Before You Take His Statements Too Seriously, Look At His Record

Somehow a lot of the rules in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) were ignored when President Trump was in office. One of the people who broke a lot of those rules but was never held accountable was the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. On Saturday, Townhall posted an article about some of his past actions and some of his recent statements.

The article reports:

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, recently called Donald Trump a “fascist to the core” and “a wannabe dictator.” That such a senior military leader would feel comfortable saying this about his former boss is remarkable given that similar statements by officers have, in the past, resulted in severe punishment. The U.S. Constitution makes the president—the only democratically elected leader in the chain of command—commander in chief. Military leaders serving under the president owe him both deference and respect, regardless of whether their policy preferences differ.  

General Milley is challenging this foundational principle of American government. Although General Milley’s recent statements are not subject to Article 88 because President Trump was no longer in office at the time the general made them, his previous attempts to undermine Trump’s authority could be. Indeed, General Milley has recognized as much, expressing concern that he may yet face court-martial for his conduct during the Trump administration. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has revealed that General Milley discussed with her ways in which the military could ignore a hypothetical order from President Trump to deploy nuclear weapons, and that he agreed with the speaker’s suggestion that President Trump was “crazy.”

The article notes what I consider the most egregious act of General Milley:

Others have alleged that General Milley worked behind the scenes to frustrate the Trump administration’s plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan, ultimately succeeding in delaying withdrawal until President Biden was in office. Most egregiously, a 2021 book by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa details how General Milley—without knowledge or authorization from the president—offered to warn a senior Chinese military official “ahead of time” in the event that President Trump ordered an attack against the communist state. This latter conduct, if true, goes beyond even insubordination—it borders on outright treason, which can be prosecuted through court-martial or by the Department of Justice under Title 18, Section 2381 of the U.S. Code.

General Milley is a disgrace to the uniform.