Mattis

By now everyone who is interested (which seems to be everyone these days) has heard the story of Defense Secretary Mattis' resignation over President Trump's abrupt announcement that we will pull out our troops from Syria.  So what should we think about this?

First, the media narrative (which I didn't buy) from the beginning has been that Trump would be saved from his worst impulses by Gen Mattis, Gen Kelly, Gen Flynn and LtGen McMaster.  Well...so much for that.  They are all now gone.  And I can't see that their impact was so dramatic.  That's because Trump was the one who was elected.  He went through the months and months of pain and was never going to let his power go.  He listens to close advisors and considers what his team says.  But he fundamentally trusts himself more than anyone.  Just look at his ego and some of his statements.  So checking him is not in the cards.  But maybe educating him is.  Maybe he'll listen...sometimes and to a few people.  I think that is what Mattis was banking on.  He found out that is not in the cards.

So let's focus on Mattis.  There is not one little tiny shred of a doubt that he is a great American patriot and hero.  He is a legendary figure.  His accomplishments have been enormous and virtually no one would debate his importance on the national security scene.  I'm not so sure he ever really wanted to be Secretary of Defense, but he answered the bell when called.  I suspect he saw a neophyte in national security affairs and decided he could make a difference in helping to define our engagement strategy with the world.  I also am very sure he loves the troops and would do anything to make their lives better.  As the months unfolded it sounds to me like he became increasingly frustrated that Trump, while learning, wasn't listening.  Like I said, he was elected and he trusts himself.  The other thing about Trump is that because of the antipathy he has experienced with the media, he strongly feels that he needs to go direct to the people via Twitter.  That is about as alien to Mattis as anything imaginable.  If there is any knock on Mattis, and this isn't even a knock, it's that he's a product of and believer in the system.  By definition he is a believer of working within the system and adhering to generally accepted norms when it comes to developing national security strategy and engaging with allies.  He has found that isn't a priority with Trump.  Mattis developed what I consider one of the best, if not the best, national security strategies every produced by this country.  I've read that Trump didn't even read it.  I don't know if that's true, but it's believable.  Trump is his own national security strategy.  As the past two years unfolded there were successes and failures.  Maybe not so much failures as missed opportunities.  And on the international stage a missed opportunity is a failure.  So Mattis soldiered on trying to educate and get Trump to fit within the norms.  It was never going to happen.  The day of his resignation was going to happen at some point and the weird announcement, without consultation with his national security team and allies, that we were pulling out of Syria was literally the straw that broke the camels back.  So he resigned.

At this point let me say that I admire the resignation enormously!  How many times have we seen people in our government object to a policy under their breath and then go back to work.  All the while undermining the person they disagree with.  There is a huge breath of fresh air that Mattis resigned in the face of something he couldn't accept.  No drama.  No antipathy. Just here's why I'm doing it and here's my letter.  And oh by the way, no snarky excuses or sneaking around badmouthing the boss.  I'm resigning and here's 50 copies of the letter for all to see.  Class act!

Now, there are those who are gnashing teeth and lamenting that Mattis was the "adult in the room" and now Trump will be unconstrained to respond to his worse instincts.  I don't buy it.  There's always someone else.  There's an old saying....cemeteries are filled by indispensable people.  There's always someone else.  He will leave a hole, but the hole will be filled.

Here's another, more humerous way to look at it.  Cracks me up.  But there's a lot of truth between the lines.

As to the decision, I come down on the side of withdrawal.  I would have done it differently.  I would have consulted and taken some time and worked with both allies and NGO's.  But that's not Trump.  He did his thing and he's the elected President.  So the average person like me doesn't have to make a resignation decision.  If I were in Mattis' position, I might have focused on process vs. outcome.  But Mattis clearly objects to the withdrawal.  So be it.  He is now gone.

UPDATE:  The WSJ Opinion page has a good summation of this whole mess.  They are much more eloquent than me and express concerns that any of us should hold.  You can read it here.  Since it's off their site it might be locked so you'll have to find it somewhere else if you're interested.

I can't articulate my position better than one of the guys I read regularly.  IMHO CDR Salamander nails it.  You can read his post here.

In a larger context, this is a providential prelude to the next two years.  Trump is going to suffer greatly.  People will resign.  Policies will be challenged.  Nothing will get through the Congress.  He will be embattled on all sides.  I don't think there will be an impeachment challenge, but that could change.  People I respect don't think he'll be able to or be willing to weather it.  I'm not so sure.  He's proven to be a strong guy with a thick skin.  So I suspect he'll hang in there.  Whether he will have a shot at reelection is another story.  At some point in the past I would have said it was a done deal.  Now I'm not so sure.