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Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis has been credited with convincingPresident Trump that torture isn’t a great idea, running “damage control” with European allies spooked by Trump’s criticism of NATO, and pushing for diplomacy with North Korea — rather than airstrikes.
On Thursday he became the first defense secretary in American history to resign in protest over a presidential decision, according to presidential historian Michael Beschloss. And there’s no clear replacement in sight.
The news sent ripples of fear through Washington’s defense and foreign policy circles, among both Democrats and Republicans, and raised questions about whether a truly qualified candidate could be convinced to accept the task of running Trump’s Pentagon. Mattis plans to officially step down on Feb. 28.
“What serious person is going to accept that job, and come work for a president who changes his mind like people change their clothes?” said Robert Deitz, who held senior positions in the CIA and National Security Agency under former president George W. Bush. “Nobody comes to mind, mostly because they’d be unlikely to accept.”
Trump’s shock decision Wednesday to pull U.S. troops from Syria , which prompted Mattis’ abrupt resignation, is exactly the kind of handbrake U-turnin U.S. foreign policy likely to become even more frequent once Mattis’s influence fades, former senior national security officials told VICE News.
“I’m extremely concerned,” said Michael Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden. “His departure means we’ll have a president whose irrational impulses go even more unchecked.”
More at https://www.prolificcrap.com/forum/...-and-u-s-foreign-policy-may-never-be-the-same
On Thursday he became the first defense secretary in American history to resign in protest over a presidential decision, according to presidential historian Michael Beschloss. And there’s no clear replacement in sight.
The news sent ripples of fear through Washington’s defense and foreign policy circles, among both Democrats and Republicans, and raised questions about whether a truly qualified candidate could be convinced to accept the task of running Trump’s Pentagon. Mattis plans to officially step down on Feb. 28.
“What serious person is going to accept that job, and come work for a president who changes his mind like people change their clothes?” said Robert Deitz, who held senior positions in the CIA and National Security Agency under former president George W. Bush. “Nobody comes to mind, mostly because they’d be unlikely to accept.”
Trump’s shock decision Wednesday to pull U.S. troops from Syria , which prompted Mattis’ abrupt resignation, is exactly the kind of handbrake U-turnin U.S. foreign policy likely to become even more frequent once Mattis’s influence fades, former senior national security officials told VICE News.
“I’m extremely concerned,” said Michael Carpenter, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense and foreign policy adviser to former Vice President Joe Biden. “His departure means we’ll have a president whose irrational impulses go even more unchecked.”
More at https://www.prolificcrap.com/forum/...-and-u-s-foreign-policy-may-never-be-the-same
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