OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Embattled Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, is hitting back at reports in the media that describe the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency and the actions he was alleged to have taken.
A book titled “Peril,” co-authored by journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, had some calling Gen. Milley treasonous for having backchannel talks with his Chinese Military counterpart General Li Zuoncheng and for talking about Trump’s mental health on a phone call with House Speaker and California Rep. Nancy Pelosi in regard to nuclear weapons.
On Tuesday, after he delivered remarks about the military withdrawal from Afghanistan, Gen. Milley addressed those reports and the reports in the media.
“Thank you, chairman, and if I could, I know that there are some issues in the media that are of deep concern to many members on the committee, and with your permission, I would like to address those for a minute or two,” he said.
“I’ve served this nation for 42 years,” he said. “I spent years in combat, and I buried a lot of my troops who died while defending this country. My loyalty to this nation, its people, and the constitution hasn’t changed and will never change as long as I have a breath to give. My loyalty is absolute and I will not turn my back on the following.”
The general said he “routinely communicated with my counterpart General Li with the knowledge and coordination of civilian oversight,” he said of his “Chinese calls.”
“I am specifically directed to communicate with the Chinese by the department of defense guidance, the policy dialogue system,” he said. “These military-to-military communications at the highest level are critical to the security of the United States in order to deconflict military actions, manage crises, and prevent war between great powers that are armed with the world’s most deadliest weapons.”
He then defend himself against the accusations that he was going rogue and usurping the chain of command behind the back of the president.
“The calls on 30 October and 8 January were coordinated before and after with Secretary Esper and Acting Secretary Miller’s stamps of approval,” the general said.
And he defended his phone call with Speaker Pelosi.
“After the Speaker Pelosi call I convened a short meeting in my office with key members of my staff to refresh all of us on the procedures which we daily at that level,” he said. “I informed Miller of Speaker Pelosi’s phone call. At no time was I attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority, or insert myself in the chain of command.”
Earlier this month he made his first comments since it was reported that he called his Chinese counterpart and assured him that he would warn of any strike from the United States.
The general said that these types of calls are “routine” and were done “to reassure both allies and adversaries in this case in order to ensure strategic stability,” Fox News reported.
That is not a denial that the phone call happened.
He only gave a brief defense of himself before saying that he would save more information for Congress.
“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,” he said. “I’ll go into any level of detail Congress wants to go into in a couple of weeks.”
Milley has been at the center of a firestorm amid reports he made two calls to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army to assure him that the United States was not going to suddenly go to war with or attack China.
Descriptions of the calls made last October and in January were first aired in excerpts from the forthcoming book “Peril” by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa. The book says Milley told Li that he would warn Li in the event of an attack.
While speaking to reporters from the White House this month , Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the explosive new book that alleges that General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held secret meetings behind Donald Trump’s back and even secretly told leaders not to take military strike or nuclear orders from Trump days after the Jan. 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol.
Psaki said Biden “has complete confidence” in Milley and made it clear that the president does not believe he should step down.
