The Real Truth About General Milley's 'Treasonous Act'

Will retired General Mark Milley be charged with treason by the incoming Trump Administration?

As Donald J Trump reassumes the presidency of the United States, General Milley’s experiences as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should be considered by all military officers -- but particularly those at the highest levels of the Pentagon. Specifically they should think about what they’re going to do when they get a “lawful but awful” order to carry out.

If the campaign rhetoric is accurate, career military officers are going to face a collision of the norms they’ve adopted as the standard over the last four-plus decades with significantly different policies handed down from the incoming Secretary of Defense, whoever that turns out to be.

And as an audiobook here:

[WardCarroll]

NOTE: This subject isn't politics; it's military ethics, something I taught at the Naval Academy for four years. This situation is a lesson for all active duty officers, especially senior ones, and dealing with it is well within the mission of this channel. Also, please watch the entire episode before commenting.

[TropicalCoder]

You missed the part where Milley wanted to understand "white rage".

[KennethNoel-nf]

As a retired Navy Captain I appreciate your analysis of the affair of Gen. Milley. I concur that he should have immediately submitted his resignation rather than sitting on it. Whether he should have called the Chinese Chief of Staff: I think than should not have been done. It would be better to have kicked that decision up to the president. I think Gen Milley is guilty of assuming authority not riightly his.

[paaat]

As a former enlisted man, if confronted with some of the same allegations as Milley, I assure you there would be no debate of the consequences. They would be harsh and not favorable to me.

[Collie]

I was a Navy E-5 who served in Vietnam. If I were to discuss anything, and I mean anything, with a Chinese National when on active duty I would have been immediately arrested, tried and sentenced to many years in Federal prison. Milley was lucky.

[manuellabors]

Bear in mind that the only reason that we know that Milley phoned his counter part in China, is that he told Robert Woodward, a reporter. What kind of judgement does that reveal.

[ckreitlein]

I am 28-year retired senior naval officer. I have briefed CNO, SECDEF, and was a naval attaché in Europe . Milley needs a courts martial to either convict him or clear his name. If he were half the man he thinks he is he would reject the pardon and demand a courts martial.

[HGuard]

Milley "trying not to be political" cracks me up.

[pookatim]

My main takeaway is, if you are correct, we need to fix the situation where a 4 star general can escape a general court martial because there aren't enough military officers who outrank him. That is a major invitation to misconduct by 4 star generals. No one is supposed to be above the law, especially self-serving generals like Milley. BTW-if the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sending a personal message to the enemy to warn them about America's actions in advance isn't "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" I don't know what is. If not aid and comfort to the enemy what was Milley's purpose for undermining the President?

[GunnersRange]

Respectfully, Sir, when it's all said and done, General Milley still called the his Chinese counterpart and told him "I'll give you a heads-up, if anything is going to happen." Does anyone seriously believe his Chinese counterpart would do the same for us?? At what point does it become treason? As a retired CWO4, if I had done this, they would have dropped the cell key into the Marianas Trench! Is it OK to do this if you have stars on your shoulders, but not the regular riff-raff like me? Semper Fidelis! CWO4 USMCR [Ret] 17 Feb 1969 - 1 Aug 2004

[TheRdwyer]

We have 44 4 star Generals/Admirals. 33 more than WWII when we have 12 million in uniform.

[christophertheconqueror]

To be brief. If a commissioned officer of the armed forces, finds themselves to the point where they have to WRITE a resignation letter, you already resigned in your heart. Hanging in to it doesn't help.

[danmeek]

Telling a potential enemy that if there’s going to be an attack, I will contact you first, that’s treason

[Maddog]

My problem with him is calling his Chinese counterpart not once but twice and stating what he did to him behind the Presidents back.

[stormcop]

I was in the JAGC of the Navy. The President most certainly could recall him and he could be charged under the UCMJ.

[braddblk]

My question is, how common is it for our top military to call the top military of a possible hostile country? This is the one thing about all this that bothers me. This is at best acting above his pay grade. He was a general not an appointed diplomat and definitely not acting under orders.

[robhaythorne]

I was commissioned in 1968 and spent many years on active duty and in the Army Reseve. My range of experience is from company level to the pentagon and as a civilian advisor to the Secretary of Defense. My last day on active duty was in 2004, when I retired and hung up my spurs as a consultant, too.

Throughout all that time I was fortunate to have never met any men as incompetent or disloyal as Mike Milley.

[Michael-hgsq]

I agree, General Milley should have sent his resignation letter in, as soon as he wrote it. You don't talk like a buddy at school Yard to your counterpart in a foreign country just because you don't agree with your President!

[hldarte]

In all my years of service in the military and the Veterans community I have known and associate with many Flag Officers. I have never thought that a General would directly call an opposing member of a nation without full disclosure to their superiors before (or after). I applaud any man or woman who has become the rank of a Flag Officer, but General Milley has violated his oath of duty (no matter what his personal thoughts were) and should be placed before a board to investigate his actions.

[navret]

“Mooch”, I’m a retired Mustang LCDR. Like you, I was a 1320 but never had “legal eagle” as a collateral duty so I guess that makes me a “Sea Lawyer”.
I think you brushed over a critical element in the discussion of treason. One of the key elements in the definition is “. . . giving aid and comfort to the enemy.” To me, Milley removed a, potentially, critical piece from the President’s ability to negotiate with the CCP and potentially any other adversary. His actions also undermined the basic tenet of the relationship between the military and the government, that is, he showed that he was willing to undermine the civilian authority. As I remember it, Milley violated at least 5 articles in the UCMJ, from treason down to dereliction of duty.
Hypothetically, the CCP threatens to invade Taiwan. Taiwan is an ally of the U.S. and an invasion of it could/would be grounds to declare war. If the bad guys know that they have an in into the President’s decision making authority, the threat of retaliation is removed from the board.
Just my thoughts here. This is a situation that requires people higher in the food chain than I. Take care “Mooch”. Fly Navy 🇺🇸