GENERAL MILLEY AND THE FINE ART OF DECONFLICTION

General Milley is going to be all right. I heard it from a couple of Four Stars. Like, for instance, Retired Four Star General Barry McCaffrey, who comments frequently on MSNBC and Retired Four Star General Jack Keane, who does the same at FOX.

General Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, under Presidents Trump and Biden has admitted to authors Woodward and Costa, in their Book, Peril, to doing exactly what a person holding his rank and position is supposed to do. Keep us out of accidental wars with nuclear powers.

Its called “Deconfliction.” The word is not in the Constitution. Neither is the term “Nuclear Weapons.” The people at Webster have personally advised me that the first time the word “Deconfliction” was used was 1976, further proof that my history of bringing you up to date material, like “The Dude“, abides.

Deconfliction is the art whereby we tell friends, and powerful foes, what we’re concerned about and seek to ascertain what their concerns are about us. For example, it is not in the interest of the USA for China to be under the impression that our President, no matter who it is, is determined to use nuclear weapons against them. The act of convincing the government of China that their fears are misplaced is in the interest of the USA in that it lessens the likelihood that China would take what they mistakenly thought was “preemptive” action against us. Knowledge of what each adversarial power thinks about the other is useful to achieving an absence of conflict also referred to by liberals and flower children as “Peace.”

Deconfliction is based on the assumption that knowledge is not only powerful but peaceful. It’s in our interests that friends and foes know our intentions, and, we know theirs.

Mark your calendar. The Woodward-Costa book hits bookshelves September 21. General Milley testifies before Congress on September 28.

My bet, he’ll knock it out of the park.

Comments are welcome at tomc[at]wednesdayswars[dot]com. Comments will be addressed in subsequent posts.