A compromised general was pardoned by an equally compromised president
Legend said the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Okinawa, Japan’s Camp Courtney, the headquarters of the commanding general of the Third Marine Division, was where Japanese soldiers committed harakiri rather than be taken prisoner during World War II.
You could say the view was to die for.
It was also my introduction to the palatial digs of Maj. Gen. Steven Olmstead, as the food delivery detail I was assigned to made it obvious this wasn’t your typical stopover on mess duty.
Fast forward to December 2018 when President Donald Trump nominated Gen. Mark Milley for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCOS), against the wishes of Secretary of Defense and former Marine Gen. James Mattis and then-JCOS chairman Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford. Milley would serve as chairman from 2019 to 2023 under Presidents Trump and Biden.
Mattis and Dunford were vindicated when in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s book, “Peril,” revealed how Milley called Chinese Gen. Li Zuocheng on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the presidential election and again on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after Trump supporters marched on the U.S. Capitol.
Milley stated, “General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable, and everything is going to be OK. We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you. General Li, you and I have known each other for 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.”
This is not treason?
Sen. Marco Rubio responded in a letter to President Biden that was obviously ignored.
“I do not need to tell of you the dangers posed by senior military officers leaking classified information on U.S. military operations, but I will underscore that such subversion undermines the President’s ability to negotiate and leverage one of this nation’s instruments of national power in his interactions with foreign nations.”
In Woodward’s book: “War,” Milley declared Trump was the “most dangerous person ever” and a “fascist to the core.” Such statements violate Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice by slandering the commander-in-chief.
When questioned about Woodward’s books, Milley claimed he hadn’t read any of them.
Who believes that?
Such candor defies credulity.
Perjury anyone?
Moreover, Milley made himself a part of the chain of command for January 6th and issued an order to the commander of the D.C. National Guard that he was in charge. Milley also assessed the Afghan army believing it capable to stand on their own and that Ukraine would fall in 72 hours. Milley was not shy in defending the teaching at West Point of Marxist-based Critical Race Theory, saying, “I want to understand white rage and I’m white,” at a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
Milley’s treason, disloyalty and incompetence were inexcusable.
During the last four years, accountability in the Defense Department has been MIA.
Before leaving office, President Joe Biden pardoned Milley.
Since then, Hegseth ordered the Pentagon’s inspector general to investigate Milley to determine if he “undermined the chain of command during President Trump's first term.”
Many generals are chairborne desk jockeys concerned more with politics than with military preparedness. Milley is another in a long line of flag officers who carried water for the Military Industrial Complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about.
Like presidents, generals are not all created equal, where only a few leave a historical footprint, while most just fade away – Douglas MacArthur notwithstanding.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has revoked Milley’s security detail and suspended his security clearance while exiling his two portraits from the Pentagon.
If justice is to be served, Milley should be court martialed for treason having betrayed allegiance to the United States by giving aid and comfort to a foreign power in a state in open hostility with us.
A compromised general was pardoned by an equally compromised president.
Treason is the one exception to a presidential pardon. The act of pardoning someone who committed treason is also treason.
Milley most likely never took in the view at the general’s mess at Camp Courtney but being a DEI warrior, I am sure he is familiar with how any Asian culture would handle his situation having only himself to blame.
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