Jim Mattis was a hybrid general...part Mad Dog, part intellectual. Between his military retirement and his appointment as Defense Secretary, he was the Annenberg Fellow at the Sanford's Hoover think tank. He was equally at home reading Paul Linebarger's classic 1948 Psychological Warfare, or sleeping in a foxhole in Afghanistan. As Commander of the Joint Forces, and then NATO, his commitment to allies was bedrock. When Donald Trump announced our withdrawal from Syria, Mattis could no longer in good conscience serve as our 26th Secretary of Defense.
That decision by Trump also cost us the service of Brett McGurk, who was the leading envoy in the war against ISIS. It is my hope that John Bolton remains as National Security Advisor, and that Mike Pompeo stays on as Secretary of State. The country needs Trump receiving good advice, even if he fails to listen.
Mattis arriving in Afghanistan in 2001 to take command
Why assume he wasn't listening? It's my guess he is just continuing to fulfill his campaign promises. Mattis apparently gave Trump an altimatum, if you don't follow my advice II wil leave. That would have been his choice and frankly no one elected him. Remember trumaT fired McCarthur and Obama fire the same General Mattis. The world didn't end and in the case of the former the media yawned. The reporting on the Mattis exit is just more of the same Trump hatred passed off as news.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the latter the media yawned. Typing on phone.
ReplyDeletescott@9:42, in my case it is not Trump hatred. Although not a "supporter", I have defended Trump over the last two years largely based on some of his appointments, Mattis included. I would rather have Mattis influencing foreign policy than Erdogan.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more on that.
ReplyDeleteWhat's missing in MM's "analysis" piece is that anyone that was considered slightly adult or independent in their thinking has been fired.
ReplyDeleteBolton is just a right wing nut that no one outside of Trump takes seriously.....he couldn't even be considered for a confirmation as UN Ambassador; was only an acting interim not requiring a Senate vote.
Pompeo was just a Tea Party right wing nut Congressman from Kansas when Trump named him to the CIA, indicating just how little regard for the CIA Trump has. His elevation to Sec. of State is seen as a continuation of the disrespect Trump has for career foreign policy types within and outside of State.
The now Acting Sec. of Defense is a kid with NO military or foreign policy experience. Has creditable budgetary experience, which is certainly needed at the Pentagon, but, is a role for an under secretary of procurement, not the chief policy maker.....a role that requires someone with the gravitas to herd the top military brass into a cohesive unit. Guess we will have to hope Jared Kushner agrees to take on the job.
Trump only wants fawning sycophants to LOUDLY kiss his ass in public, like in the full cabinet televised "meetings" where each member tries to top the other in praising Trump. Stalin would have been pleased...Trump's televised Cabinet meetings are more rehearsed and predicable babble than the old Soviet style show trials.....where each defendant tried to top the other in confessing their treason, while praising Stalin for showing them the light before gladly going to their execution.
After two years of this non stop s-t show it is clear to anyone but the Fox Noise bubble crowd that The Emperor has no clothes.
There are 29 nations in NATO. If each supplied about 80 men to the 'allies' coalition they would replace the 2,000 US troops. Plus, if they did that I'm sure Trump would keep many of our guys there. Fact is, Matis is a great military leader. However, he is a man of the Army which is a ground-based force. My guess is if the SecDef was a Navy guy we would simply have another carrier group in the Med Sea. An Air Force guy would favor air campaigns. That's fair. I've always considered myself a 'hawk' on military issues. But for how long can we keep policing the world, even as our so-called allies abuse us?
ReplyDeleteI"m also a free marketeer, but for how many more decades must we be abused by international 'partners.'
The recently celebrated bi-partisan Farm Bill? Very little for farmers. It's all about food stamps. Then again, that's providing our farmers with customers, right?
Merry Christmas all.
Trent never fails to demonstrate with his posts what's wrong will the agry and hate filled left.
ReplyDeleteActually, the "Farm Bill" was great for farmers. Farmers like Senator Grassley that is. Millionaire farmers & big Ag lobby for, and write, the legislation that Congress passes. So, of course, federal legislation favors Big Ag. Small, family soil bean farmers?...well, they are expendable and uninformed, addicted to talk radio and Fox News, where they are told, and apparently believe, that the Trump tariffs aimed at China will, in the loooong run, actually benefit them. In the meanwhile, they can just suck it up, go bankrupt from the loss of markets, and be glad that they have the "freedom" to be free from having affordable health care, and now can, thanks they are told because of Trump, say "Merry Christmas" again. The GOP bozos they keep electing to Congress, of course, are having a Merry Christmas, immune from losing any pay because of the Trump Government shutdown and benefiting from fabulous free healthcare at Walter Reed or Bethesda Naval Hospital if they get ill.
ReplyDeleteAs for our Allies reluctance to join in stupid foreign wars....DUH! Take a look at a map sometime.....Syria & Afghanistan is in Russia's, Turkey's, Iraqi and Iran's neighborhood. Ever hear of the Monroe Doctrine? Based on proximity, the US claims a "special interest" in Central, Latin & South America. Do you think the nearby regional powers to Syria & Afghanistan are going to think the US around the world AWAY should have hegemony over their NEARBY interests in the region? Get a gripe.....we project our force with bases & interventions all over the globe because it is profitable & very lucrative for our DOD vendors to do so. We provide foreign aid because it is corporate socialism for our companies (i.e., the aid, taxpayer funded, must be used by foreign companies to purchase armaments from our companies) and means jobs for American workers.
"Free" markets are only for small timers; it's nonsense babble for the Fox News rupes. Big Business gets subsidies from Congress. Millionaires get tax credits & infrastructure goodies from cities to build their sports stadiums or build or relocate their HQ. Small businesses get "thoughts & prayers."
Again Trent, thank you. You never fail to drip with hate and contempt for those who dare disagree with the excepted thinking of the left.
ReplyDelete