Gen. Milley Should Have Resigned In Protest Under Trump

While testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Mark Milley gave a brilliant answer to Tom Cotton on why he didn't resign during the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He said that it is was his legal duty to follow the orders of the civilian authority over him, namely President Biden. He said it was have been a political statement to resign and that he was going to follow legal orders, even if he disagreed with them. However, when Trump was President, Milley was rightfully concerned that Trump might start World War III. He used back channels to assure Chinese officials that he would stop Trump from attacking. While that may have been necessary, and we may be glad he did it, he violated the principle he just laid out and should have probably resigned after.

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Sam: Mark Milley who is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and defense secretary Lloyd Austin were testifying both in front of the senate armed services committee. And I think this afternoon the house arms services committee. Largely they are being questioned on the Afghanistan pull-out. Which in the final analysis over 120,000 people were evacuated and we ended a 20-year long war there net positive. And there are definitely areas of the country that are now sliding backward in terms of the progress that was made with women and other I guess western values as it were but for the vast majority of the country, they just wanted their wars to end so that they could actually live period. Never mind live certain values. Then and some of them may have had resentment towards these western values. But the bottom line is is that imposing these on a country at the cost of the lives of many of their countrymen turned out to be something they did not want. Here is Mark Milley testifying in front of senator tom cotton who is really mad that we ended this war.

Emma: It's definitely not performative too this part.

Sam: Definitely not always performative but this is what he's performing he's got one final question.

Tom Cotton: General Milley I can only conclude that your advice about staying in Afghanistan was rejected. I’m shocked to learn that your advice wasn't sought until august 25th on staying past the August 31 deadline. I understand that you're the principal military advisor that you advise you don't decide the president decides. But if all this is true general Milley why haven't you resigned? Senator as a senior military officer resigning is a really serious thing it's a political act if I’m resigning in protest. My job is to provide advice my statutory responsibilities provide legal advice or the best military advice to the president. And that's my legal requirement. That's what the law is. The president doesn't have to agree with that advice he doesn't have to make those decisions just because we're generals. And it would be an incredible act of political defiance for a commissioned officer to just resign because my advice is not taken. This country doesn't want generals figuring out what orders we're going to accept and do or not. That's not our job the principle of civilian control of the military is absolute it's critical to this republic. In addition to that just from a personal standpoint, you know my dad didn't get a choice to resign at Iwo Jima and those kids that are at Abby gate. They don't get a choice to resign and I’m not going to turn my back on them. I’m not going to resign. They can't resign so I’m not going to resign. There's no way if the orders are illegal we're in a different place. But if the orders are legal from civilian authority I intend to carry them out.

Thank you, Senator Cotton.

Sam: Now I appreciated every single thing that Milley had to say. And it was fun to watch Tom Cotton be put in his place over an issue like that. I do think though that if the reporting on what Mark Milley did during the end of the Trump administration though I may be glad he did it he should resign. Yeah for that very principle. I mean and this is a really important distinction I think that people need to make. I can support Mark Milley stopping a lunatic in the white house from starting world war three. But once that threat is over he's got to resign so that he can maintain the principle he just mentioned.