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Y You should strongly regret the announcement by President Trump on Thursday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is resigning.
Navy general, scholar and retired, nicknamed "Mad Dog", a nickname extremely poorly adapted, Mattis is universally respected by his allies and dreaded from all sides by his enemies. In his resignation letter, Mattis noted that Trump deserved a defense secretary who aligned more with his own views.
While Mattis's letter emphasized the importance of alliances, we must assume that the premature withdrawal of the president of US forces from Syria played a role. Mattis strongly opposed this choice by acknowledging the harm he would cause to US interests. To be clear, Syria's withdrawal now is an act of supreme strategic idiocy. In addition to rumors that Trump could withdraw his forces from Afghanistan in imminent fashion, it is clear that Mattis' advice was ignored. In that sense, it was probably inevitable that the life official would retire.
Nevertheless, US allies will be particularly alarmed by the fact that Mattis' resignation comes so soon after the announcement of Syria's withdrawal. They relied on Mattis as a firm advisor to the president and a voice that kept him in mind of the importance of institutions like NATO. A senior official of a major American ally told me on Thursday that he would do anything for "Mattis. And the political sense of the Secretary of Defense has also been instrumental in managing difficult partners such as Pakistan.
Then there was Mattis the chef. Incarnation of the Marine Corps Anthem, Mattis was synonymous with honor, country and leadership. He was willing to interrupt his careers and make them more useful to the body and the nation. And on the battlefield, Mattis has commanded his men and women, like Alexander the Great, to stand up and always take initiatives.
Mattis was also a reformer. He reoriented the Pentagon towards moderating the Chinese aggression and towards a more efficient buying process. It is essential that Mattis's successor maintain these reforms. Mattis was also a necessary exception of the Trump administration on Iran. Removed as commander of the Central Command by former President Barack Obama for his insanious madness towards Iran, Mattis was the most cautious voice on Iran's role in Trump administration. In both scenarios, Mattis was simply realistic.
But the biggest loss is perhaps that Mattis is by far the most versed Trump administration official in history and strategy. This gives them the ability to see threats in a continuum rather than as unique challenges every moment. As I noted when Mattis was first appointed to head the Pentagon, Major Michael Valenti, in a 2014 paper, explains how Mattis mitigated supply and ground line issues before Invasion of Iraq in 2003. Mattis "studied National Geographic magazines to understand what would happen if the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was flooded as in 1955." Mattis "asked each commander of the division to read the book of Russell Braddon The Siege, which tells the story of the British Expeditionary Force in Mesopotamia at the time during the First World War because it s' was one of the few books on fighting in Iraq. "
This agreement between the spirit of warrior and the supreme intellect is the essential ingredient of what makes Mattis and the Marines so big. This greatness will now lose its place in the heart of American security.
Trump has to choose someone in the vein of Mattis – not an ideologue who will touch his ego and feed him with his favorite treat: group thinking.
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