The latest kerfuffle focuses on 2018 Trump-nominated Joint Chiefs of Staff, (Army) Gen. Mark Milley and contacts between Milley and Chinese counterpart PLA Gen. Gen. Li Zuocheng, particularly two calls (before and after last year's election), according to Bob Woodward's newest (co-authored) book.
The context was that intelligence had picked up Chinese concerns over US military exercises in the disputed South China Sea region. Trump's erratic behavior and threatening, anti-Chinese rhetoric led Chinese leaders to worry about a prospective US attack. The authors suggested that Milley had reassured Li, based on their 5-year professional relationship, there would be no surprise attack, and in the context of the second call, deferred military exercises in agreement with local commanders and pulled a "Schlesinger", ensuring that any Presidential order to launch a nuclear strike had to come through the chain (meaning Milley, not directly from Trump).
Trump responded to the revelation by denying he had any intention of attacking China and accused Milley of treason. There is also a thread between Speaker Pelosi and Milley over Trump's state of mind after the Jan. 6 uprising.
Let me repeat what I wrote earlier this week:
I think Milley was out-of-line; if there was a diplomatic issue, it should have been handled by Secretary of State Pompeo, if Trump issued an illegal/unconstitutional order to initiate war without a Congressional declaration, Milley could have resisted compliance. But it was not Milley's place to stand in judgment of POTUS. Milley should resign or be fired
Let me first say Trump/Republican claims that Milley engaged in treason are nonsense. For one thing, we are not at war with China. Second, you can argue Milley's intervention sought to defuse possible preemptive Chinese attack given uncertainty of Trump's impulsive decision making and a potential "wag the dog" scenario. Keep in mind that Trump liked being perceived as unpredictable, which he believe was a position of strength; also, Trump has engaged in undeclared war drone and other military attacks. Third, Milley never said he would refuse a lawful order from Trump. Fourth, one could argue Milley's contacts with Li were a known pattern of behavior and Milley likely had the delegated authority to do things like reschedule military exercises.
The issue I have is there is no constitutional basis for Milley's operating outside the chain of command. Ir was not his competence or place to judge Trump. Now if Trump did issue an illegal order, Milley could refuse such an order. under the Constitution. I haven't seen evidence of such an order. Milley did not seem to report his contacts to POTUS or the Defense Secretary. Foreign relations are handled by POTUS and the Department of State. It's one thing for Milley to advise POTUS and Congress on military matters and status, perhaps troublesome orders from the President. But his personal opinion on Trump's behavior over the election and Jan. 6 uprising is irrelevant and fundamentally inconsistent with our tradition of the military reporting to civilian national leadership.
Biden should replace Milley. I question Milley's commitment to civilian leadership, his personal agenda over the elected President's. I fully concur with impeachment witness Vindman on this.
Make no mistake. I have been highly critical of Trump's misconduct in office. I supported all counts of his impeachment and conviction. I have been highly critical of his purported foreign policy, which among other things was confrontational with our European allies.
But for the most part, Trump was one of the few Presidents in my lifetime who never started a new war and in fact set the stage for our withdrawal from Afghanistan. I know Trump made a lot of bad decisions after losing his reelection, but I don't believe for a second he wanted to start a war with another nuclear power.
