Secretary of Defense James Mattis hosts a bilateral meeting with Romanian Minister of Defense Mihai Fifor at the Pentagon on Sept. 26, 2018. (DoD)
Military Times: Last man standing: With Haley’s departure, will Mattis stick around?
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis was eager to praise outgoing United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley ― and quell any rumors that her departure meant his own may be coming soon.
Haley announced her resignation at the White House Tuesday, saying only that she’d been thinking about taking time off from the public spotlight for awhile.
Haley, like Mattis, was integral to reassuring NATO allies, particularly after a 2017 visit by President Donald Trump to Brussels where his remarks seemed to call into question whether the United States still supported NATO’s Article 5 collective defense.
“We saw ourselves on many occasions collaborating together on how we would deal with certain issues alongside the secretary of state,” Mattis said. “She may be moving on, but she’s not losing our respect. It’s been a good, good team.”
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WNU Editor: He is going to be around for a while.
9 comments:
Hayley's resignation has no correlation whatsoever to Matiss' status.
I have said it before and I will say it again. If Mattis was in any sort of danger of losing his job, he would be shaping defense policy. He would be rubber roomed instead while duties are being transferred.
So yes, he will be around for the foreseeable future.
The media elites and the "deep state" never liked Mattis. I think this is wishful thinking on their part.
With that said eventually he will likely be gone. These are VERY difficult jobs especially when one does it as these people do by representing the interests of the American people very often at the expense of their own. As such, these jobs will take an emotional and a physical toll on the holder of these jobs. It's going to be problematic for someone to carry out the duties of these jobs indefinitely.
Essentially the emotional and physical toll these jobs extract in this environment make it nearly impossible for anyone to hold up to it over two presidential terms. As such, he will likely eventually retire as Me. Haley likely has.
The media elites and the "deep state" never liked Mattis. I think this is wishful thinking on their part.
With that said eventually he will likely be gone. These are VERY difficult jobs especially when one does it as these people do by representing the interests of the American people very often at the expense of their own. As such, these jobs will take an emotional and a physical toll on the holder of these jobs. It's going to be problematic for someone to carry out the duties of these jobs indefinitely.
Essentially the emotional and physical toll these jobs extract in this environment make it nearly impossible for anyone to hold up to it over two presidential terms. As such, he will likely eventually retire as Me. Haley likely has.
perhaps
"Essentially the emotional and physical toll these jobs extract in this environment make it nearly impossible for anyone to hold up to it over two presidential terms. As such, he will likely eventually retire as Me. Haley likely has."
Although I would expect someone like Mattis, having survived some very serious job experiences, would be able to handle the pressure better than average, I think your are right on Poster.
I also get the feeling that he carries the Pentagon in his back pocket and may just be the safety valve in case Trump decides to destroy the world. In some ways Kelly too, or why else would he put up with the crap.
At this point you have to wonder how many potholes Mattis has helped Trump and the country avoid. When he is gone who will do that?
Bob,
Thank you for the reply, at least I think. As a highly trained warrior, General Mattis had the option of killing someone in a warzone. After all he did say he has plan to kill everyone he meets. He was/is likely speaking metaphorically. The point is he is capable of doing this. I know men he served with and they can confirm this. Outside of a warzone this type of approach is not possible. As such, the type of approach used in battle will not work in the political environment. The stress is a different kind of stress. As such, while I agree with you that he would be better than most at actually handling this, I simply do not believe it is possible for anyone to hold up to the rigors of this type of position for two full presidential terms. This is compounded by the fact that these individuals including Mr. Mattis are trying to represent American interests in a world that is often hostile to just American interests.
I don't think we need to worry about Trump deciding to "destroy the world." He is one of the world's most stable leaders. The areas of concern to me are as follows: 1.)Our trade arrangements with China need to be renegotiated. This has been obvious for some times. Trump is trying to address this. It's about time!! The current agreements are so woefully one sided in Chinese favor that they could have easily renegotiated them and still been very profitable. Instead they've doubled down on something that experiential common sense knows is not sustainable. They've built an economic policy on bankrupting and destroying their best customer. Trump has chosen to stand up to them and is so far winning the "trade war." Having already been irrational will China now take this to a military confrontation? If they do, this risks destroying the world more so than anything Trump might do. 2.) clearly the nuclear deal with Iran was akin to something between a crap sandwich and a gang rape of the United States. Might Iran push the US into a corner where it has no choice but to respond violently?
These two scenarios are more likely to destroy the world than anything Trump might do. With that said I do respectfully think our policies towards Russia are way to provocative but I don't think Russia is anywhere near a point where they would feel a need to respond directly militarily against the US unless Putin is removed from power. In which case, the new leader will likely take a tougher stand towards America.
"...why else would he put up with the crap." I think they supports the Trump policies and is trying to implement them. A number of military personnel have made working with/for the Trump Administration as a part of their career paths. They do so because they believe in the president and his policies.
I suspect a number of these "potholes" have been avoided because of Trump's policies. Basically we have him and his team to thank. As one example, had the pre-Trump policies been continued we would likely have already been at war with North Korea. While we cannot "know," the trends were clearly headed in that direction. Now as even the South Koreans and Japanese suggest by their actions things are currently headed in the right direction.
"When he is gone who will do that?" As stated, due to the emotional physical toll these jobs take in this environment no one is likely to be able to do these jobs for two full presidential terms. As such, when the time comes, I suspect who will do the job will be Mattis's hand picked successor in coordination with Trump who will continue to implement the policies of Trump.
Thanks for you long response. There are many things I could reply to but I'll stick to these.
1 There is much more to the military than killing someone although it does seem that at times the military's forte is to kill people at random. Mattis is a strategist and I believe there have been a couple of times he reigned Trump in.
2. As for Trump, he has a tendency to go nuts when things aren't going as he wants. There are many reports of how concerned members of his administration are when he enter one of his ranting modes.
If you look at his time in office he is escalating in absurdities and as time goes on the big question is what will he attack/destroy next? Eventually, the way he is going it will come down to the last thing available to him the foot ball.
The tariff wars he is instigating could easily lead to the US being ostracized by the rest of the world, from a trading perspective, and international settlement processes. Moves are already being made in the case of the latter. Witness the damage done to the soybean farmers and the impacts are now just being felt.
Of course he could solve much of the trading deficit if he were to rebuild the US manufacturing industrial base and manufacture the products needed at home, but that costs money and would not sit well with the corporate world that has thrived on cheap products from offshore. He is already robbing key programs to finance his border issues, therefore, there is no money, except for the war machine of course.
3. As for you having faith in Trump, I don't believe you.
1.) Yes there is more to the military than killing someone. I have pointed this out many times before. As the most scrutinized country on the planet except for perhaps Israel, it would be all but impossible for US military personnel to kill people at random. Very respectfully this anti-American messaging (propaganda) at work. Given the level of scrutiny America faces, to say that this happens very often would require extraordinary proof of which has not been supplied. I agree that Mattis is a strategist and this is why he signed on to the Trump Administration. Essentially knowing our previous strategies were failing and were going to fail he knew direction needed to be changed and he supports the direction that Trump is leading. As to him reigning Trump in, you misread. POTUS consults with his advisors and sometimes changes course as the advisors suggest. This is the hallmark of good leadership. Essentially POTUS is reigning himself in.
2. There is no evidence of this except for hearsay picked lapped up unquestionably without the critics without regard for common sense or even questioning how reasonable such an assertion actually is. One does not succeed in the business world with such temperaments no matter how much seed money they may have had. Very respectfully these claims should be dismissed as bogus without extraordinary proof of which none has been supplied. Hearsay that flies in the case of common sense, very respectfully, does not come anywhere close to meeting such a standard.
(Paragraph 2) The only absurdity might be doubling and tripling down on hostility towards Russia that was exuded by the previous administration but, as stated, I don't think we are on the brink of war with them yet. The others are prudent courses in the proper direction. As stated, China could have easily renegotiated the flawed trade arrangements. They irrationally chose to double down on the current situation. As to the football, I think you must mean the nuclear football. This would only happen if China or Russia launch first and, given the irrational behavior exuded by the Chinese of late, I would be much more concerned about them doing something than America or Trump.
(3rd paragraph) The tariff wars are being instigated by China and frankly, on the whole, they are not winning them right now. The trade arrangements are unsustainable. Both the editor and myself have pointed this out many times. China could have easily renegotiated this in good faith and been hugely profitable. Should the US end up "ostrasicized", as of now, it could only occur if China can repair relations with neighboring countries. In any event, as stated, the current situation cannot be continued. As to the soybean farmers, this may be a bad situation. It really comes down to take your medicine now while healing is still possible or things get worse. Frankly anyone who staked their futures on an unsustainable situation probably does not deserve respect.
(4th paragraph) Agreed, we do need a better industrial and manufacturing base. The first steps here are tax cuts and regulatory reform and things are headed in the right direction here. As for the border issues, America is under a de facto invasion from its southern neighbor. This has to stop. A nation has to be able to be willing and able to defend itself if it is going to be viable.
3.) I've never said I had "faith" in a leader. I'd say "the jury is still out." With that said, job growth like seldom ever witnessed, major pay increases pretty much across the board, tax cuts, and regulatory reforms, while much still needs to be done and there's still much that can go wrong, more things than not are "moving in the right direction." You don't need to believe me on anything. The records in these areas speak for themselves.
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