Crybaby Mattis

James Mattis has written an article for the Atlantic in which he whines that President Trump is not trying to unite us, but rather, to divide us. Read it here.

"Hold the line!"

Are you ready for some more James Mattis on this Memorial Day? Here is his commencement address to the cadets at West Point.

"We don't scare!"

"You are at your very best when times are at their very worst!"

"Honor is what we give ourselves for a life of meaning."

"Teach the men you lead the difference between a mistake and lack of discipline."

"Practice every day the integrity that builds your character."

"While we may not know you personally, we do know your character: West Point Character!"

Not words, actions! "What keeps you up at night? Nothing! I keep other people awake at night!"

Do you want to know why we are going to defeat ISIS? Please listen carefully to this man.

Surround ISIS and annihilate them

General Mattis announces a new plan to defeat ISIS. Instead of a war of attrition, we are now going to surround ISIS and annihilate them. We will prevent the return home of escaped foreign fighters.

No more milquetoast!

Secretary of Defense James Mattis met with leaders of South Korea, and addressed these comments to the Dictator of North Korea:

North Korea continues to launch missiles, develop its nuclear weapons program, and engage in threatening rhetoric and behavior.
'We stand with our peace-loving Republic of Korea ally to maintain stability on the peninsula and in the region,' he added.

'America's commitments to defending our allies and to upholding our extended deterrence guarantees remain ironclad: Any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming.'

Read more here.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit Japan and South Korea in early February

John Hayward reports at Breitbart,

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that Secretary of Defense James Mattis will visit Japan and South Korea in early February, on his first overseas trip since confirmation.

“The trip will underscore the commitment of the United States to our enduring alliances with Japan and the Republic of Korea, and further strengthen U.S.-Japan-Republic of Korea security cooperation,” said Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis.

...CNN reports the trip is scheduled to last four days, and will include meetings with Mattis’ opposite numbers in Japan and South Korea. There are currently about 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in the former nation and 28,000 in the latter.

Read more here.

Mattis on Afghanistan, Iran, ISIS, and China

Paul Sperry reports,

Defense secretary nominee Gen. Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis believes ISIS is “al-Qaida on steroids” and must be defeated in head-to-head “battles of annihilation” that leave “no survivors” on the enemy side, according to a recent discussion he participated in with a conservative think tank.

The career Marine, who faces Senate questioning at a confirmation today, also asserts that the US military “can handle Iran” in a shooting war, but cautioned that the Navy needs more warships to challenge “China’s bullying in the South China Sea.”

Read more here.

"We will strengthen the country and our allies"

Tonight in North Carolina on his "Thank You" tour, Trump introduces General James Mattis, our new Secretary of Defense.

"The Secretary of Defense runs America’s armed forces, which are called into action when diplomacy has failed."

In reporting about Trump's selection of James Mattis as Secretary of Defense, the AP wrote,

Although his record in combat and his credentials as a senior commander are widely admired, Mattis has little experience in the diplomatic aspects of the job of a secretary of defense.

To which John Hinderaker responds at PowerLine,

Since when is the Secretary of Defense supposed to be a diplomat? Seriously, this is a new one on me. The Secretary of Defense runs America’s armed forces, which are called into action when diplomacy has failed and it is time to kick enemy a**. Has this basic concept somehow been forgotten?

The Left is going to be all over this one.

"The Warrior Monk"

CNN announced today that Trump has selected James Mattis as Secretary of Defense.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James Mattis as his secretary of defense, a source with knowledge of the transition says.

Mattis, 66, joins a Trump national security team that already includes retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser and Rep. Mike Pompeo as CIA director.

The official announcement is expected early next week.

Mattis would also need a waiver from Congress in order to be confirmed. A decades-old legal statute bars service members from quickly entering civilian positions, which would otherwise prevent Mattis from being eligible for the job.

Rep. Adam Schiff, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Commmittee, told CNN's Jim Sciutto Wednesday, however, that the regulation would pose as more of an inconvenience for Mattis's confirmation, rather than barring him from the job.

"It will certainly be an issue. I don't ultimately think it will be a bar because I think he is so well thought of that he can overcome peoples' reservations of that," Schiff said. "My guess is because his reputation is so strong and, frankly, because there's enough concern among Democrats about some of the President-elect's other choices, they'll be a desire to amend the statute if that's what' necessary and I believe it would be necessary.

In Mattis, Trump has a nominee who was held in high regard throughout the ranks of the Marine Corps during his 44 years of service. A seasoned combat commander, he led a task force into southern Afghanistan in 2001 and a Marine division at the time of the Iraq invasion in 2003. He was later promoted to run US Central Command in 2010 -- a post that gave him command responsibility for all US forces in the Middle East. He also was an outspoken critic of the Iran nuclear deal. He also has served as a commander of a major NATO strategic command, Allied Command Transformation, in Norfolk, Virginia.

Mattis butted heads with the Obama administration as head of US Central Command from 2010 to 2013 over the need to prepare for potential conflict with Iran.

He was a critic of the Iran nuclear deal and said at the Aspen Security Forum in 2013, when asked about his top concerns as head of US Central Command, "Iran, Iran, Iran."

Why is Mattis called "Mad Dog"?

Mattis earned the nickname "Mad Dog" after leading combat troops into the Persian Gulf War in 1991, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq in the early 2000s.

He was called "Mad Dog" after the 2004 battle of Fallujah in Iraq, where he led British and American troops against Iraqi insurgents. He has backed up the nickname with off-color remarks, such as his 2005 declaration in a panel discussion about the Taliban that "it's fun to shoot people."

He is also a bachelor and an avid reader and student of military history, earning a second nickname: "The Warrior Monk."