Tag Archives: James Mattis

International news, military news

Who’s next at Defense? Will it be a Trump ideologue?

James Mattis’s stunning resignation as defense secretary poses the next obvious question for those of us who are concerned about the future of our national defense policy.

Who in the world is Donald Trump going to find to succeed the man who quit because of serious policy differences with the White House?

More to the point: Will the next defense boss — unlike the warrior/patriot who’s leaving — going to be a sycophant who’ll do the president’s bidding without challenging him in any fashion?

Let’s lay this out right away: Donald John Trump is the first president in U.S. history who has (a) no military experience and (b) no prior government experience. I don’t begrudge the president for lacking any military background; he’s far from the first one to bring that lack of credential to the nation’s highest office. But the absence of both backgrounds, taken together, puts this matter into a whole new context.

Mattis quit over differences on an array of policy matters with the president. The deal breaker appears to be Trump’s sudden decision to pull our troops out of Syria, leaving the battlefield while the fight against the Islamic State is still under way. Mattis opposed that decision. The president didn’t heed his advice, or the advice of any other military or diplomatic expert with access to the Oval Office. What in the world does it tell us that Russia — which is propping up the Syrian dictator — endorsed Trump’s decision to withdraw from Syria?

Is the president, therefore, going to look for someone who shares his world view on how to shaft our allies, kowtow to dictators, allow the know-nothing commander in chief to do as he pleases whenever he pleases?

Mattis, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general with more than four decades of service to the nation — much of it on battlefields around the world — is none of the above. Moreover, he is revered by the men and women who serve under him. He commands respect because he gives respect to our allies and those who are thrust into harm’s way.

This man’s resignation is a big . . . deal.

I am officially frightened.

media news

Blogging requires multi-tasking skills

For the first time — more than likely — since I started blogging full time I am left with too much to comment on.

Just today alone, the news exploded all over the place.

  • The U.S. House of Reps decided to put $5 billion to build a wall along our southern border into a stopgap funding bill, then got assurances from Donald Trump he wouldn’t sign the Senate version of a bill that would keep the government running.
  • The government is about to shut down partially.
  • Then to top it off, Defense Secretary James Mattis quit and told the president off in his letter of resignation. Man, he blistered the commander in chief’s rear end. He delivered the letter in person at the White House. And get this: He signed his letter without salutation; there was no “sincerely,” or “with great respect” or “God bless you, sir” at the end of Mattis’s resignation letter.

I’ve been focused this afternoon on the Mattis matter, as I consider it to be most critical at this moment. I believe his resignation and his reasons for quitting constitute a national security crisis . . . as if Donald Trump doesn’t have enough crises to keep him, um, occupied.

As for me, I now need to figure out what I can write about in the moment and what I can set aside for another day. This reminds me of the situation I faced as an opinion page editor after 9/11. We had more to write about than space would allow, meaning we had to decide which topics we could postpone for another time. It’s an editorial writer’s and editor’s ideal situation.

This blogger now has the same dream.

national news

Chaos begets more chaos in Trump’s world

Chaos is running rampant throughout the executive branch of the U.S. government.

Nope. It isn’t a “fine-tuned machine,” no matter what Donald Trump calls it. It is a clanking, sputtering bucket of bolts with the wheels about to fly off the rickety machine.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has resigned, revealing specific differences of world view with the commander in chief. He becomes the eighth Cabinet officer to resign or be fired in the first half of the president’s term in office.

Three Cabinet officials quit under clouds of scandal. Three of them were canned outright. Yet another one resigned for reasons that weren’t entirely clear.

Let’s not forget the departure of two White House chiefs of staff, several communications directors, two national security advisers and any number of lower-level White House aides.

Now this happens. I happen to be a huge admirer of Secretary Mattis. I admire his military background, his studious nature, his commitment to the men and women in uniform. I admire his steady hand and his repeated resistance to the president’s impulsive nature.

He has had enough of the chaos. This decorated Marine Corps general can no longer answer to a commander in chief who operates the way Donald Trump seeks to operate.

Chaos is Donald Trump’s modus operandi. He revels in it with no understanding — none at all — of the misery and mayhem it creates for those who must deal with it up close.

And this all comes as the president responds to the bellowing of his political base and insists after all for money to build that wall along our southern border. What’s more, the government well might shut down partially at midnight Friday, putting thousands of federal workers out of a job right before Christmas.

This is not how you make America great again. It is not how you tell it like it is. It is not how you win.

This is a frightening time. James Mattis’s upcoming departure signals a growth in chaos at the highest — most sensitive — levels of our government.

Read Mattis’s resignation letter right here. Then ask yourself: Is this any way to run the world’s most indispensable nation?

military news, national news

Mattis quits; so goes Trump’s last ‘best’ person

I am saddened but not shocked to hear the news that rocketed out of Washington, D.C. today. Defense Secretary James Mattis has resigned.

What is astonishing is the tone of the resignation letter Mattis sent to the president of the United States. He calls out the commander in chief for his failure to be more “resolute” in his approach to Russia and China. He also tears into the president for his treatment of our geopolitical allies and then declares that Trump has the right to have a defense secretary whose views “align” more with the president.

Mattis’s views do not, as the letter makes clear.

This is a serious blow to the defense of our nation. Mattis is a serious man, a retired Marine Corps four-star general, a man who has seen combat. He is a patriot, a warrior a student of foreign policy.

That this man would resign effective Feb. 28, just after the second year of the Trump administration, is stunning enough. That he would call out the commander in chief, who makes foreign and defense policy decisions on impulse and whim, is utterly breathtaking in its scope.

Read the letter here

One more takeaway from the letter: Mattis does not express gratitude for serving the president. He does express pride in serving the men and women in uniform and for serving the nation he loves.

Will any of this register in any tangible manner with the commander in chief? I wouldn’t bet my last dollar on it.

International news

The ‘best’ are great, the worst are, well, something else

Donald Trump has shown an ability to hire a wide-ranging array of key administration officials. They run from the brightest of lights to the dimmest of bulbs.

I consider Defense Secretary James Mattis to be among the stars of the Trump administration. He’s a retired four-star Marine Corps general; tested in combat. He’s dedicated to the defense of this country. Thoughtful, learned and a totally competent strategic thinker.

I hope he stays for the duration of the Trump administration, although Mattis’s tenure is beginning to show signs of wobbliness.

Then there’s the president’s latest selection to be our ambassador to the United Nations.

I am having difficulty wrapping my noggin around this one. Heather Nauert is nominated to be our nation’s top envoy on the world stage. Her credentials? None. She has nothing to offer.

Except for this: She once was a “news” personality on the Fox News News Channel, the president’s network of choice. She did a co-hosting gig on “Fox & Friends.” She dressed up in goofy costumes and acted totally, well, the way morning “news” talk show co-hosts often act.

Then she got a job as spokeswoman for the State Department. You might be recall how she sought to praise U.S.-Germany relations by citing, for instance, the upcoming D-Day commemoration. D’oh! Wait a second!

Our guys fought the Germans to the death on the beaches at Normandy, France. We were at war.

This is the kind of “experience” the president sought when he named this person to be our advocate on at the United Nations.

Weird, man.

military news

Hoping that Mattis stays put

This news is distressing in the extreme.

The one individual serving in the Donald J. Trump administration that I want to stay might be calling it a day. Defense Secretary James Mattis reportedly, allegedly, supposedly is on the bubble.

He might bail from the administration. It has been reported that the defense boss is unhappy with the commander in chief. Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear,” attributes some unkind remarks from the retired Marine Corps general about the president.

He has opposed Trump’s policy pronouncements, such as the one that bans transgender troops from serving in the military. Mattis also believes the U.S. pullout from the Paris climate accord is a mistake. And, as Woodward reported in “Fear,” Mattis had to explain to the president that the presence of 28,000 U.S. troops in South Korea is intended to “prevent World War III.”

I will refrain from attaching the “Mad Dog” nickname to Mattis; he reportedly hates the term, so I won’t use it other than to refer to it.

Mattis is a grownup. He is a tested combat veteran who knows full well the consequences of war.

He is mature. He is reasonable. He is measured.

Mattis is precisely the kind of presence that Donald Trump needs close to him in times of crisis.

And, so what if James Mattis is “sort of a Democrat,” as Trump has said? Defense policy should be far removed from partisan politics.

military news

Is the defense boss next one to go?

Oh, I was hoping James Mattis could survive the on-going purge of grownups within the Donald J. Trump administration.

It appears the hope is fading.

Mattis is the defense secretary, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, a decorated combat veteran, a seriously competent military expert and a man known to be a bona fide check on the president’s lack of knowledge of damn near anything involving foreign/military policy.

He once was one of Trump’s favorites. He’s no longer among those folks, according to The New York Times.

As the Times reports: In the second year of his presidency, Mr. Trump has largely tuned out his national security aides as he feels more confident as commander in chief, the officials said. Facing what is likely to be a heated re-election fight once the 2018 midterms are over, aides said Mr. Trump was pondering whether he wanted someone running the Pentagon who would be more vocally supportive than Mr. Mattis, who is vehemently protective of the American military against perceptions it could be used for political purposes.

Mattis has become a subject of some chatter of late, given the release of Bob Woodward’s new book, “Fear.” Mattis reportedly has actually explained to Trump that U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to “protect us against World War III.” Trump supposedly asked out loud just why in the world do we have those troops on duty in South Korea.

Mattis reportedly has said the president has the attention span of a fifth- or sixth-grader.

Mattis is pushing back

Ah, yes. The grownup speaks a version of the truth about service within an administration run by a man who once claimed to “know about ISIS than the generals.” Actually, he doesn’t … know anything, let alone “more about ISIS.”

There’s this from the Times as well: Mr. Mattis himself is becoming weary, some aides said, of the amount of time spent pushing back against what Defense Department officials think are capricious whims of an erratic president.

This, according to the president, is how a “fine-tuned machine” functions.

Donald Trump is delusional. To the max!

national news

Don’t go anywhere, Mad Dog … please!

As the president of the United States tries to clean up the wreckage of that hideous meeting with Vladimir Putin and the press availability the two of them had, I have a request to make of some key members of the president’s Cabinet.

I still expect to see some members of the administration team to resign. I want to plead for Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis to stay put.

He is one of the rare grownups hired by Trump.

For that matter, I think I’ll offer the same request to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He’s another adult in the room. He managed to cobble together that summit with Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Pompeo doesn’t deserve brickbats for the result of that Trump-Kim fiasco.

I’m still expecting White House chief of staff John Kelly to go; then again, he’s been on the bubble anyhow. The charade that Trump put on with Putin in Helsinki well might hasten his departure. I also wouldn’t be surprised to know that U.S. ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman will hit the road.

Perhaps, too, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, whose assessment of Russian meddling was challenged directly by Trump on Monday, might see fit to quit. Coats has acquitted himself well, too.

However, my favorite Trump Cabinet appointee remains the guy with the “Mad Dog” nickname.

Stay put, Secretary Mattis. We need you now … more than ever!

military news

Don’t push ‘Mad Dog’ out the door

2 Comments

There’s been some reporting over the past 24 hours about Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis and whether the president is looking past the serious grownup he has among his closest Cabinet officials.

Donald Trump announced the ending of “war games” with South Korean armed forces; he declared the United States was nixing the Iran nuclear deal; the president also announced his desire to form a sixth military branch, which he has called a “space force.”

These initiatives all have something in common. The president announced all of them without consulting Secretary Mattis.

Is this the beginning of the end of Mad Dog’s tenure as head of the Pentagon? Oh, man, I hope it ain’t so.

Of all the individuals Trump has selected for the Cabinet, Mattis is the one who — in my mind — has acted like the grownup. He is a serious-minded retired four-star U.S. Marine Corps general. His combat experience makes him a level-headed deterrent to the chicken hawks — such as national security adviser John Bolton — who seem all too eager to send U.S. forces into harm’s way.

When the president tweeted his decision to ban transgender Americans from enlisting in the armed forces, Mattis held the line, saying that he wouldn’t do a thing to change military policy without it going through the proper administrative channels.

Salon.com reports: The president often leaves Mattis “out of the loop” and “doesn’t listen to him,” according to NBC News, undermining this vital role in national security. Trump allegedly believes that Mattis “looks down on him” and “slow walks his policy directives,” sources told the outlet.

Mattis might “look down” on Trump? Really? So what if he does?

I can understand why Mattis, who has served his country with honor and distinction, might take a dim view of Donald Trump’s world view and his utter lack of understanding of what public service is supposed to mean.

For someone who supposedly has a soft spot in his heart for the generals with whom he has surrounded himself, Trump well might be doing all he can to get his premier Cabinet appointment to hit the road.

If that happens, the nation will be the poorer for it.

International news

Hey, is the Trump-Kim summit back on … or what?

Someone will have to pass the Pepto.

Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong Un were supposed to meet June 12 in a historic summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea.

Then the meeting was cancelled. Trump said Kim was saying a lot of nasty things about the United States. The president would have none of it.

The meeting is off, right?

Not precisely. The United States is sending a team to Singapore to discuss planning for, um, the meeting that might occur after all.

Man, I am baffled!

Then there’s this from The Hill: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was also coy but suggested that summit planning is progressing. “We have got some, possibly some good news on the Korea summit, where it may, if our diplomats can pull it off, may have it back on even,” Mattis told reporters. “Our president just sent out a note about that a few moments ago … That is a usual give-and-take, you know, of trying to put together big summits and stuff.”

I want the meeting to occur. It holds tremendous promise and potential for peace in a region still technically “at war.”

But I’m curious as to Donald Trump’s strategy here. On again. Maybe it’s off. Or, maybe it’s on. Back and forth. Up and down. In and out.

I need to sit down.