Defense Secretary James Mattis quits over disagreements with Trump
Defense Secretary James Mattis will step down at the end of February, telling President Donald Trump in a letter Thursday that he has “a right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours.” In his letter to Trump, Mattis said that a long-held “core belief” of his “is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships.” Without maintaining those alliances, he wrote, “we cannot protect our interests or serve” the role of an “indispensable nation in the free world.”
Statues are toilets for pigeons…
The one move Trump and his administration can make for the ages is America’s absolute and clear support for a one-state solution with assurances for Israel making it impossible for Iran or NGO terrorist groups to threaten Israel’s security. This requires US/UN joint military presence at strategic locations, and arrangement with the Saudis and other financially capable Arab oil producers to incrementally fund programs for Palestinians and West Bank Muslims to emigrate to other locations outside Israel’s Covenant Borders.
This must include absolute de-militarization of any settlements, lands or cities where Muslim Arabs choose to remain on Israeli Covenant lands. ALL third partiers intending terror actions or attempting smuggling/manufacturing activities for weapons procurement shall be identified and by means of positive DNA or other ID methodology banned forever from e-entry into the Covenant Territory.
All BDS activity against Israel must be exposed as provocation; venues should be completely ineligible for any Federal funding in any form, strictly as a strategic imperative to prevent encouragement of terror groups or other anti-semitic actvities resulting in financial or physical harm.
President George Washington advised “friendship and trade with all, entangling alliances with none…” I like that advice, even though it may prove a temporary inconvenience to the neocons, war hawks, and the mil-industrial complex. Our mid east friends should learn to cooperate better with one another, to reduce their dependence on a far over extended and counter productive US foreign policy.
” Our mid east friends should learn to cooperate better with one another, to reduce their dependence on a far over extended and counter productive US foreign policy.”
@walter,
It’s so nice to live so far away from Syria, Lebanon, Hezbollah, Gaza, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, ISIS, “invited” Russian forces, “invited” Iranian forces and “invited” Shiite militia forces from Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan……….to be able to make a statement like that.
Friends and allies will learn cooperate better with each other and with high degree of probability will decide that they can arrange their business without USA telling them what to do and what not. And even more probable some other power will fill the vacuum left by the departure of the USA
In other words Mattis states that he is not as mad as Trump. Alliances and other crap is another word of world wide occupation of earth . Is American moto to occupy and unite everyone for upcoming invasion of aliens that rule USA and its degenerates .Oh yes let us prepare for massive extermination to have the lands populated anew by more advance race of all consuming creatures that look like dojo.
It is a small world Dave. Blessed are the peacemakers. And yes, I congratulate Israelis and Kurds too for their efforts in that direction. May Yah be with them to learn more perfectly his ways.
Another one bites the dust , who”s next ??
From the Debka article:
” “is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships.” Without maintaining those alliances, he wrote, “we cannot protect our interests or serve” the role of an “indispensable nation in the free world.” ”
That pretty much says it all.
@dave from orange
Agreed. DJT has thrown not only his staunch allies, the Kurds under the bus, but ultimately Israel as well. Jewish son in law or not, DJT has turned against the Jewish people. He has completed what Obama began, the total destruction of the Truman doctrine, the object of which was to keep the Arabs from fighting each other and the Russians out of the Middle East.
If the UK had had Trump as Prime Minster after Chamberlain, the UK would not have taken up the challenge against Germany when Hitler invaded Britain’s ally, Poland.
Perfide America!
thats good, mettis was the only person disagreeing with trump on bombing syria and iran.
hopefully bolton will be comming in mattis place.. and things will be going in the right direction
The US deployment in Syria never was and never could be, ‘strategic’.
Whatever the longer-term solution is, it is not the current position.
What is important is the strategic commitment. With Trump, there is no doubt.
Bombing the ayatollah private army of guards a little bit everywhere could turn to be a very good thing, there is for sure value in this idea.
The only problem is thats the reason why I am for US presence in Syria. Is the support for the Kurds who are now in a very difficult position. Thats softly expressed, they will probably get slaughtered if no support is given.
Trump is breaking old traditions and conventions of the deep state at a rapid pace.
The latest – pulling troops out (2000 or more) of Syria is the latest.
On the one hand I think we need America fighting Islamists on their territory but on the other I realize that US soldiers have lost far too many lives saving Muslims from themselves and, as a result, Americans were slaughtered because they came in between forces we would like to see destroy each other.
True, the allies left behind need American assistance and help to defeat Islam (or help people with one kind of Islam prevent others from establishing a Caliphate of death, torture, sex slavery, slavery, Islamic domination, etc.) but it is time to spend American treasure on helping Israel become so superior technologically and so heavily armed and equipped that on any given day Israel will have the strength to address any and all contingencies- and the Jew-hating Islamists will not be able to do anything to respond.
The big problem in the region is that Russians are aligned to Syria and Iran and their proxies and so a pullout, if it were complete, would endanger America’s allies and leave them at a huge disadvantage and so I would want America to have a permanent base in Israel, complete with the naval power lacking in Israel to protect and defend Israel, Kurds and other minorities by carrying out missions to target Islamists but not station troops in those countries – time for a high-tech war until the enemy realizes that militant Islam will never succeed and that political Islam will end in failed states, savagery and misery as it has done everywhere on the planet.
Gen. Mattis has no other choice than to leave.
History will tell if this resignation was over Trump’s removal of military resources from Syria.