Thread by @pleasesaveour

The first call was prompted by Milley’s review of intel sug the Chinese believed the US was preparing to attack. That belief was based on tensions over military exercises in the South China Sea, and deepened by Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward China.
washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…

Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel.

I think he might be in trouble if true

Milley, chosen by Trump in 2018, believed the president had suffered a mental

decline after the election, the authors write, a view he communicated to House Speaker Pelosi in a phone call on Jan. 8. He agreed with her evaluation that Trump was unstable, according to a call transcript.

Believing that China could lash out if it felt at risk from an

unpredictable and vengeful Trump, Milley took action. The same day he called the admiral overseeing the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and recommended postponing the military exercises, according to the book. The admiral complied.

Milley also summoned Sr officers to review the

procedures for launching nuclear weapons, saying Trump alone could give the order — but, crucially, that he, Milley, also had to be involved. Looking each in the eye, Milley asked the officers to affirm that they had understood, the authors write, in what he considered an “oath.”

Though Milley went furthest in seeking to stave off a national security crisis, his alarm was shared throughout the highest ranks of the administration, the authors reveal. CIA Director Gina Haspel, for instance, reportedly told Milley, “We are on the way to a right-wing coup.”

The general saw parallels between Jan. 6 and the 1905 Russian Revolution, which set off unrest throughout the Russian Empire and, though it failed, helped create the conditions for the October Revolution of 1917, in which the Bolsheviks executed a successful coup that set up the

world’s first communist state. Vladimir Lenin, who led the revolution, called 1905 a “dress rehearsal.”

By keeping Milley, we have someone who could see something coming before anyone else. He knows his history enough to try and prevent it from repeating itself

@threadreaderapp unroll please