Mark Milley (who honestly doesn’t merit the dignity of being referred to as “General” at this point) needs to resign immediately and a full investigation needs to be launched. Despite his long and admirable service to the nation, this is simply a deal-breaker. I realize that nobody ever gets prosecuted under the Logan Act, but this is one case that simply screams for the attempt to be made. A court-martial would also not be out of the question. Here are a few of the key, updated details from Fox News.
In the book, authored by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa, it is alleged that Milley made two secret phone calls, both to his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army. The book alleges that the phone calls took place prior to the 2020 presidential election on Oct. 30, 2020, and two days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, on Jan. 8, 2021.
According to the book, Milley contacted Zuocheng after he had reviewed intelligence that suggested Chinese officials believed the United States was planning an attack on China amid military exercises in the South China Sea.
It’s been a long time since Mark Milley attended basic ROTC training at Princeton so perhaps he’s forgotten some of the most fundamental rules of the military. First and foremost among them is that the chain of command trumps virtually everything else. When I attended boot camp, we were given all manner of bizarre orders, forcing us to perform to the breaking point, completing tasks that frequently made no sense at all. It was only later that we realized the reason for that sort of training. The military only works when our troops follow orders, and that’s particularly true when you are going into battle. The moment that system breaks down, the military is broken.