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Home » Irony of ironies: General Milley did to Trump what he should have done to Biden

Irony of ironies: General Milley did to Trump what he should have done to Biden

The New Neo Posted on by

The feckless General Milley, who did Joe Biden’s bidding in Afghanistan even though he knew it would be epically disastrous or who was so stupid himself that he didn’t even realize the consequences, did the following after January 6th:

Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump’s top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to “Peril,” a new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward and veteran Washington Post reporter Robert Costa. Woodward and Costa write that Milley, deeply shaken by the assault, ‘was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies.’ Milley worried that Trump could ‘go rogue,’ the authors write.

“You never know what a president’s trigger point is,” Milley told his senior staff, according to the book.

In response, Milley took extraordinary action, and called a secret meeting in his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process for military action, including launching nuclear weapons. Speaking to senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center, the Pentagon’s war room, Milley instructed them not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved.

I think I had read about this quite some time ago, but it takes on even more significance now that we have seen Milley’s opposite behavior with Biden. Sounds like a potential coup to me. Among other things, though, what should have happened instead is that Milley should have resigned if he thought such a thing was probable, and go public with his concerns, rather than taking matters into his own hands to contravene a Trump order that existed only in Milley’s fevered imagination.

Was this general really that shaken by the events of January 6th, which were relatively mild even compared to the year-long Antifa/BLM riots? And who knows whether this is even what happened – Trump “screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality” – or whether it was Milley’s alternate reality that’s being described. Although I have little doubt that Trump was screaming at people, surely this was not all that unusual not only for Trump but for other presidents, and not a sign of mental breakdown.

Not only that, but shouldn’t there be some protocol in place for the possibility of a POTUS mental breakdown no matter who might be the president? Should it really be up to a possibly partisan (actually, increasingly partisan) general going rogue himself?

It’s no stretch of the imagination at all to imagine Joe Biden “screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality.” In fact, it doesn’t take imagination at all, because we have seen Joe doing both in public. He screams at the American people or really anyone who criticizes him. He constructs an alternate reality – one that Milley may actually share – in which the Taliban weren’t obviously going to take over, leaving Bagram was of no special strategic importance, and our allies think what we did is just peachy keen.

Trump’s case for a fraud-driven election loss is rock-solid compared to that.

And yet Milley seems to have had no trouble carrying out Biden’s disastrous orders – or the orders of whoever was in charge. I happen to believe it was Biden plus unspecified others (Blinken, etc.), but I don’t know. If ever insubordination was called for or justified, it would have been then, and certainly resignation was called for and would have been the right thing to do. But I doubt it was even contemplated, either because Milley’s judgment was so abominable that he actually concurred with Biden’s decision, or because Milley was just too intent on clinging to his own position of power in government.

[NOTE: Of course, I need to issue a caveat because the whole thing is based on Woodward’s book. Woodward is partisan himself, so who knows what is true and what isn’t, what is exaggerated and what is as reported – in other words, about any of it, in particular about Trump’s behavior at the time. Trump seems quite well-balanced to me these days – as opposed to Joe Biden.]

Comments

Irony of ironies: General Milley did to Trump what he should have done to Biden — 47 Comments

  1. IF true, then Milley and everyone in that room should be Courts Martialed, hopefully convicted and sent to Leavenworth. Polisi should be forced to resign.
    But of course, nothing will happen.
    I am so disgusted with the state of our Officer Corp.

  2. SHIREHOME:

    Agreed.

    Also, they seem to have no problem going public with this. They expect to be praised rather than disciplined.

  3. My worse fear is Miley will pay no price in life for this in his life and actually will make big money on book or TV deal as payment.

  4. Also if true, it just portends that we are edging closer to a violent reckoning as GB keeps reminding. The Dems seem entirely clueless of the fire they are playing with. As F Biden rings out across red state football stadiums and even from a protest in NYC, they keep pushing ahead.

    I’m so glad I’m now in Florida where the chances of surviving the coming disaster may be a bit higher.

  5. The key question is whether this is true. Unless we see an immediate lawsuit from Thoroughly Modern Milley for libel, slander and defamation pursued with great vigor, it seems to me that the publication provides prima facie evidence of the existence of a treasonous conspiracy. There had to be a number of people involved at the time of the calls who facilitated the calls, took notes, or otherwise participated in conceiving and or executing the calls. All overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. It seems to me that a grand jury needs to to haul everyone who could possibly had any involvement in this possible coup and question them closely under oath.

    If this is true, the scope of the conspiracy against Trump, including the election fraud, is even greater than imagined. There are a lot of folks who, if the system works, should be in jail and/or military prison for a long time. If the system doesn’t work, well, perhaps a lot of those folks will end up hanging from lamp posts….

  8. This guy has tainted the military at the level of Eddie Slovik. His main concerns are “white rage” (whatever the hell that is), and the inclusion of LGBTQ in the military rather than executing and winning wars. Who exactly is mentally unstable general?

  10. neo writes, “Was this general really that shaken by the events of January 6th, which were relatively mild even compared to the year-long Antifa/BLM riots?”

    Nothing should rock my equanimity at this (late) point in my life, but . . .

    I continue to find myself astounded at how thoroughly shaken so many people were at the mere thought of Donald J. Trump being POTUS, and, of course, four years later, at the mere thought of an “insurrection” such as the one on January 6th, fomented by the very same Donald J. Trump, threatening the VERY EXISTENCE OF OUR COUNTRY!!

    [I’m being sarcastic here; it was a relatively tame, third-class riot, but look at what the mainstreamers turned it into, and how many people lapped it up uncritically.]

  13. Apropos of January 6: the fence around the Capitol is going up again, as the powers that be are afraid of the upcoming “J6” rally:

    “The fence surrounding the U.S. Capitol is set to return ahead of the pro-Trump rally on Sept. 18, the head of the Capitol Police confirmed Monday.

    ‘The fence will go up a day or two before, and if everything goes well it will come down very soon after,’ Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger told reporters in the Capitol. The remarks came just moments after Manger, along with the sergeants-at-arms in both chambers, had briefed the top congressional leaders on the intelligence gathered by law enforcement ahead of Saturday’s “Justice for J6″ rally at the Capitol, which will protest the treatment of the hundreds of people arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 riot. Leaving the intelligence briefing, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) declined to comment on the threat level posed on Saturday. But he said he’s confident there won’t be another security debacle like that of Jan. 6.

    ‘They seemed very, very well prepared — much better prepared than before Jan. 6. I think they’re ready for whatever might happen,’ he said.”

    https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/571981-capitol-fence-is-going-back-up

  14. Dr. General Milley concluded that Trump was mental ill. Why didn’t he make the same diagnosis when Biden ordered him to abandon Bagram air base?

  16. Lt. Col. Stuart P. Scheller Jr. was relieved of duty for his video.
    Gen Milley should be gone for his behavior but he won’t be.

    Also, there is no reason to believe that Trump was going to go crazy and nuke someone or even call in a strike on anyone. That Gen. Milley seems to believe he would have makes me concerned that we have such a General. One who believes he has the right to override the President.

    It also makes it clear the he was fully on board with the Afghanistan disaster since he clearly doesn’t believe that Presidents can tell him what to do.

  18. First thing we need is solid confirmation that this account is true.

    THEN, we need to demand Milley’s immediate resignation. Not only for stepping out of the chain of command and subverting the principle of civilian control of the military, but also for not resigning when Biden called for withdrawal from Afghanistan at an unrealistic time.

    He is a classic example of the dangers inherent in politicizing the senior military ranks. And the fact that he does not see that reflects on his lack of fitness for the office.

  19. Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to her Democrat colleagues on Friday, January 6, 2021, stating that she had spoken to Gen. Mark Milley, requesting that he take actions to prevent President Trump from accessing the nuclear codes or from initiating military hostilities. It appears from the letter that Nancy spoke to Milley before he acted. If so, she could be guilty of “suborning” an illegal action against the United States, or worse.

    CNN published the text of the letter. Scroll down to the italicized passage:

    “Dear Democratic Colleague,
    It is a spirit of pride and with great solemnity that I write to you about the events of this past week.
    Thank You to Members Defending Democracy: On Wednesday evening, following an horrific assault on our Democracy, our Democratic Caucus showed to the country and to the world that we would not be diverted from our duty to validate the election of President-elect Joe Biden. Despite the desecration of the temple of our democracy, the House upheld its responsibility to the Constitution and to the American people. My deepest gratitude goes to our scholars — Reps. Raskin, Lofgren, Schiff, and Neguse — and to the delegations of Arizona and Pennsylvania facing objections who made the case for respecting the will of the American people.
    Capitol Police: It is with great sadness that I also write to share the news that a twelve-year veteran of the U.S. Capitol Police, Officer Brian Sicknick, died after defending the Capitol complex and protecting all who serve and work here. The perpetrators of Officer Sicknick’s death must be brought to justice. Five people have now died because of the act of insurrection. This is a stain on our nation’s history.
    While we are appreciative of the bravery of the Capitol Police, we are disappointed in the lack of leadership. For that reason I called upon the Chief of the Capitol Police to resign, and he has. I have also accepted the resignation of the House Sergeant-at-Arms. Chair Lofgren will discuss on our noon Caucus call how we will move forward with responding to the failures that allowed this tragedy to happen.
    Removing the President From Office: As you know, there is growing momentum around the invocation of the 25th Amendment, which would allow the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to remove the President for his incitement of insurrection and the danger he still poses. Yesterday, Leader Schumer and I placed a call with Vice President Pence, and we still hope to hear from him as soon as possible with a positive answer as to whether he and the Cabinet will honor their oath to the Constitution and the American people.
    Nearly fifty years ago, after years of enabling their rogue President, Republicans in Congress finally told President Nixon that it was time to go. Today, following the President’s dangerous and seditious acts, Republicans in Congress need to follow that example and call on Trump to depart his office — immediately. If the President does not leave office imminently and willingly, the Congress will proceed with our action.
    Preventing an Unhinged President From Using the Nuclear Codes: This morning, I spoke to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley to discuss available precautions for preventing an unstable president from initiating military hostilities or accessing the launch codes and ordering a nuclear strike. The situation of this unhinged President could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy.
    Resources for Responding to Trauma: The attack on Wednesday had a great traumatic effect on Members and congressional employees. I have asked the Attending Physician to provide to Members with information about access to counseling. You should shortly be receiving a Dear Colleague from the Office of the Attending Physician and the Office of the Employee Assistance.
    I am very grateful to Members for your communications regarding what you think should happen. I take your suggestions very seriously as we build consensus in our Caucus as we go forward.
    Thank you for your patriotism, your courage and your leadership.

  20. One important nugget to take away from this is that even if this particular story is exaggerated or completely fake, it’s revealing that THIS is a version of Trump that was believable to the author and his imagined audience.

    Trump the man may be unique but Trump the type (big-talking, aggressive, BS-ing, dealmaking) is pretty common both today and in American cultural history. Lots of normal people have met, dealt with, or known somebody at least vaguely like Trump. There’s been plenty of books, movies, and TV shows featuring that kind of guy.

    But those kind of people apparently don’t exist (or are not permitted to exist) in elite U.S. political society.

    Mike

  22. Pelosi phone call. h/t Ace.

    ” “Then Milley received a blunt phone call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the book. Woodward and Costa exclusively obtained a transcript of the call, during which Milley tried to reassure Pelosi that the nuclear weapons were safe.
    Pelosi pushed back.

    “What I’m saying to you is that if they couldn’t even stop him from an assault on the Capitol, who even knows what else he may do? And is there anybody in charge at the White House who was doing anything but kissing his fat butt all over this?”
    Pelosi continued, “You know he’s crazy. He’s been crazy for a long time.”

    According to Woodward and Costa, Milley responded, “Madam Speaker, I agree with you on everything.” “

  23. What do you do with the Red Queen Nancy? She who cries off with their head? Where does General White Rage fit into this farce? Are they the Tweedledee and Tweedledum of Xi?

  24. Pingback:Links and Comments | Rockport Conservatives

  25. Milley needs not to worry about Officer ranks Colonel and below and all of the enlisted ranks concerning White Rage. There are a bunch of us 60-70-80 year old Veterans who would love the chance to rip his 4 stars off of his collar and jam them up his ass.

  26. Ace of Spades focuses on one thing that brought this about. Milley was upset that Trump didn’t follow what his advisors wanted. So the unelected advisors went behind Trump’s back and wouldn’t follow his directions.

    Treason and insubordination together there.

  27. Tucker opens with the Gen. Milley conspiracy tonight. I don’t know if it because my brain is getting scrambled with information overload in the last few days, or Tucker had new (to me) information, but it was a very powerful piece.

    The retired military guest Tucker had on explained that the correct thing for Milley to have done on or around Jan. 6, would have been to resign his position as the head of the Joint Chiefs. Not resign his position as a general, if I understand correctly.

  28. When Milley retires, he knows he can expect to be richly rewarded with a highly renumerative position with a company in the industrial/military complex. He has to have his eye on at some future date securing the Sec. Def. position.

    But the way things are going, there’s an equal possibility that he’ll never live to enjoy his ill gotten gains.

    “Then Milley received a blunt phone call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the book. Woodward and Costa exclusively obtained a transcript of the call…”

    Unless that’s an outright fabrication, its conclusive proof of Milley’s guilt and Pelosi’s unhinged state of mind.

    It’s also proof that someone highly placed in the NSA leaked that transcript to Woodward and Costa.

  30. @MBunge:

    The Cloud People are now a separate species from the Dirt People. They don’t live like us, they don’t think like us, they mostly cannot begin to comprehend us. They despise us.

    They have to go.

  31. Skepticism is fine. But there is enough here to investigate. If true, Milley and others involved should be prosecuted. I do not, however, expect either to happen in any significant manner.

  32. More than anything else, it sounds like Woodward is starting to work his advance sales. If I recall correctly, he did the same with his last book, pushing out all the highly salacious Inside-The-West-Wing revelations just before the book came out. And if I recall, all of them pretty much vaporized into small beer when people actually started reading and asking salient questions.

    It’s like seeing a really exciting movie trailer for Coming Attractions, only to find out that you’ve already seen the best parts of the movie when you actually go.

    Trump of course wasn’t ‘unbalanced’ while he was in office. He was in character, completely. It was the Establishment that was speaking in tongues and writhing on the floor. Look at them: They’re putting the fences up again to underscore their terror at another small upcoming political demonstration Our enemies are having a ball.

  33. Nancy Pelosi has no authority to give Miley any orders. She is not in the chain of command. Miley had no authority to accept those orders.

  34. I have found myself using much more profanity-in particular the f-bomb-since March 2020 than I used to. A bad habit.
    I’m going to start using “feckless” instead. A very useful word.

  35. S. Badger:

    “Badges, senor?”

    “We don’t need no steenking badges!”

    Boat Buider:

    Hm. Somehow “Feckless Joe Biden” doesn’t have the same ring to it when it’s being chanted by 25,000 college students at a football game . . .

  36. @Boatbuilder:

    Very commendable.

    You’re not sorely tempted by “#$%^tard”?

    A Word for All Seasons. I find it very useful when out riding the bike if things are not all Zen-like that day. I’ve heard that Fox Hunting is even better for Getting It All Out.

  37. Presume for the moment this is all nonsense. Nothing of the kind happened. If Millley wanted to sue for libel et al, one of the issues is going to be discovery. And discovery can be pretty wide, even beyond the relevant if it doesn’t get hauled back.
    One can imagine various other shenanigans, some part of getting several stars and not particularly alarming. And, given who this guy has shown us he is, some particularly bad things.
    When I was getting off active duty, I had to fill out a form having to do with various allowances, dates some things started and others ended and suchlike before going to the pay office. As it happened, a finance clerk I had helped out in a difficult spot needed a ride to the same office on business so we went together. He asked to look at my form, failed to repress a snort of ridicule and said he’d take care of it. I walked out of there with cash in every pocket. Not sure if I should still be in Leavenworth.
    Such things happen. The time I was brigade duty officer and one of my guard posts–Ft. Jackson, SC–said he’d heard shots. It was not a live-fire guard post like some others. Can’t have one of my guys unprotected. Fortunately, he kept his mouth shut and the ammo count was correct in the morning. Jeez. A trainee between me and a court-martial.
    And that’s just a lieutenant doing lieutenant stuff.
    Lots of things can be seen unfavorably, and that’s the innocent..
    Milley, nor any other general officer, cannot have gotten to where he is without jumping some fences, sometimes for good and useful reasons and sometimes–seemingly likely with Milley–not good nor useful nor innocent. And not minor.
    So I would conclude that, even if this is all false, Milley can’t afford to sue. He’s stuck no matter what.

  39. I agree with Richard Grenell, I am not sure I believe this, for one reason. The book is by Bob Woodward, who is a well known BSer.

  40. Jack Posobiec reports, “BREAKING: Several Pentagon officers present in Milley’s secret meeting are willing to testify against him under oath, per WH official.”

    Glenn Reynolds asks, “Why is the White House leaking this?”

    And, of course, we don’t know if this is true.

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/473822/

  41. This brings to mind Jeffrey Goldberg’s garbage SCOOP (i.e., “hit piece”) in “The Atlantic” magazine about how much Trump despised and alienated the U.S. Military (and was despised in return).

    Might one wonder who Goldberg’s “sources” were for that piece of crap? (That is, if he didn’t fabricate the thing from whole cloth, which I’d imagine is entirely possible for Obama’s Hagiographer-In-Chief.)

    Gee, maybe it’s time for Goldberg to invent something along the lines of how much the U.S. Military loves/appreciates/respects “Biden”?

    (Come to think of it, it looks at this point as though substantial parts of the military leadership ARE, in fact, “Biden”…)

  42. This explains why so many generals, admirals, congresspeople (I’m woke),
    and bureaucrats are enrolled in mandarin language courses. /s

  43. Who is playing General Jack Ripper? Milley or Esper?

    Certainly not Mad Dog Mattis he’d been off the scene, but tossing frags into the Oval Office, before these phone calls were made.

    Generalized White Rage and reader of the Communist Manifesto can take that marine’s handle now, “Mad Mark Milley.”

  44. There IS a safeguard against an insane President. It’s the 25th Amendment, Section 4, by which the VP, Cabinet, and Congress can remove a sitting prez.

    Amendment XXV (1967)
    Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

    Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

  45. @ ronbert > “This explains why so many generals, admirals, congresspeople (I’m woke), and bureaucrats are enrolled in mandarin language courses. /s”

    Take off the sarc tag.
    J. E. Dyer thinks you are correct.
    Ignore some of the speculations about “maybe it’s not true” because we now know that Milley did exactly what Woodward claimed (although for all the right reasons, as when the Democrats fortified the election).

    https://libertyunyielding.com/2021/09/15/general-milleys-excellent-adventure/

    This [post] would become impossibly long if I discussed all the problems with the Milley tale. I will close it out instead with a final point that keeps leaping out at me, but I suspect is being overlooked by many observers who are understandably absorbed in the ethical problem of Milley’s alleged behavior (like our old friend Alexander Vindman).*

    It’s this. From 2001 until today, there has been nothing as remarkable, and frankly ill-accounted for, as America’s tenacity in keeping a decisive footprint in Afghanistan. By decisive, I don’t mean our presence was procuring a decisive end-state. I mean our continued presence, while it never made real progress toward a “better peace,” was just enough to weight the scale toward stasis in Afghanistan – for little apparent strategic or pragmatic benefit to us – for almost exactly 20 years. (We invaded Afghanistan on 7 October 2001.)

    Then, suddenly, in the summer of 2021, it seemed to be time to bug out – so quickly and thoroughly that we left billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry and military equipment behind, and abandoned Bagram air base to whoever is the best equipped to take over and operate it (and that isn’t either the Afghan National Army or the Taliban). Not to mention, of course, the appalling human cost of leaving Americans and Afghan allies behind.

    President Biden speaks now, as he did in councils with Obama and the generals in 2009, of seeing Afghanistan solely as a potential base for terrorist enterprises, and of maintaining a capability to hunt terror cells in the country without trying to pacify territory there. This is his “over the horizon” patter, and in 2021 he’s invoking it as the only real national security obligation we have vis-à-vis Afghanistan. In mid-2009, he made the case for keeping just enough of a footprint in-country to enable that line of operations.

    In September 2021, he’s now all for doing it from neighboring countries. But that represents a really rapid shift, by the narrative of the “national security state.” If the Milley tale is to be believed, we went from desperately needing to keep a light-footprint contingent in Afghanistan – the urgent premise in January 2021, which Trump was on the wrong side of – to being fine without a footprint inside the country by July 2021, as long as we can hunt terrorists from across someone’s border.

    If it’s fine by July 2021 to plink terrorists from outside Afghanistan, there’s no argument that that could not have been foreseen, by Trump and his officials, in January – or December 2020, or November. Apparently it would have been Trump, not Milley, who had the percipient foresight – if Biden is on the right course now.

    Rather than the U.S. truly needing to keep 2,500 troops in Afghanistan past January 2021, it’s as if we were holding Afghanistan for someone else’s purposes for nearly 20 years, but now no longer need to do so.

    That, at least, is the likeliest story thread you’d reconstruct if you went by the arguments, including the Milley tale, offered by the media and “national security state” stalwarts.

    What changed between January and July 2021? The conundrum here can’t be solved by an abstract hand-wave at the “military-industrial complex.” This isn’t about money or defense contracts. It looks like a territorial imperative – for someone. It’s just not the United States.

    Three guesses who she’s talking about, and the first two don’t count.
    The purpose: a staging location flanking India, with which China is this close to starting a shooting war. One of Dyer’s commenters, D4x, does a deep dive into the regional situation.

    *
    “If this is true GEN Milley must resign. He usurped civilian authority, broke Chain of Command, and violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military. It’s an extremely dangerous precedent. You can’t simply walk away from that.”
    Vindman’s indictment of Milley is correct, but he seems oblivious to the fact that he is describing himself as well.
    And he too should have been fired and court-martialed.

  46. Another of Dyer’s commenters recommended this article, and I can’t say I disagree.

    https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/09/11/a-modest-proposal-fire-the-generals/
    “Today in our series 9/11 at 20: A week of reflection, we hear from Andrew Bacevich, who suggests failure must have consequences, and there is no better time than now.”

    Anniversaries offer opportunities for reflection. The 20th anniversary of 9/11 should elicit second thoughts galore.

    The rollercoaster of history finds Americans today more than a little confused. To put it mildly, things weren’t supposed to turn out this way. The great crusade launched with considerable fanfare in September 2001 has stalled. That 20 years after 9/11, the Taliban have once more seized power in Kabul must surely rate as one of the preeminent ironies of the past century.
    …
    Allow me to suggest that senior U.S. military officers cannot absolve themselves of responsibility for the disappointments, disasters, and frustrations that have marked the ensuing two decades of our national life. The point is not to let civilian officials, beginning with the commander-in-chief, but also including the Congress, off the hook. It is rather to suggest that the nation’s mood and outlook might be rosier if the wars of choice that we inaugurated after 9/11 had ended in victory.

    Our generals were expected to deliver those victories. As the abysmal outcome of the Afghanistan War reminds us, they came up short.

    Allow me to suggest a corrective action: a purge. Oblige all active duty three- and four-star generals (and admirals) to retire forthwith. Rebuild the ranks of the senior officer corps with members of a younger generation willing and able to acknowledge the shortcomings of recent American military leadership at the top.

    After the Pearl Harbor attack of December 7, 1941, the top U.S. commanders in Hawaii — Admiral Husband Kimmel and Lieutenant General Walter Short — were summarily relieved of their posts, reduced in rank, and retired. The action might not have been altogether fair, but it was necessary. Unless failure has consequences, further failures are all but guaranteed — a dictum as true in war as in business or sports or any other competitive enterprise. Firing Kimmel and Short laid down a marker: henceforth, failure was not to be tolerated.

    Granted, purges tend to sweep up the nominally innocent along with the definitively guilty. But we need not shed tears for any senior officers given their walking papers. They will receive generous pensions, lifelong healthcare, and opportunities to monetize their active duty experience, whether within the military-industrial complex or elsewhere. They’ll do just fine.

    As a practical matter, however, getting rid of the deadwood is likely to be the easy part. Identifying a new cohort willing to acknowledge the subpar U.S. military performance of the recent past and possessing the creative imagination needed to undertake substantive reform may prove challenging.

    I would suggest the following approach: The secretary of defense — not the current incumbent; as a former four-star he too should be purged — should personally interview one- and two-star officers deemed to possess particular promise. The interview need not be long. Indeed, it should consist of a single question: “On a scale of one-to-ten, where one is lousy, ten excellent, and five mediocre, how would you rate U.S. military performance over the past 20 years?”

    Those replying with a number above five should be immediately excused and denied consideration for further promotion. Those replying with a number of five or below should be invited into an adjacent room and given two hours to write an essay that addresses the following topic: “What is the problem and how do we fix it?”

    Those essays should provide the basis for selecting and assigning the next generation of senior leaders. Oh, and if none of the one- and two-stars find fault with U.S. military performance since 9/11, then it will become necessary to expand the search into more junior ranks. It has long been my impression that officers wearing bars or oak leaves are more open to critical thinking and original ideas than those who wear stars.

    Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal For preventing the Children of Poor People From being a Burthen to Their Parents or Country, and For making them Beneficial to the Publick,” published in 1729, suggested that the impoverished Irish might improve their condition by selling their children to be “stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled” and served on the tables of well-to-do English gentry. My own modest proposal envisions nothing quite so drastic.

    But whereas Swift’s “Modest Proposal” was intended as a satire, mine is not. Absent serious efforts to reform the senior officer corps, we can expect more Afghanistans to come. Listen to General Mark Milley, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, who expected Afghan forces to hang on “from weeks to months and even years following our departure” and tell me I’m wrong.

    I have never heard of the author (no surprise) so here is his bio.
    I’ve been looking closer to the credits / merits of our punditocracy these days, and am leaning toward those whose careers have not been exclusively in punditing, and have had at least a vague connection to the subject on which they opine.

    Andrew J. Bacevich is the President of the Quincy Institute. He grew up in Indiana, graduated from West Point and Princeton, served in the army, became an academic, and is now a writer. He is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books, among them: The New America Militarism (2005), The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008), Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (2010), America’s War for the Greater Middle East (2016), and The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory (January 2020). He is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University and has held fellowships at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the American Academy in Berlin.

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