Retired Army Major General Randy Manner told MS NOW’s Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday he had secondhand knowledge that military officials were “saying no” to Pentagon leadership.

Manner joined Deadline: White House to discuss the ongoing U.S. military operation in Iran and President Donald Trump’s recent pledge to attack civilian targets in the country if an agreement was not reached by Tuesday night. Wallace asked Manner about Tucker Carlon’s criticism of the president’s threats and his call to those within the administration and military to resign if given an illegal order by Trump.

“I think it’s more clear than ever before this concept of following– that you’re not supposed to follow illegal orders,” said Manner.

He continued:

I have already indications that many targets that were recommended by the Secretary of Defense were rejected by CENTCOM, that they were civilian targets. It is something where, again, I don’t have firsthand knowledge. It’s secondhand knowledge. But I believe that people are already saying no to the hierarchy. The CENTCOM commander is walking a very thin line where he is trying to do the best he can to implement military objectives as he understands them, without getting fired is the best way to put it. In the same way that the Secretary of Defense has already fired several other senior Army officers during times of war, which is unprecedented, by the way, for no apparent reason.

So I don’t think the world needs to be concerned. And I’m not trying to dismiss this renegade discussion and this bizarre behavior of our president. But I don’t think that anything substantial is going to happen tonight at 8 P.M. I believe that the answer will be no.

When asked by Wallace to clarify his remarks, Manner said that he had been told Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had requested, rather than ordered, strikes on targets that were refused by military officials. He then claimed there was a “quiet resistance” within CENTCOM that was attempting to redirect orders to go after civilian targets toward attacks on Iran’s military.

“The idea of attacking bridges that are clearly, overwhelmingly for civilian use would be a war crime, and that the planners in CENTCOM would not permit that,” he said, adding:

That is what I am hearing, again, secondhand. So I believe that there are very subtle pushbacks that already have been occurring to go after military targets. So it’s almost like instead of this one, this is the target that you should be looking at. And so it’s almost like these are not the droids you’re looking for, using a Jedi mind trick. I hate to be quite so comical about it, but I think that’s what’s going on, is that there is this very quiet resistance to be able to say, “Let’s get this in military lanes, not attacking the civilian infrastructure.” I don’t know what would happen if indeed the president was to order attacking civilian targets.

Watch above via MS NOW.

The post Ret. Major General Says He’s Been Told the Military Is ‘Already Saying No’ To Pentagon Higher-Ups first appeared on Mediaite.