Did Gen. Milley Go Too Far?
What Next | Daily News and Analysis
Slate Podcasts
4.3 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 September 2021
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
General Mark Milley, the nation’s top military officer, is making sure the press knows about the role he played in safeguarding democracy under President Trump. How singular were his efforts? And what do they reveal about our governmental institutions?
Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate’s War Stories correspondent and author of the book, The Bomb.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Is there something of a rhythm to a Bob Woodward book launch for someone like you? |
| 0:11.4 | Like you kind of put it into your calendar? |
| 0:13.8 | Oh, I see. |
| 0:14.7 | Like Hanukkah or something? |
| 0:17.2 | Exactly. |
| 0:20.1 | Fred Kaplan writes the war stories column for Slate. |
| 0:24.0 | Yeah. |
| 0:25.0 | Okay, here comes another Woodward book. |
| 0:27.0 | Request the advance copy. |
| 0:29.1 | Read the advance copy. |
| 0:31.7 | Bob Woodward's latest book, Peril, co-authored with Robert Costa, has got a lot to say about the military establishment, |
| 0:39.1 | which is why it seemed like a good time to give Fred a call. |
| 0:42.5 | Fred says he respects the journalism here, but also... |
| 0:45.7 | One thing about Woodward books, you'll notice this. |
| 0:50.7 | There are heroes. |
| 0:52.5 | These heroes have no gray at all. It is all just guys in white suits. And they tend to be the people who talk to Woodward a lot. Where did Woodward get a lot of stuff for this book? It's the people who come off looking really good. |
| 1:07.4 | One of the people who comes off looking really good in peril is the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Mark Millie. |
| 1:15.4 | And in this book, Millie is the hero. Let me give you an example. |
| 1:19.3 | Remember back when George Floyd was killed by policemen and there were demonstrations and near riots all over the place. |
| 1:26.3 | As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, |
| 1:33.6 | military personnel, and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, |
| 1:41.7 | assaults, and the wanton destruction of property. |
... |
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