Archiv: Mark A. Milley


13.08.2023 - 15:28 [ ModernDiplomacy.eu ]

Gen. Mark Milley: “Measured pace of Ukraine’s counteroffensive not a surprise”

The primary challenge for Ukrainian forces is the continued difficulty of breaking through Russia’s multi-layered defensive lines in the eastern and southern parts of the country, which are marked by tens of thousands of mines and vast networks of trenches. Ukrainian forces have incurred staggering losses there, leading Ukrainian commanders to hold back some units to regroup and reduce casualties.

“Russians have a number of defensive lines and they [Ukrainian forces] haven’t really gone through the first line,” said a senior Western diplomat.

04.08.2023 - 08:00 [ CNN ]

Exclusive: CNN obtains the tape of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents

(27.06.2023)

CNN has previously reported that Trump at the time was furious over a New Yorker article about Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley that said Milley argued against striking Iran and was concerned Trump would set in motion a full-scale conflict. (…)

“He said that I wanted to attack Iran, Isn’t it amazing?” Trump says as the sound of papers shuffling can be heard. “I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.”

04.08.2023 - 07:59 [ Jacobin ]

The Biggest Scandal in Trump’s Indictment: US War Plans for Iran

(13.06.2023)

Wait — war with Iran?

Yes, in a detail that’s been almost entirely glossed over, central to this case are a set of secret government plans for attacking Iran.

27.06.2023 - 12:36 [ CNN ]

Exclusive: CNN obtains the tape of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents

(today)

CNN has previously reported that Trump at the time was furious over a New Yorker article about Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley that said Milley argued against striking Iran and was concerned Trump would set in motion a full-scale conflict. (…)

“He said that I wanted to attack Iran, Isn’t it amazing?” Trump says as the sound of papers shuffling can be heard. “I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this – this is off the record but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.”

27.06.2023 - 12:34 [ Haaretz ]

Top U.S. General Warned Netanyahu: ‚You‘re Gonna Have a Fucking War‘ With Iran

(08.08.2022)

„Among those pushing the president to hit Iran before Biden’s inauguration, Milley believed, was the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. On December 18, the same day that Trump met with [Michael] Flynn to discuss instituting martial law, Milley met with Netanyahu at his home in Jerusalem to personally urge him to back off with Trump,“ wrote Baker and Glasser in an excerpt published in the New Yorker.

“If you do this, you’re gonna have a fucking war,” Milley told him, according to the excerpt. The Israeli prime minister‘s official Twitter account noted „the two discussed regional threats, especially the Iranian aggression“ in its readout of the meeting.

27.06.2023 - 12:30 [ New Yorker ]

“You’re Gonna Have a Fucking War”: Mark Milley’s Fight to Stop Trump from Striking Iran

(15.07.2021)

It was not public at the time, but Milley believed that the nation had come close—“very close”—to conflict with the Islamic Republic. This dangerous post-election period, Milley said, was all because of Trump’s “Hitler”-like embrace of the “Big Lie” that the election had been stolen from him; Milley feared it was Trump’s “Reichstag moment,” in which, like Adolf Hitler in 1933, he would manufacture a crisis in order to swoop in and rescue the nation from it.

10.06.2023 - 18:52 [ Haaretz ]

Trump’s Trial: The Israel-Iran Connection

Matters came to a head during Trump’s final year in office, 2020, which started by the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force Chief Qassem Soleimani. Tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated. Netanyahu advocated for an American assault. The Pentagon, as directed, prepared and presented plans, but was reluctant to go on the attack.

In counts 33 and 34 of the indictment, Trump is described and quoted in a conversation with four people, none equipped with the essential top-security credentials to see and hear such secrets

10.06.2023 - 16:57 [ El Pais ]

Recording reveals that Trump took a secret plan to attack Iran from the White House

One of the witnesses questioned was General Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, one of the highest-ranking national security positions of the Trump era.

The meeting that was recorded was held in July 2021 at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people working on the autobiography of former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as aides employed by the former president, including communications specialist Margo Martin, according to CNN, which points out that Meadows talks about what appears to be the same meeting in his book.

10.06.2023 - 16:38 [ Truthout.org ]

Trump Recording Raises Threat of Potential Indictment in Mar-a-Lago Case

(June 1, 2023)

Federal prosecutors obtained an audio recording in which former President Donald Trump admits retaining a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, raising the threat of a potential indictment in the Mar-a-Lago investigation, according to CNN. (…)

The meeting took place in July 2021 at Trump’s Bedminster, N.J., golf course with two people working on former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ autobiography and Trump aides including communications specialist Margo Martin, according to the report. The individuals did not have security clearance required to see classified material.

01.01.2023 - 18:42 [ Haaretz ]

Israel‘s Military Chiefs Could Face a ‚Mark Milley Moment‘ With New Government

According to “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” by Washington Post reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, Milley was more emphatic in private conversations. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was telling lawmakers and colleagues at the time that any Trump-led attempted coup would fail.

“They may try, but they’re not going to fucking succeed,” he told his deputies, according to the book. “You can’t do this without the military. You can’t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We’re the guys with the guns.”

12.09.2022 - 14:53 [ Tehran Times / Nitter ]

On Thursday, Mossad Director David Barnea concluded a “security-diplomatic” visit to Washington whose main goal was to dissuade the Biden administration from signing the JCPOA.

(09.09.2022)

09.09.2022 - 14:10 [ Laura Rozen / Substack ]

Israel believes Iran deal unlikely before November

“In my estimation, it’s not going to happen in the very near future, not in the next few weeks,” one source, speaking not for attribution, said Sept. 6. “I think we’ll see continuation of a dialogue, very low key, until after the midterm elections.”

The assessment comes as the head of Mossad was the latest senior Israeli official to arrive for consultations in Washington this week.

However, Mossad director David Barnea has canceled earlier plans to brief the Senate Intelligence committee on Israeli objections to the Iran deal, sources said, and a committee spokesperson confirmed.

09.09.2022 - 14:02 [ BNN Newsroom / Nitter ]

Barnea has completed a series of meetings with Burns, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, FBI Director Christopher Wray, and other top US national security officials.

During those meetings, he presented „sensitive intelligence“ to highlight the Islamic Republic‘s lies.

09.09.2022 - 13:53 [ Jerusalem Post ]

Mossad chief Barnea flies to Washington to try to halt Iran nuclear deal

(06.09.2022)

Mossad Director David Barnea left on Monday for Washington DC to hold a series of meetings with top officials from the White House, CIA Director William Burns, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Pentagon and the State Department to try to halt the reportedly impending Iran nuclear deal.

09.08.2022 - 15:17 [ Newsweek ]

Israeli Defense Minister Refutes Report That Netanyahu Urged Trump to Strike Iran After Losing Election

Benny Gantz, a retired Israeli army general and the country‘s minister of defense, told a local media outlet yesterday that a New Yorker report which said Netanyahu encouraged U.S. action against Iran was likely „not what happened.“

„I don‘t know of this story and I assume this is not what happened,“ Gantz said in an interview, according to the Jerusalem Post.

09.08.2022 - 15:07 [ NewYorker.com ]

Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals

The biggest fear was that Iran would provoke Trump, and, using an array of diplomatic and military channels, American officials warned the Iranians not to exploit the volatile domestic situation in the U.S. “There was a distinct concern that Iran would take advantage of this to strike at us in some way,” Adam Smith, the House Armed Services chairman, recalled.

Among those pushing the President to hit Iran before Biden’s Inauguration, Milley believed, was the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. On December 18th, the same day that Trump met with Flynn to discuss instituting martial law, Milley met with Netanyahu at his home in Jerusalem to personally urge him to back off with Trump. “If you do this, you’re gonna have a fucking war,” Milley told him.

09.08.2022 - 14:40 [ Haaretz ]

Top U.S. General Warned Netanyahu: ‚You‘re Gonna Have a Fucking War‘ With Iran

„Among those pushing the president to hit Iran before Biden’s inauguration, Milley believed, was the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. On December 18, the same day that Trump met with [Michael] Flynn to discuss instituting martial law, Milley met with Netanyahu at his home in Jerusalem to personally urge him to back off with Trump,“ wrote Baker and Glasser in an excerpt published in the New Yorker.

“If you do this, you’re gonna have a fucking war,” Milley told him, according to the excerpt. The Israeli prime minister‘s official Twitter account noted „the two discussed regional threats, especially the Iranian aggression“ in its readout of the meeting.

24.05.2022 - 05:11 [ Algemeiner.com ]

Pentagon, CENTCOM Deny Reports US Refueling Planes Took Part in Israel Iran-Strike Drill

(23.05.2022)

According to Buccino, the fuel tankers simulated refueling two US F-15s and four Israeli F-16s. The timing of the refueling exercise was coincidental, Buccino said.

“There is no direct US military involvement in that exercise,” Buccino said, referring to “Chariots of Fire.”

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Rob Lodewick also denied that the Department of Defense was “directly participating” in the exercise, according to the report.

“A small number of personnel from across US Central Command are observing portions of the exercise,” Lodewick added.

24.05.2022 - 04:56 [ Times of Israel ]

Report: In 1st, US refuelers to take part in major Israeli drill for strike on Iran

(17.05.2022)

According to the unsourced report, the US Air Force will serve as a complementary force, with refueling planes drilling with Israeli fighter jets as they simulate entering Iranian territory and carrying out repeated strikes.

The unprecedented Israel- US aerial collaboration in a drill simulating a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities is seen as a potential message to Iran amid long-stalled negotiations in Vienna over a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, a possibility Israel has repeatedly voiced its objection to, warning it would lead to “a more violent, more volatile Middle East.”

24.05.2022 - 04:53 [ Times of Israel ]

Israeli military to hold large-scale drill simulating widescale strike on Iran

(17.05.2022)

Gantz is slated to meet with his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Thursday at the Pentagon in Washington. Meanwhile, Michael Kurilla, head of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), arrived in Israel on Tuesday for his first official visit.

24.05.2022 - 03:42 [ theHill.com ]

Pentagon working on plans to send troops to protect US Embassy in Kyiv

“Some of the things that may have been out there in the media, those are planning efforts that are underway at a relatively low level,” Milley told reporters at the Pentagon, seeming to refer to the Journal’s report.

Such plans “have not yet made it to [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] or myself for that matter, for refinement of courses of action and what’s needed,” he noted.

19.04.2022 - 21:17 [ Interfax.com.ua ]

Zaluzhny, Chair of US Joint Chiefs of Staff speak on difficult situation in eastern, southern Ukraine, where heavy battles going on

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny shared with Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley information about the difficult situation in eastern and southern Ukraine, where heavy fighting is taking place.

„I have had a conversation with my American counterpart, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark A. Milley. I have shared the information on the situation in the East and South of Ukraine, where the heavy battles are going on,“ Zaluzhny said in his Telegram channel.

29.09.2021 - 08:57 [ Zachary Cohen, National security reporter @CNN / Twitter ]

Gen. McKenzie again says he is responsible for drone strike that killed 10 civilians but seems to defend decision to fire, citing similar intel for other successful strikes. Still a lot of questions about what transpired before strike, including civilian casualty estimates.

It happened in my area of responsibility, so I‘m the responsible officer for that strike,” McKenzie said during a Senate hearing on Tuesday.

McKenzie said he was under “no pressure” and “no one in my chain of command below me was under any pressure to take that strike.”

29.09.2021 - 08:53 [ theHill.com ]

Five takeaways from the Senate‘s hearing on Afghanistan

Austin said military officials had discussed “a range of possibilities,” but no one planned for the possibility the Afghan government would collapse as quickly as it did.

“We certainly did not plan against a collapse of the government in 11 days,” Austin told lawmakers in response to a lawmaker question.

28.09.2021 - 20:13 [ C-SPAN / Youtube ]

Secretary of Defense & Joint Chiefs Chair and Others Testify on Afghanistan Withdrawal

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chair General Mark Milley, and General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, testify on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

01.09.2021 - 13:16 [ theGuardian.com ]

Raab rejects US claims Britain indirectly to blame for Kabul attacks

(31.08.2021)

“We coordinated very closely with the US, in particular around the Isis-K threat, which we anticipated although tragically were not able to prevent, but it is certainly right to say we got our civilians out of the processing centre by Abbey gate, but it is just not true to suggest that other than securing our civilians inside the airport that we were pushing to leave the gate open.

“In fact, and let me just be clear about this, we were issuing changes to travel advice before the bomb attack took place and saying to people in the crowd, about which I was particularly concerned, that certainly UK nationals and anyone else should leave because of the risk.”

01.09.2021 - 13:06 [ DailyMail.co.uk ]

US military ‚blames BRITAIN for making Kabul suicide attack death toll worse‘: Leaked Pentagon papers say airport gate had to be kept open for UK evacuees – as questions grow over how many were killed by panicked troops firing on civilians

(30.08.2021)

The British Ministry of Defence declined to respond to allegations they were to blame for keeping the gate open, but said in a statement: ‚Throughout Operation Pitting we have worked closely with the US to ensure the safe evacuation of thousands of people.

01.09.2021 - 12:56 [ theGuardian.com ]

Report reveals US decision to keep open Kabul airport gate before attack

(30.08.2021)

The Pentagon criticised the leaking of the call details reported in Politico, telling the news website: “This story is based on the unlawful disclosure of classified information and internal deliberations of a sensitive nature.

“As soon as we became aware of the material divulged to the reporter, we engaged Politico at the highest levels to prevent the publication of information that would put our troops and our operations at the airport at greater risk. We condemn the unlawful disclosure of classified information and oppose the publication of a story based on it while a dangerous operation is ongoing.”

01.09.2021 - 12:32 [ Politico.com ]

Exclusive: Pentagon prepared for ‘mass casualty’ attack at Kabul Airport hours before explosion

(30.08.2021)

Commanders calling in from Kabul relayed that the Abbey Gate, where American citizens had been told to gather in order to gain entrance to the airport, was “highest risk,” and detailed their plans to protect the airport.

“I don’t believe people get the incredible amount of risk on the ground,” Austin said, according to the classified notes.

On a separate call at 4 that afternoon, or 12:30 a.m. on Thursday in Kabul, the commanders detailed a plan to close Abbey Gate by Thursday afternoon Kabul time. But the Americans decided to keep the gate open longer than they wanted in order to allow their British allies, who had accelerated their withdrawal timeline, to continue evacuating their personnel, based at the nearby Baron Hotel.

01.09.2021 - 12:20 [ Antiwar.com ]

87 Retired Admirals and Generals Demand Resignation of SECDEF and CJCS

(30.08.2021)

The letter takes aim at the President and the highest ranks of military leadership, but mostly chastises them for not doing more to convince the Commander-in-Chief to maintain a US troop presence in the country.

Despite reported assurances from the Taliban that the remaining Americans who desire to leave Afghanistan will be afforded the opportunity to do so, the letter claims they are „de facto hostages of the Taliban“.

Strangely, the letter also claims that China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, and North Korea are the beneficiaries of the withdrawal.

20.08.2021 - 09:14 [ JM Rieger, Video Editor, The Washington Post / Twitter ]

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley: “The intelligence clearly indicated that multiple scenarios were possible … there was nothing, that I or anyone else saw, that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days.“

(18.08.2021)

20.08.2021 - 09:08 [ New York Post ]

‘Nothing I saw indicated a collapse of this government in 11 days’: Milley on Afghanistan

(18.08.2021)

“There was nothing that I saw that indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days.”

His comments came just one day after sources told the New York Times that US intelligence officials had been warning of a quick Taliban takeover in Afghanistan — even as President Biden was publicly downplaying the threat.

19.07.2021 - 16:56 [ i24news.tv ]

Report: Netanyahu urged lame-duck Trump to strike Iran

General Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, emerges in the report as a figure committed to procedural order and concerned by the possibility of erratic decisions by the firebrand lame-duck president; referring to the proposed strike against Iran‘s nuclear sites, he told Trump that “if you do this, you’re gonna have a f*cking war.“

He was eventually successful in blocking the plans of Pense, Pompeo and Netanyahu.

19.07.2021 - 16:55 [ Washington Post ]

Joint Chiefs chairman feared potential ‘Reichstag moment’ aimed at keeping Trump in power

(14.07.2021)

Portions of the book related to Milley — first reported Wednesday night by CNN ahead of the book’s July 20 release — offer a remarkable window into the thinking of America’s highest-ranking military officer, who saw himself as one of the last empowered defenders of democracy during some of the darkest days in the country’s recent history.

The episodes in the book are based on interviews with more than 140 people, including senior Trump administration officials, friends and advisers, Leonnig and Rucker write in an author’s note.

19.07.2021 - 16:49 [ New Yorker ]

“You’re Gonna Have a Fucking War”: Mark Milley’s Fight to Stop Trump from Striking Iran

(15.07.2021)

It was not public at the time, but Milley believed that the nation had come close—“very close”—to conflict with the Islamic Republic. This dangerous post-election period, Milley said, was all because of Trump’s “Hitler”-like embrace of the “Big Lie” that the election had been stolen from him; Milley feared it was Trump’s “Reichstag moment,” in which, like Adolf Hitler in 1933, he would manufacture a crisis in order to swoop in and rescue the nation from it.

15.07.2021 - 07:41 [ CNN ]

‚They‘re not going to f**king succeed‘: Top generals feared Trump would attempt a coup after election, according to new book

The authors explain Milley‘s growing concerns that personnel moves that put Trump acolytes in positions of power at the Pentagon after the November 2020 election, including the firing of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and the resignation of Attorney General William Barr, were the sign of something sinister to come.

Milley spoke to friends, lawmakers and colleagues about the threat of a coup, and the Joint Chiefs chairman felt he had to be „on guard“ for what might come.

„They may try, but they‘re not going to f**king succeed,“ Milley told his deputies, according to the authors. „You can‘t do this without the military. You can‘t do this without the CIA and the FBI. We‘re the guys with the guns.“

26.06.2021 - 13:24 [ The Jerusalem Post / Twitter ]

.@IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi concluded his trip to the #UnitedStates on Friday and said the trip‘s goals of discussing and warning about #Iranian #nuclear weapons development were met.

(25.06.2021)

26.06.2021 - 13:08 [ Haaretz ]

Another Mysterious Iran Strike. Totally Different Circumstances

(25.06.2021)

Did the drone strike on the Iranian site – conducted while Israel‘s army chief is in Washington – surprise the Americans?

26.06.2021 - 13:04 [ News_Executive / Twitter ]

Breaking: Iranian officials say, a Sabotage attempt on a building of atomic energy organization of Iran has been foiled, it was reportedly a drone strike that targeted the building in the city of Karaj to the west of Tehran.

(23.06.2021)