The Matter of Milley

“I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, PURSUANT TO MY POWERS UNDER ARTICLE II, SECTION 2, CLAUSE 1, OF THE CONSTITUTION, HAVE GRANTED UNTO GENERAL MARK A. MILLEY A FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL PARDON FOR ANY OFFENSES against the United States, including but not limited to any offenses under the United States Code or the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which he may have committed or taken part in during the period from January l, 2014, through the date of this pardon arising from or in any manner related to his service as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

A lot of ink has been spilled already about Biden’s pardons from a few weeks ago of Mark Milley and the rest. I saw this from John Lucas the other day regarding Mark Milley’s calling the Commander-in-Chief a fascist, which is something I had forgotten about. Big no-no.

Even with all the hubbub there has been one question that’s been nagging me for the past several years. Why didn’t Milley resign after the events of January, 2021?

Milley did three things that not only betrayed his oath but the duty of an officer as historically understood: 1) He was insubordinate by inserting himself into the lawful chain of command when he told various officers to not take orders from anyone but him, 2) He promised an officer of a foreign military power that he would warn him of any impending attack by the US military on that foreign nation, and 3) By promising to warn that foreign officer of an impending attack, he was prepared to place the lives of the American servicemen and women who would be carrying out said attack in jeopardy.

Milley told journalist Bob Woodward that he (Milley) did those things because he feared that Trump might “go rogue.”

When this information first came out 3 ½ years ago, I discussed it with a number of leftist colleagues. They thought Milley was a hero for doing this and I would imagine that now they think his pardon was fully justified.

I asked them at the time, even granting their premise that Trump was crazy and had to be stopped, why Milley didn’t resign after committing those actions. One can accept the premise that Milley’s actions were justified in order to stop the rogue Trump and save the world, but also accept that Milley could not retain his position as a military officer.

So the question that has been bugging me for the past several years is this:

Why, after the rogue Trump was safely out of office, didn’t Milley resign his commission on January 20, 2021 at 12:01 PM? That’s the power of one’s convictions. “I did what I could to save the country I love and swore to protect from a madman. However, having done so, I cannot in good conscience remain an officer. For the good of the service that I love so dearly, I must resign.” He would have gone down in history for placing the good of the country above his own ambition.

However, he didn’t resign, and the military is that much weaker for Milley’s actions.

I would also ask why Biden didn’t fire him. But we know that even at the time Biden wasn’t the person to fire anyone. They also weren’t going to court martial the man who they claimed saved the world from Trump. They wanted to sweep the whole event under the rug, but at the very least Milley should have been quietly pushed into retirement. For the three reasons I mentioned above, Milley could not remain in the military.

However, Milley stayed: a man who had openly bragged about disobeying one civilian authority was allowed by another civilian authority to remain.

He knew it, everyone in the military knew it, and nobody said a peep.

So, I smell a rat. I’m stating here and now that in my opinion Milley did none of the things that he claimed he did. He didn’t go around a room of fellow officers and launch a coup by getting them to swear to obey him and not the chain-of-command. He didn’t call up his counterpart in China and tell him that he would give him a heads up of any impending attack.

He told Woodward that he did those things, because telling a journalist would make Milley look tough as the man who stood up to the Orange Hitler. Nobody thought Trump was coming back. Easy money.

I have dealt with a lot of blowhards who tell stories of their heroism, each a veritable Horatio at the Gate. I know the type and Milley seems like one of them.

So it’s time to take this whole sordid episode to its logical conclusion and get to the bottom of this.

Hegseth needs to launch an Article 32 investigation if only in regard to the officers whom Milley had claimed to suborn regarding the chain of command. Those officers had promised to obey an unlawful order rather than to refuse it as their oath demanded, and therefore they need to be held accountable. If that seems a bit harsh, given who they were and the rank of the man giving that order, those are not only the rules, that’s the culture.

I would then call Milley back to active service and have him testify under oath at the subsequent hearing to either 1) affirm that he suborned said officers, and thereby by his corruption condemn them, or 2) deny that he made any such demand, and thereby be exposed as a liar.

Either way he is ruined. Milley, take your pardon and go in peace, but go in public disgrace.

As a side note there’s that language in the pardon, “from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon,” that keeps recurring both in Hunter’s and Fauci’s pardons. Why? Hunter I understand. People claim that for Fauci it has to do with the banning of gain-of-function research in the US. But why Milley? He did not become Army chief of staff until 2015. The language of the pardon doesn’t match the date(s) given.

What’s going on?