Would the nicknamed ‘Mad-Dog’ US Marine Corps General James N. Mattis (66) have appointed a character like Donald Trump as his senior officer in charge of nuclear weapons?
There are many arguments why not, and why an unstable character like Trump should be not near a Twitter account nor any red button for American nukes.
Someone who has the temper and ego of a nuclear power station and the safety fuse of a cowshed with a quick finger dominated by emotions at 4am.
Now this unqualified egocentric billionaire with no military or political experience is about to become the Commander in Chief next month and the general will serve him as his Secretary of Defense.
Can Mad-Dog tame Mad-Donald?
His appointment is an excellent choice, here are 11 reasons why:
- Mainly because this general has guts. He even dared to argue against another US President, Mr. Obama. This is very important in the Trump administration. POTUS needs a strong man in defense affairs, not a clever opportunist. America and the world do not need a Secretary of Defense who says : “Yes, Mr President!” to Trump, but a senior character who is self-confident and strong enough saying “No, Mr. President!”.
- He has the respect and backing of moderate Republicans senators, including John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who said: “General Mattis has a clear understanding of the many challenges facing the Department of Defense, the U.S. military, and our national security. America will be fortunate to have General Mattis in its service once again.”
- He has all the credibility Trump is missing.
- Mattis knows how to lead large military structures, retired in 2013 as chief of U.S. Central Command. He served more than four decades in the Marine Corps and is known as one of the most influential military leaders of his generation, a strategic thinker. Since retiring, he has served as a consultant and as a visiting fellow with the Hoover Institution, a think tank at Stanford University.
- Mattis knows NATO. From November 2007 to August 2010 he served as the supreme allied commander of transformation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
- He has been in Iraq and Afghanistan with a clever mixture of hard and soft approaches to contain and defeat the enemy.
- His marines love him as a soldiers general like famous general Patton in WW II.
- His is a thinking-warrior, nicknamed ” warrior-monk”, reading books by strategic thinkers, unlike Trump. He was co-authoring the U.S. military’s new counterinsurgency manual with then-Army Lt. Gen. David H. Petraeus while Mattis was a three-star general at Quantico, Va.
- He was right to talk about “political or radical Islam” as a definition of the new threat. This does not contradict main Islam and more than 95 percent of Muslims are peaceful and Islam is not IS.
- Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in April, he argued that while security discussions often focus on terrorist groups such as the Islamic State or al-Qaeda, “the Iranian regime is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East.” He is right. Mattis said that the nuclear deal signed by the Obama administration last year “may slow Iran’s ambitions to get a nuclear weapon but will not stop them.” But he added that “absent a clear and present violation,” he did not see a way that Washington could go back on it, because any unilateral sanctions issued by the United States would not be as valuable if allies were not on board.
- He was right arguing: “In terms of strengthening America’s global standing among European and Middle Eastern nations alike, the sense is that America has become somewhat irrelevant in the Middle East, and we certainly have the least influence in 40 years.”
Here you may read his most well know quotes, which show his thinking and spirit and humor too:
- “Demonstrate to the world there is ‘No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy’ than a U.S. Marine.”
- “Fight with a happy heart and strong spirit”
- “I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.”
- “The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event. That said, there are some assholes in the world that just need to be shot.”
- “Marines don’t know how to spell the word defeat.”
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.” - “I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all.”
- .“Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they’re so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact.”
- “The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears.”
- “You are part of the world’s most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.”
- “There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline, cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or a victim.”
- “No war is over until the enemy says it’s over. We may think it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.”
- “There is nothing better than getting shot at and missed. It’s really great.”
- “You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts. If they start living in a dream world, it’s going to be bad.”
- “You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling.”
- “I’m going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years.”