Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis makes jokes that react to President Trump’s general insults to Gen. Mattis as “the world’s most overrated general.”
Mattis — known by many as Mad Dog although his call sign was actually CHAOS — has exhibited extraordinary restraint, avoiding comments or criticism of the sitting president. But his new remarks at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner, led some to ask if another former administration official will begin to speak out about Trump.
Bill Whittle Now with Scott Ott brings conservative takes on the news of the day five times weekly, thanks to our Members. These folks also run their own blog, and engage in vigorous civil dialogue in comments and on our new forum feature. Unlock new levels of engagement: become a Member today.
Thank you for watching, and sharing, this video.
11 replies on “Mad Dog Bites Back: Gen. Mattis Jokes After Trump’s General Insults”
Technically you did not abandon the Kurdish units you worked with directly with. I have heard reports that the us forces never worked directly with the YPG units that were hard line communists; to much risk of green on green combat. US left wing reporters did work extensively with the YPG and YPJ in Syria creating the illusion that they were co located with the US commando and artillery units.
Looks like Trump gave Mattis a comment he could respond to without breaking the rules. Throwing a bone to the media to distract them. Trump is the distracter in chief. While the left is distracted they are not passing legislation, reading legislation, of finding sane candidates.
Also bone spurs are a genuine medical risk and armies still exclude people for it today. Particularly when armies march day after day in combat which is rare today. Bone spurs does go away as you mature.
I think Mattis, as a man of integrity, feels the U.S. must keep its word to the Kurds and the Pashtuns, or our word as America is worth nothing. We bailed on South Vietnam after promising to protect them, regardless of their corruption. We bailed on the Kurds in 1990 after they rebelled against Saddam in Desert Storm, and we stood by and let Saddam murder them. We have let the Turks bomb and murder them with planes for years. Now we’ve promised help to the Kurds who helped us win back Mosul from ISIS and to various Pashtun tribes who have helped us greatly in Afghanistan. It’s a matter of honor. If POTUS cannot keep YOUR word, then you as a general must resign in protest. I honor that integrity. I also understand Trump’s position: we cannot also alienate an ally like Turkey, and we cannot intervene in every Middle East war which are unending. Generals stand on honor and strategy. Presidents do foreign policy, and the Kurds are not yet a functioning nation. I think the US should keep its word. But we also don’t know certain details that are classified by the DoD. But I don’t think Mattis and Trump actually dislike each other, they simply disagree on this issue. Generals with class do not comment on their commander in chief. Every military officer knows this. As a very experienced general, I thought Mattis handled Trump’s alleged comment with both aplomb and humor.
My knee jerk response to President Trump’s decision to “abandon” the Kurds was critical, but I allowed that there might be factors that I wasn’t taking into account. As it turns out, there were. Keep in mind that any “arrangements” that we had with the Kurds were crafted by President Trump’s predecessors, and that these arrangements angered an actual ally, the Turks. Technically, the Kurds, not having a nation of their own, could not be an ally in the strictest sense of the word. Now, many (including me) think of Turkey as a rather weak ally. However, they have allowed us to maintain bases on their sovereign territory that have been extremely valuable in the war on terror. Also, that in allowing us to maintain these bases has made Turkey a target for terrorists. Also, they allowed us to maintain intelligence gathering platforms on their sovereign territory that were critical in keeping an eye on the Soviet Union during the Cold War and continue to be valuable in keeping an eye on the Russians today. This has drawn the ire of Russia towards Turkey. I fear that General Mattis, whom I also admire greatly, may have been overly focused on the tactical connection to the Kurds while overlooking the strategic considerations of the Turks. Fortunately, as Bill observed, Mattis did keep his remarks well withing the bounds of professional decorum even though as a retired military member, the reins of decorum are greatly loosened.
I think it all boils down to this. Allies are one or more entities united to bring about a common goal. If that commonality shifts on one side or the other, then the unity no longer stands. Being allied with the Kurds in their fight to remove ISIS from their “homeland” does not mean that we are allied to bring about the actuality of that homeland. That is their fight and the Kurds owe as much to us as we owe to them. If that is not the case and they could have done the job of ridding ISIS from the area without our help, then why were we there?
That being said, Trump and Mattis, although entirely different in the most obvious ways, are exactly alike in many. They both fight with an unsurpassed urgency and with a moral clarity that this country sorely lacks. Trump got in his jab and Mattis responded by launching a devastating hook that landed square to the golden jaw of our president and I think Trump would be wise not to try another poke at the true tiger that is Mattis. To quote former President Bush, it wouldn’t be prudent…
I meant to say two or more entities…
The only thing I disagreed with Mattis (and probably PDT as it seemed like a joint decision) is when he said that PDT deserved to have a Dec Def who agreed with him. That implied to me that he was saying PDT wanted a yes man. I look at that a little differently. PDT should be surrounded by people who will express different points of view. But the final call is the president’s. He needs to have people who will execute the decisions he makes. In this case it seemed Mattis was unwilling to execute that decision. Maybe that is a subtle difference but I think it is important.
The issue is more complicated than just loyalty to an ally. Turkey is a treaty ally under NATO. The Kurds are an ethnic minority in four middle east countries. I believe that there should be a Kurdistan, but there isn’t. Trump is a crass but canny leader. I will give him the benefit of a doubt every time. What would happen to NATO if US forces attacked a NATO member in defense of a Syrian rebel group. The middle east is a wicked mess.
I hope Trump can extricate us from there without betraying the Kurds. Let’s give him room to work.
Just another ex-General joining a lobbying group formed by a buddy of Bill Clinton. The Cohen Group is a proud signatory of the United Nations Global Compact. What’s that, you say? Well, go look for yourself.
https://www.unglobalcompact.org/
I wouldn’t trust Mattis as far as I could throw him.
I don’t know how Trump’s “gambit” vis a vis Turkey and the Kurds will work out, and I am not familiar with Mattis’ history as a general, but Mattis’ conduct during his resignation and now in response to Trump strikes me as the definition of “honorable” and “loyal.”
“Honorable” doesn’t mean you never disagree and “Loyal” doesn’t mean you march in lock step. But, to me, Mattis’ conduct is head and shoulders above most in government (and, of course, the media) and is the epitome of the conduct of a professional in the U.S. armed services.
I would not hesitate to accept his advice on prosecuting a war to the point of total devastation of the target. I am not so sure about his advice on achieving peace by non violent means. This does not dishonor the man. It only indicates that expertise in one field does not necessarily grant expertise in other fields.
If almost two decades of war has not turned the region into a peaceful civilization, another two decades won’t do it either. Letting the region destroy itself by its own madness looks to me better than still more of our involvement in their insane tribal wars.
It is my guess that this was the issue that brought about the breakup.