I was kinda through with this "Milley called China" thing, but now it's getting interesting:does this make it sound like a fifteen person video conference call including a representative of the state dept? https://t.co/xgtqi44Otb
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 15, 2021
Not a great morning for the Bobs, Woodward and Costa, or their employer. https://t.co/aLGaBXalHL
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 15, 2021
So Milley didn't go rogue, Trump's cabinet did?*Senior Defense Official confirms to me @axios reporting on Esper's role in China calls.
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) September 15, 2021
"Milley was absolutely not going rogue. Esper took the initiative on this in October, Esper asked his own policy folks to backchannel the message. Milley’s message followed Esper’s."
(There is a legitimate question here: what does the book say, v. what the Washington Post, et al., say it says? Don't expect that question to get very much attention, though.)
*This actually makes sense, since the reporting that Milley did this all on his lonesome reflects an ignorance of government function that is on-par with TV presentations and movies where the President picks up the phone and calls the captain in the field and tells him "Do it!" and that's all it takes. It's Donald Trump's version of government, it's how he thought it worked even after four years at the head of it. All those people in the background at desks and telephones and computers are just extras to give the scene some "color." I mean, the idea that Gen. Milley just picks up the phone and calls China from his desk in the Pentagon (doesn't even tell his aide "Get me China on the phone!") is frankly laughable. Milley is a consummate bureaucrat (the military is one of the consummate bureaucracies; you don't rise to high position by not being a bureaucrat), he knows there is a system to work in and abide by. The idea that he came anywhere close to "Fuck it! I'm taking over!" and then starts punching buttons on his phone is just...a bad movie.
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