatches, make sure everybody in the chain of command understood how this was going to happen."

This was necessary, Leonnig added, because Trump "was behaving in a, you know, let's face it, an unhinged way after the election and much more dramatically after January 6th."

Watch below:



https://www.rawstory.com/mark-milley-trump-2655050352/

 

Milley and Woodward Revisited (outsidethebeltway.com)

"The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs regularly communicates with Chiefs of Defense across the world, including with China and Russia. These conversations remain vital to improving mutual understanding of U.S. national security interests, reducing tensions, providing clarity and avoiding unintended consequences or conflict.​

His calls with the Chinese and others in October and January were in keeping with these duties and responsibilities conveying reassurance in order to maintain strategic stability. All calls from the Chairman to his counterparts, including those reported, are staffed, coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense and the interagency.​

Also in keeping with his responsibilities as senior military advisor to the President and Secretary of Defense, General Milley frequently conducts meetings with uniformed leaders across the Services to ensure all leaders are aware of current issues. The meeting regarding nuclear weapons protocols was to remind uniformed leaders in the Pentagon of the long-established and robust procedures in light of media reporting on the subject.​

General Milley continues to act and advise within his authority in the lawful tradition of civilian control of the military and his oath to the Constitution.

This is wildly different from the account in the Woodward-Costa book, as reported by WaPo:

In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa.

One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Donald Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote.

The first call was prompted by Milley’s review of intelligence suggesting the Chinese believed the United States was preparing to attack. That belief, the authors write, was based on tensions over military exercises in the South China Sea, and deepened by Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward China.

“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”

In the book’s account, Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel. “General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”

So, the calls were “secret” in the sense of being classified, not in the sense of being furtive. In the context of an open meeting in which Milley and others were simply reassuring a worried Chinese defense chief that the United States is not planning a surprise attack on that country, the conversation seems much more innocuous. Dispelling misconceptions and allaying fears is why chiefs of defense maintain an open dialog.

In the context of a series of reports that Milley was trying to reign in a rogue President by any means necessary, a furtive call to the Chinese CHOD telling him that he would warn him in the event said President launched an attack is outrageous. But, in a forum with so many people present, it seems vastly different—a simple reminder that there’s regular dialog going on and his counterpart would damn well know if tensions were so high that an attack were imminent. (An Axios report makes it more innocuous still: One source familiar with Milley’s conversations with his Chinese counterpart would only broadly characterize them as Milley saying something to the effect of: “We’ll both know if we’re going to war… there’s not gonna be some surprise attack and there’s no reason for you to do a pre-emptive strike.”)​

 

​

Well, genius, apparently he hasn't confirmed what Wooward wrote in his book.
From YOUR link:

“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him in the first call, according to the book. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”​

"If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise,” Milley reportedly said.​

"In his statement Wednesday, Milley’s spokesman did not directly address this aspect of the call but said Milley regularly communicates with his counterparts across the globe, including in China and Russia, to reduce tensions, provide clarity and avoid “unintended consequences or conflict.”

Milley spoke with a number of other military leaders around the world after the Jan. 6 riot, including from the United Kingdom, Russia and Pakistan. A readout of those calls in January referred to “several” other counterparts that he spoke to with similar messages of reassurance that the U.S. government was strong and in control.
​

Now, you want to double down again without checking yourself, or do you want to do some homework before you twirl and pee?

 

Guess your take is different than mine. I'll still go with the fact that Milley hasn't denounced what Woodward said....

 

Milley says calls to China were 'perfectly within the duties' of his job

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, told The Associated Press that his calls to China following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were “routine” and “perfectly within the duties and responsibilities” of his role.

The top military official told the news outlet while traveling to Europe that he has regularly made similar calls “to reassure both allies and adversaries in this case in order to ensure strategic stability.”

The comments mark the first time Milley has publicly commented on the matter since excerpts from a forthcoming book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward and The Washington Post's Robert Costa revealed that Milley twice called his Chinese counterpart in the wake of the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol to assure him that former President Trump did not plan to attack Beijing as an attempt to stay in office.

According to an excerpt from the book, Milley said in one of the calls, “You and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”

The book, “Peril,” which is scheduled to be released Tuesday, also alleged that Milley sought to limit Trump's ability to launch a military strike or nuclear weapons following the Capitol riot and held secret meetings at the Pentagon on the issue.

The details have prompted calls for Milley’s resignation, including from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who argued Tuesday that the top general was involved in "the essence of a military coup."

Trump himself also commented on the matter, writing in a statement, “If the story of ‘Dumbass’ General Mark Milley ... is true, then I assume he would be tried for TREASON in that he would have been dealing with his Chinese counterpart behind the President’s back and telling China that he would be giving them notification ‘of an attack.’ ”

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Col. Dave Butler this week defended Milley’s communications as routine, noting in a statement that the top general regularly “communicates with Chiefs of Defense around the world, including China and Russia.”

“These conversations remain vital to improving mutual understanding of U.S. national security interests, reducing tensions, providing clarity and avoiding unintended consequences or conflict,” Butler added.

The spokesperson went on to say that “all calls from the Chairman to his counterparts, including those reported, are staffed, coordinated and communicated with the Department of Defense and the interagency.”

Butler had also said that “the meeting regarding nuclear weapons protocols was to remind uniformed leaders in the Pentagon of the long-established and robust procedures in light of media reporting on the subject.”

The House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol said Thursday that it was reviewing the actions of Milley and other Pentagon officials in light of the revelations from the book.

After brief comments, Milley told the AP he plans to address the matter further when he testifies before Congress later in September.

“I think it’s best that I reserve my comments on the record until I do that in front of the lawmakers who have the lawful responsibility to oversee the U.S. military,” Milley told the outlet. “I’ll go into any level of detail Congress wants to go into in a couple of weeks.”

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/...a-were-perfectly-within-the-duties-of-his-job

 

Robert Costa: Gen. Mark Milley "was not going rogue" with China calls

Oriana Gonzalez



Washington Post journalist Robert Costa on Monday said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" that Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley "was not going rogue" when told his Chinese counterpart that the U.S. would not launch a surprise attack.

Driving the news: President Biden last week expressed "great confidence" in Milley after excerpts released from Costa and Bob Woodward's book "Peril" revealed calls where Milley admits he would let China know ahead of time if former President Trump decided to attack.

Catch up quick: Milley said last week that his actions were "perfectly within the duties of his job" and that such conversations are "routine."

What they're saying: "What chairman Milley was trying to do, as we show in the book, was contain a national security emergency," Costa said, adding that while Milley did not believe Trump "wanted to go to war," the Chinese were "highly alarmed" after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.

• "While these calls with General Li were held on a top-secret back channel, they were not secret. This was not someone who was working in isolation. He was reading people in in the national security community."
• "He was not going rogue. He was reading people in throughout the national security and military community trying to contain a situation and a president he believed was in serious mental decline."

Trump and other Republicans called Milley "treasonous," saying that the general subverted the military chain of command, but Woodward said that Milley's actions were "not at all" treasonous because he did keep the national security community informed.

What to watch: Milley will testify at a Sept. 28 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, where he will likely field questions on his actions during the final days of the Trump presidency.

Go deeper: Mark Milley's crisis

https://www.axios.com/costa-woodwar...lls-caeba87e-ae99-4875-ad50-1dba838f8b9a.html

 

Woodward's best days are far behind him...and that hack fuck activist Milley is exactly that...a hack fuck activist.