"... with people the general considered loyal mediocrities, General Milley got nervous. 'They may try,' but they would not succeed with any kind of plot, he told his aides, according to the book. 'You can’t do this without the military,' he went on. 'You can’t do this without the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. We’re the guys with the guns.' While some might greet such comments with relief, General Milley’s musings should give us pause. Americans have not usually looked to the military for help in regulating their civilian politics. And there is something grandiose about General Milley’s conception of his place in government. He told aides that a 'retired military buddy' had called him on election night to say, 'You represent the stability of this republic.' If there was not a coup underway, then General Milley’s comments may be cause more for worry than for relief. Were we really that close to a coup?... It was, instead, mayhem on behalf of what had started as a legitimate political position.... For all Mr. Trump’s admiration of military officers, they wound up especially disinclined to accommodate his disorderly governing style.... We might be grateful for that. But our gratitude should not extend to giving military leaders any kind of role in judging civilian ones."
From "What if There Wasn’t a Coup Plot, General Milley?" by Christopher Caldwell (NYT).
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8 comments:
Lloyd writes:
"One of my rants is that Reagan made a big mistake in starting the tradition of saluting back to the young Marines at the White House and elsewhere. Once he started it, nobody was likely to stop it. It confuses the separation between civilian and military, with civilians in charge. Ike had been a real general. As a civilian he never saluted anyone. Reagan I guess revealing he was still a hick from some town in the midwest. Bush Jr. didn't help matters with his "Mission Accomplished" stunt: flying passenger in a military plane, wearing some kind of official flight suit."
Skeptical Voter writes:
"Who knew that Douglas MacArthur and George McLellan came back from the dead and were reincarnated as General Milley? Climbing the greasy pole towards high positions in the Pentagon involves a lot of politics. Indeed one of the slurs cast as those climbers is “Perfumed Princes of The Pentagon”. But the fact that you were skillful at politics in the Pentagon doesn’t give you the right to decide politic questions in the civil world. Generals of whatever name or era should stay out of civilian politics. The various banana republic experiments with governments led by military men on white horses should be a cautionary warning."
Amadeus 48 writes:
"Christopher Caldwell gives Milley too much credit. Mlley is a mediocrity as a political thinker and apparently is a drama queen besides. Has Pelosi had him up there for her commission? Maybe he can weep like Schiff and Kinzinger for the cameras. Milley ought to be sacked for his poor judgment and insdequate reasoning skills. Let’s get his opinions about Biden and Harris. If he doesn’t have a problem, that is a tipoff."
Ed writes:
"In the line of "whatever they claim to be worried about, they're doing themselves," Milley was a general thinking about intervening in politics. To prevent a coup. But the real problem is the people are revolting."
Brian writes:
"so, What is it that he's saying?
"What if, next time; because of all of the President's admiration of military officers, they wind up especially disinclined to worry about his governing style?
"What if; the CIA and the FBI felt the same?
"What if; next time the guys with the guns decide that elections don't matter?
"Here's MY belief. The generals would find out; that Coups NEVER start with generals. They start down with the Colonels, and Sargents. Generals don't have ANY guns. Often; they find that They don't even have the army
"It's the people with the bullets that matter"
Lucid Fur writes:
"So frustrating that Caldwell repeats the "5 deaths" propaganda. The protesters suffer 2 heart attacks, an overdose, and a dubious and unexamined shooting by the police. Plus a stroke due to natural causes days after the protest. No one was murdered by the "insurrection" by the unarmed protesters."
Jack writes:
"I cannot imagine field officers having much confidence in Milley after he totally imagined a government coup. Even if he had a hunch, a good general would seek some evidence. He impresses as a political climber with the personality of a drama Queen. Also a man of the left with poor judgment. He needs to be retired to protect America."
mbj writes:
"Show me the weakest, most despicable private in the military, one who is about to be discharged for cowardice and dereliction of duty and I’ll show you a man with more courage and integrity than Gen. Milley. On the night Milley walked with Trump across the park where Trump would hold up the Bible, Milley went home and read in agony all night long social media posts criticizing him. He would then apologize the next day for the walk.
"He is a weakling and a coward. He should not be leading any men or women in anything."
John Mosby writes:
"Prof: I hope you will keep the comment thread going on this one. I just thought of a hypo/analogy that could be constructive:
"Milley was anticipating (because Trump was talking about it obliquely) an order to deploy troops under the Insurrection Act to the disputed cities and states. Trump was at least toying with the idea that the states’failure to seriously address the discrepancies made it a situation where the law was no longer available to the citizens of those states, so the federal government, including the regular military, must intervene.
"Milley apparently disagreed with that application of the Act to the situation, and was prepared to disobey any orders to that effect, on the grounds that they would be unlawful.
"Alright, well suppose that Eisenhower’s and Kennedy’s generals, backed by DOD attorneys, had said the President’s interpretation of the laws was wrong and that nothing authorized federal troops to deploy to Southern states to enforce school desegregation? That the remedy for governors failing to obey court orders was more court orders, fines, or more legislation, but that the situation had not deteriorated to a point that made military involvement legal?
"Then what about the junior officers under Milley or under my hypo’s generals? Do they get to make their own legal analysis, with some agreing with the president and others agreeing with the chairman?
"It’s all well and good to say I’ll refuse an unlawful order if it’s something blatant like putting minorities on boxcars. Much more difficult when probably half the judges plus or minus one would agree with the order.
"Almost no one in the media, on either side of the issue, is talking about this. I think they just can’t bear to look."
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