Woodward should “cough up” the transcripts.

Woodward

I used to know Bob Woodward rather well. I am a figure in one of his books. This is “The Commanders.” His style of writing is such that I don’t recognize myself in his book in some places but no matter …

Woodward’s new book, “Peril,” has put the CJCS in deep kimchee. He is reported in the book to have told the Chinese general Li that in the event of an impending US offensive action against China, he would notify the Chinese of the danger to them in advance. He also contacted and assembled the most key actors in a presidential decision to use nuclear weapons and had them agree that he must be consulted in such an action before execution of the order. Understand that as an adviser to SECDEF and the president, he has no legal authority or power to insert himself into the chain of command, but he is reported to have done just that.

I am familiar with Woodward’s method in working. It is said that he and Costa his co-author in this book have transcripts of the phone calls with the Chinese and some sort of memorialization of Milley’s attempt to usurp the president’s legal and constitutional powers.

In fact, there is no evidence that Trump ever contemplated an attack on China or any other place other than the silly pinprick attacks on Syria that he was bullied into. He actually has the businessman’s dread of war as destructive and wasteful.

Woodward owes it to the nation and indeed to Milley to make the documents public without delay.

C’mon Bob, come clean. pl

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Woodward

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14 Responses to Woodward should “cough up” the transcripts.

  1. Deap says:

    Woodward goes into Senator Harry Reid mode: “Sure I lied, but it worked”.
    (Reid: I know Romney paid no taxes. Defeat of Romney – 2012.)

    Woodward: Hey, may or may not have happened that way. But if it sells my book.

  2. Seamus Padraig says:

    Mark Milley probably made this up to make himself sound like a hero. What an idiot!

  3. Paola Giovanetti says:

    But, why this, why now, why in this form?

    Why this happens just in an around 9/11 anniversary?

    Would not such an scandal add to the current disintegration of US institutions and the collpase of credibility in the system and government?

    Is it proftting from a book sells the real goal here?

    Or is it the necessity to plant in the post of CJCS a more warmongering figure due the current tendence to withdraw from and end useless and expensive wars, so that to facilitate the remaining pre-planned wars ( Iran, China…)?

    There is a sunni sheikh over there, and expert in escathology, who affirms that after Pax Americana, it comes Pax Judaica….

    There are governments in Europe who have contracted Israeli tech and firms to track and follow their citizenry…You already know Israel is chmapioning vaccination pace and has a particular deal with Pfizer….Pfizer has ascende to the employeers board, and thus to the tables of social and labor negotiations…

    What would be the links between Woodward and foreign gvoernments, like Israel?

    Who is the traitor and who the patriot?

    I have no grounds to suspect or clean anybody of the implied, but, due the state of affairs in the world, just a bunch of questions and facts to consider…At least some any judge, military of civil, should consider, not to mention context.

    Anyway, one thing is assuring the Chinese they will be warned in case of kinetic attack, and another thing is proving that would be what Milley would do.
    Deception is part of war, if not its most part….

    I have the idea that previous to the Hiiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings the Japanese authorities were warned in advance so that people could evacuate…Yet we know a lot of people died and resulted seriously injured there….

    • Deap says:

      If this alleged event was publicized just to sell a book, then the American institution of laissez-faire capitalism remains alive and well.

      Proving not everything is crumbling in the US. Including our abiding axioms: a fool and his money are soon parted. And, you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.

  4. Ghost_Ship says:

    It was his job. He was simply doing his job, and he was the right person at the right time, that’s all.

    • Pat Lang says:

      Ghost Ship

      If you mean Milley, it was not his job to interpose himself in the chain of command nor to offer to forewarn the Chinese of American action in advance.

      • Ghost_Ship says:

        It wasn’t Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov’s job to impose himself in the chain of command but he did and we should all be grateful.
        The idea that policy and war should be separate is a very dangerous one.

        • Mark Logan says:

          We have some odd protocols on obeying orders in the use of nuclear weapons. There is a SOP in place in which the trigger man, if he suspects the order is illegal or fake, can go outside of the COC and consult with the CJCOS.

          Congress was considering inserting themselves into the COC back in Nov of 17 and held a hearing. I followed it at the time. Congress was informed by the ex head of SAC on the matter. I dug up a relevant part of the transcript. This is what Gen. Robert Kehler told Congress in his written opening statement:

          “Military members are bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to follow orders provided they are legal and come from appropriate command authority. They are equally bound to question (and ultimately refuse) illegal orders or those that do not come from
          appropriate authority. As the commander of U.S. Strategic Command, I shared the responsibility with the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other senior military and civilian leaders to address and resolve any concerns and potential legal issues on behalf of the men and women in the nuclear operating forces during the decision process. It was our duty to pose the hard questions, if any, before proceeding with our military advice. Nuclear crew members must have complete confidence that the highest legal standards have been enforced from target selection to an employment command by the President.”

          https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg34311/html/CHRG-115shrg34311.htm

          Doesn’t seem strange to me now that Pelosi chose to call the CJCOS, someone not nominally within the COC, to express her concerns, and the Chairman acted on that expressed concern. She had been told that position is in the loop as one of the checks against rash, unilateral action on the part of a POTUS. Apparently the Chairman believed the same.

        • Lysias says:

          The idea that military officers should overrule elected superiors is also very dangerous.

          Why didn’t Milley seek authorization from the SecDef or Trump?

        • Willy B says:

          Actually, it appears that Petrov was doing his job which was to determine whether a warning indication was valid or not. He did not impose himself in the chain of command as Milley did.
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

    • tpcelt says:

      The Constitution provides that the President is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. The Constitution also provides the protocol to be pursued if the President is considered to be unfit for office. It isn’t rocket science. It can be done quickly if circumstances warrant. Contact the VP & Cabinet, or the Speaker of the House, or Senate leaders. To me, it was unnecessary and, quite frankly, appalling, dangerous, etc., that Milley chose to interject himself in a manner such as he has not denied to date. To me, he is neither a hero nor a defender of our democratic republic as set forth in our Constitution.

  5. Jim says:

    Woodward [and Bernstein] became famous publishing in WAP: spoon-fed narratives from FBI Deputy Dir. Mark Felt, who lied to Nixon. Assuming what I have read over the years about this is accurate.

    This is deja vue all over again.

    Assuming Bernstein is accurate, the joint chiefs chairman lied to Trump. [And a lie of omission is an intentional failure to tell the truth in a situation requiring disclosure.] [Proverbs 19:9 – “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.”]

    Is that OK, in our form of government?

    Publicly release the damn transcripts, if they exist, of all of it, period. Now.

    And as need be: add this to Durham’s to-do list.

    And/or, for those of that may be opposed to constitutionality of special prosecutor: it is for the Supreme Court to intervene.

    Or Congress.

    Each has constitutional prerogatives to check the other branches of government — when there is gross corruption.

    If Bernstein is accurate, the chairman’s action are gross corruption, to put in mildly; determination of if this is treason is obviously needed, no ifs ands or buts.

    Gen. Milley works for us, we the people, and for this he has duties, among which is: Accountability — something entirely lacking all over the place.

    PS
    This latest morality play underscore what is a actually a whistleblower and place in relief this perplexity.

    Clearly, neither an FBI deputy director or chairman of joint chiefs, given their status and role, have all the means to report what they feel are misdeeds and corruption, in a systemic way. Such as in their cases: going to Congress and/or Supreme Court.

    The path these men chose does not comport with their constitutional responsibilities as actors in the very highest positions in government.

    Going to Woodward give the completely unacceptable appearance of their being “whistleblowers.”

    These are not only corruptible actions: they are the sign of weak men who had no business in the job they had. Period.

    And this, what they did: Deception to the American People, on purpose, deception of the highest order: First Degree Deception! [assuming reports are accurate, and near as I can tell, no one is denying accuracy].
    -30-

  6. Jim says:

    Correction: twice, wrote, in post a moment ago [assuming “Bernstein is accurate”] — this should have read with name of Woodward, not Bernstein.

  7. scott s. says:

    For those of us further down the food chain, a key determination was “reliability”. There was of course always the question of “second guessing” but the processes and exercising I think tended to reduce the likelihood of it. And there was never one person “in the loop” so you had inter-personal factors at work at all times.

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