Mad Dog Mattis Has Epic Response For Reporter Asking Him About His Concerns for 2018
Everything about Defense Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis — from what he says to the actions he takes — exemplifies what it means for Americans to be under the leadership of President Donald Trump’s administration.
A perfect example of this lies in how Mattis responded when asked last week by reporters at the Pentagon about his top military concern for the new year.
According to Marcus Weisgerber, the global business editor at Defense One, Mattis pithily replied, “I don’t have concerns; I create them.”
Wow!
Just to be clear, Mattis meant that he creates concerns for America’s enemies.
Now, admittedly, some might shrug their shoulders and ask, “So what?” But such people would clearly be missing the point.
Here’s why: because it’s not the “Wow!” factor that counts, but rather the confidence and fearlessness inherent in the words Mattis said.
Writing for RedState, Caleb Howe explained that Mattis’ blunt answer was a stark “reminder that the United States is no longer afraid to act, or apologetic for doing what is in our interests and what we believe is right.”
“Like any other nation in the world, we are entitled to pursue our own policy goals and work in our national interest at home and abroad,” he added. “And by the way, we’re better at it and have a bigger … stick.”
Exactly. The Trump administration doesn’t tuck its tail between its legs like the Obama administration, fearful that its actions abroad might offend or upset an ally or enemy.
Recall that in 2015, the Obama administration dropped pamphlets before bombing a group of Islamic State group oil-tanker trucks in Syria in order to “minimize risks to civilians.”
“This is our first strike against tanker trucks, and to minimize risks to civilians, we conducted a leaflet drop prior to the strike,” a spokesperson for the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve said that January.
I noted at the time that while it sounded sensible to “minimize risks to civilians,” chances were that anyone driving one of those oil-tanker trucks was himself a hardened terrorist.
Now imagine Mattis ordering the military to strike some oil-tanker trucks in Syria, Afghanistan or Iraq. Do you think for a moment he’d waste time and money dropping leaflets beforehand? Of course not.
Mattis is the same guy who, after being asked earlier this year about what keeps him awake at night, replied, “Nothing; I keep other people awake at night.”
The fact is that, unlike the Obama administration’s defense secretaries, Mattis isn’t a sniveling ninny or sissy. He’s a real leader unafraid to uphold America’s interests, no matter what the costs.
He’s a “Mad Dog,” basically, and one thing a “Mad Dog” never does is worry about the enemy; instead, he makes the enemy worry about him.
H/T Patheos
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