MILLEY IN PERIL: Bob Woodward’s latest book, Peril, has at least two blockbuster claims that could end the military career of Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley. The book, co-authored by Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, describes two problematic episodes at the end of the Trump presidency: one in which Milley appears to give an illegal order to countermand the president’s authority to launch a nuclear strike, and a second in which he purportedly told his Chinese counterpart he would tip him off if President Donald Trump were to order an attack on China.
THE JAN. 8 CALL: The authors have obtained a transcript that provides new details of the call between Milley and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi two days after the assault by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol, in which Pelosi says the president is unhinged and dangerous. “He’s crazy. You know he’s crazy,” Pelosi tells Milley. “He’s crazy and what he did yesterday is further evidence of his craziness.”
Milley replies, “I agree with you on everything.” The book details how Milley summoned senior officers to review the procedures for launching nuclear weapons and saying he needed to be in the loop, even though he is not in the chain of command.
“I can guarantee you, you can take it to the bank that there’ll be, that the nuclear triggers are secure and we’re not going to allow anything crazy, illegal, immoral or unethical to happen,” he tells Pelosi on the call.
“How are you going to do that?” Pelosi says. “Going to take the football away from him or whatever it is?”
SHOULD A SINGLE PERSON BE ABLE TO TRIGGER NUCLEAR ARMAGEDDON?
‘PULLING A SCHLESINGER’: The episode is portrayed as Milley — who feared Trump had gone into “serious mental decline” after losing the election — taking extraordinary steps to prevent an unstable president from launching a nuclear war, in the same way that 1974 Defense Secretary James Schlesinger ordered the military to check with him first if then embattled President Richard Nixon ordered a nuclear strike.
But whatever his motivation, Milley’s order sparked immediate calls for his removal. “General Milley has attempted to rationalize his reckless behavior by arguing that what he perceived as the military’s judgement as more stable than its civilian commander,” wrote Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in a letter to President Joe Biden demanding Milley be fired. “It is a dangerous precedent that could be asserted at any point in the future by General Milley or others. It threatens to tear apart our nation’s longstanding principle of civilian control of the military.”
THE OCT. 30 CALL: The book also details calls Milley made to his Chinese counterpart Gen. Li Zuocheng, who feared that Trump was considering military action against China.
Milley, in a phone call a week before the election, assured Li that “the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” going so far as to say he would alert China if Trump did order a military strike. “You and I have known each other for now five years,” Milley reportedly told Li. “If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”
ALEXANDER VINDMAN SAYS MILLEY ‘MUST’ RESIGN OVER SECRET CALLS TO CHINA
TREASON! In a statement last night, former President Donald Trump called Milley a “dumbass” and said if the account was accurate, “I assume he would be tried for TREASON.”
“He would have been dealing with his Chinese counterpart behind the President’s back and telling China that he would be giving them notification ‘of an attack,’” he wrote. “Can’t do that!”
Even though Trump dismissed the account as “Fake News concocted by a weak and ineffective General together with two authors who I refused to give an interview to because they write fiction, not fact,” he called for actions to “be taken immediately” against Milley.
“For the record, I never even thought of attacking China — and China knows that. The people that fabricated the story are sick and demented, and the people who print it are just as bad,” he concluded. “In fact, I’m the only President in decades who didn’t get the U.S. into a war — a well known fact that is seldom reported.”
TRUMP SAYS SECRET CALLS TO CHINA BY MILLEY DESCRIBED IN WOODWARD BOOK AMOUNT TO TREASON
Good Wednesday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Victor I. Nava. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE
Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!
HAPPENING TODAY: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin welcomes Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton to the Pentagon at 10:30 a.m. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne meets with Antony Blinken at the State Department at 1:30 p.m.
ALSO TODAY: President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver “brief remarks” about a national security initiative in the White House East Room at 5 p.m.
WHERE WAS AUSTIN? At yesterday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee post-mortem on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, committee Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey was miffed that Austin had declined the committee’s invitation to appear, and the senator threatened to subpoena Austin in the future if he doesn’t testify voluntarily.
“A full accounting of the U.S. response to this crisis is not complete without the Pentagon, especially when it comes to understanding the complete collapse of the U.S.-trained and funded Afghan military,” Menendez said, noting Austin’s absence and issuing a veiled threat. “His decision not to appear before the committee will affect my personal judgment on Department of Defense nominees. I expect the secretary will avail himself to the committee in the near future.”
Menendez is among the Democrats highly critical of the chaotic evacuation of U.S. and Afghan partners, which left thousands behind. “The execution of the U.S. withdrawal was clearly and fatally flawed,” he said while laying much of the blame on the previous administration.
“The chaos of last August is due in large part to the February 2020 surrender deal negotiated by President Trump. A deal that was clearly built on a set of lies,” Menendez said. “A deal that led to the release of 5000 hardened Taliban fighters, boosting the militant group on the battlefield this summer.”
HAWLEY’S THREAT TO BLOCK NOMINEES: It only takes a single senator to block confirmation of a presidential nominee, and yesterday Missouri Republican Josh Hawley vowed to be that senator unless Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan all resign.
“Make no mistake, this president is a disgrace. His behavior is disgraceful. He has dishonored this country with his shameful leadership in this crisis, and it is time for him to resign,” Hawley said in a speech on the Senate floor. “I will not consent to the nomination of any nominee for the Department of Defense or for the Department of State until Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken and Jake Sullivan resign. Leaders take responsibility for their failures. And the failure of these individuals, the failure of this administration, has cost Americans their lives.”
BLINKEN’S PLEA: As Blinken faced another day of bipartisan criticism of the planning and execution of the Kabul airlift, he also suggested that the State Department was hampered by a lack of people in key positions.
“Today, there are nearly 80 State Department nominees pending before the Senate; nearly two dozen have already been voted out of this committee on a strong bipartisan basis and simply await a vote in the Senate,” Blinken testified. “For our national security, I respectfully urge the Senate and this committee to move as swiftly as possible to consider and confirm all pending nominees and to address what is a significant disruption in our national security policymaking.”
TOP GENERAL OPPOSED PULLOUT: In a separate hearing behind closed doors, the Senate Armed Services Committee heard from Army Gen. Scott Miller, the last U.S. commander of forces in Afghanistan.
According to the top Republican on the committee, Oklahoma’s Jim Inhofe, Miller confirmed in his secret testimony that he opposed the end of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan but was not able to give that advice directly to President Joe Biden.
“He did say … that he opposed the effort that took place, and he did not tell the president that because the president wasn’t there,” Inhofe said at a news conference with other Republican members of the committee. “But he did talk to Austin, McKenzie, and Milley and told them that he had been opposed to the total withdrawal.”
FORMER COMMANDER OF US FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN DISAGREED WITH COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL, GOP SENATOR SAYS
REWRITING HISTORY: One of the Democrat’s main talking points in their effort to lay much of the blame for the demise of the U.S.-backed Afghan regime on the Trump administration is the release of some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, including top commanders, who immediately joined the fight.
In a statement Monday, former President Donald Trump claimed that was not his doing. “The inept Afghan government, led by corrupt President Ghani, released 5,000 prisoners — not the Trump Administration.”
The only problem with that argument is that the Feb. 2020 withdrawal deal signed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo specifically required the prisoner swap. “Up to five thousand (5,000) prisoners of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and up to one thousand (1,000) prisoners of the other side will be released by March 10, 2020, the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations.”
ARMY VACCINES: The Army released its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination plan yesterday, which will require active-duty units to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 15 and Reserve and National Guard units fully vaccinated by June 30, 2022.
“This is quite literally a matter of life and death for our soldiers, their families, and the communities in which we live,” said Lt. Gen. R. Scott Dingle, the U.S. Army Surgeon General. “Case counts and deaths continue to be concerning as the delta variant spreads, which makes protecting the force through mandatory vaccination a health and readiness priority for the total Army.”
Soldiers who refuse the vaccine will first be counseled by their chain of command and medical providers, but the Army warned continued failure to comply could result in administrative or non-judicial punishment — to include relief of duties or discharge, unless the soldiers have a legitimate medical, religious, or administrative reason.
INDUSTRY WATCH: The Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program completed its first aerial refueling of an F-35C aircraft by a Boeing MQ-25 Stingray refueling drone.
“Stingray’s unmatched refueling capability is going to increase the Navy’s power projection and provide operational flexibility to the carrier strike group commanders,” said Navy Capt. Chad Reed, program manager for the project.
The ability of F-35s to refuel in the air is critical to extending the range of the carrier-based aircraft.
BIRTH OF A CONSPIRACY THEORY: There was an odd moment at yesterday’s Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing when Idaho Sen. James Risch claimed an unknown “puppeteer” was controlling President Joe Biden and pushing a button to cut him off while talking to make sure he didn’t go off-script.
“As recently as yesterday, in mid-sentence, he was cut off by someone in the White House who makes the decision that the president of the United States is not speaking correctly,” Risch said, referring to a White House feed of the beginning an event Monday in Idaho where Biden was being briefed on wildfires.
“So, I’d like to know who this person is. This is a puppeteer act,” he said to Secretary of State Blinken. “Somebody in the White House has authority to press the button and stop the president — cut off the president’s speaking ability and sound. Who is that person?”
Blinken was perplexed. “I really don’t know what you’re referring to,” he said. “There is no such person. Again, the president speaks for himself.”
What Risch seemed to be unaware of was the event he was describing is what’s known as a “pool spray,” in which cameras are allowed to document the first few minutes of a meeting and then ushered out so the meeting can proceed in private.
It’s a long-standing Washington tradition, and there’s nothing nefarious about it.
REPUBLICAN DERAILS AFGHANISTAN HEARING BY ASKING WHO CAN ‘PRESS THE BUTTON’ TO SILENCE BIDEN
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Milley promised Chinese military leader advance warning of Trump-ordered attack: Book
Washington Examiner: Trump says secret calls to China by Milley described in Woodward book amount to treason
Washington Examiner: Alexander Vindman says Milley ‘must’ resign over secret calls to China
Washington Examiner: Blinken emerges as top GOP target after Biden’s botched Afghanistan withdrawal
Washington Examiner: ‘I just don’t think that’s true’: Tim Kaine rejects Biden team’s key defense of Afghanistan withdrawal miscues
Washington Examiner: Blinken floats ‘new’ war-making powers to counter terrorist threats in Afghanistan
Washington Examiner: ‘I don’t know’: Antony Blinken says US reviewing whether drone strike killed aid worker by mistake
Washington Examiner: Former commander of US forces in Afghanistan disagreed with complete withdrawal, GOP senator says
Washington Examiner: Republican derails Afghanistan hearing by asking who can ‘press the button’ to silence Biden
Washington Examiner: Obama, Bush, and Clinton to welcome Afghan evacuees to US
Washington Examiner: Chinese ships did not enter territorial waters, Coast Guard says
Washington Examiner: Navy affirms stance on not using photos in applications
Washington Examiner: Korean War vet to be laid to rest more than 70 years after his death
AP: Rival Koreas test missiles hours apart, raising tensions
Washington Post: In Syria, ISIS Militants Surge Anew
Wall Street Journal: Signs Of Al Qaeda Seen In Afghanistan
New York Times: Ex-U.S. Intelligence Officers Admit to Hacking Crimes in Work for Emiratis
USNI News: Hyten: China’s ‘Unprecedented Nuclear Modernization’ Chief Concern
Reuters: Putin Meets Assad, Takes Swipe At U.S. And Turkish Forces In Syria
Air Force Magazine: New $6.6 Billion F-35 Sustainment Contract Paves Way for Performance-Based Logistics Deal
National Defense Magazine: Can the Air Force Ditch the Pass-Through Budget?
Breaking Defense: Afghanistan Has Been ‘Gut-Wrenching,’ ‘Deeply Personal For IC’: DNI
Air Force Magazine: With Arlington Groundbreaking, Air Force Memorial Will Soon be Inside Cemetery
Task & Purpose: The Air Force tried to kill the A-10 by clipping its wings and starving it of parts
19fortyfive.com: Opinion: General Mark Milley Must Be Relieved of Duty
19fortyfive.com: The Navy’s Last Stealth Zumwalt Destroyer Has a Huge Problem
19fortyfive.com: How the F-35 Stealth Fighter Keeps Getting Cheaper
19fortyfive.com: Bad News: China’s Navy Is Patrolling Near Alaska
19fortyfive.com: Why North Korea Wants Long-Range Cruise Missiles
19fortyfive.com: North Korea’s New Cruise Missile — Deadly, or a Distraction?
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 15
9:15 a.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “National Security and Digital Privacy,” with Bruno Lasserre, chief justice and vice president of the French Council of State. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
11 a.m. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace virtual book discussion on The Strategy of Denial, with author Elbridge Colby, co-founder and principal at the Marathon Initiative; Christian Brose, chief strategy officer at Anduril Industries; Jennifer Lind, associate professor at Dartmouth College; and Ashley Tellis, chair for strategic affairs at CEIP. https://carnegieendowment.org
2 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual film screening and discussion on “Source Code,” focusing on artificial intelligence in a future war, with Lt. Gen. Michael Groen, director of the Defense Department’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center; producer and director Mark Kiefer; executive producer Steven Grundman, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Center for Strategy and Security; Jamie Metzl, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; Stephanie Wander, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center; and Clementine Starling, deputy director at the Atlantic Council’s Center for Strategy and Security https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/source-code/
THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 16
8 a.m. — Potomac Officers Club virtual Fall 2021 5G Summit, with Jay Dryer, director of the Defense Department’s Strategic Capabilities Office. https://potomacofficersclub.com/events
9 a.m. — German Marshall Fund of the United States virtual discussion on a new report, “Security Implications of Chinese Infrastructure Investment: Mapping the China Playbook in Europe,” with Dario Cristiani, senior fellow at GMFUS; Jonas Parello-Plesner, nonresident senior fellow at GMFUS; Mareike Ohlberg, senior fellow at GMFUS; and Andrew Small, senior transatlantic fellow at GMFUS. https://www.gmfus.org/event/mapping-china-playbook-europe
10 a.m. — Middle East Institute virtual discussion: “The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Biden administration’s Middle East policy,” with retired Marine Corps Gen. John Allen, former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, and president of the Brookings Institution. https://www.mei.edu/events/mei-defense-leadership-series
1 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “Congress and Authorizations for Use of Military Force Repeal, with Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich.; and Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va.; and Tess Bridgeman, co-editor in chief of Just Security https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 17
12 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual book discussion on Three Dangerous Men: Russia, China, Iran, and the Rise of Irregular Warfare, with author Seth Jones, director of the CSIS International Security Program; and David Sanger, national security correspondent at the New York Times. https://www.csis.org/events/book-launch-three-dangerous-men-seth-jones
1 p.m. — Heritage Foundation virtual book discussion on The Strategy of Denial: American Defense in an Age of Great Power Conflict, with author former Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Elbridge Colby, co-founder and principal at the Marathon Initiative. https://www.heritage.org/defense/event
SATURDAY | SEPTEMBER 18
2:20 a.m. EDT/8:20 a.m. CET — NATO’s highest Military Authority, the Military Committee meets in Athens, Greece. Gen. Konstantinos Floros, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff will host the Conference. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_186299.htm
5:45 p.m. CET — Joint press conference with the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer and the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, Gen. Konstantinos Floros. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_186299.htm
12 p.m. — ”Justice for J6 rally,” on the west side of the U.S. Capitol, which is intended to protest the treatment of protesters arrested in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. https://lookaheadamerica.org/rally
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Somebody in the White House has authority to press the button and stop the president — cut off the president’s speaking ability and sound. Who is that person?”
Idaho Republican Sen. James Risch, apparently confusing a routine media “pool spray” with a deliberate effort by the White House to censor the president.
