The ‘Mad Dog’ is leaving the Cabinet
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis joins White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 7, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
US Defense Secretary James Mattis said on Thursday he would leave office in February.
The announcement of Mattis’s resignation comes at the start of the mid-term in the United States, which usually begins mid-term after the congressional and Senate elections, with usual traditional changes in some positions in the US administration, but at least in the subject matter of the Secretary of Defense the situation is different.
Analysts pointing that Mattis’s resignation come as a signatory to President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all troops from Syria and a large section of soldiers from Afghanistan.
For his part, Trump strongly defended his sudden decision, pledging that the United States would no longer be “the policeman of the Middle East” and that the 2,000 troops based in Syria had nothing to do after the defeat of the Islamic state.
The retired general didn’t seek to hide his dispute with Trump, although he always sought his moderate positions to soften the president’s improvised positions.
In a letter to Trump, the veteran military said his view of the world, which tends to traditional coalitions and countering “malign parties”, runs counter to the president’s views.
“Because you have the right to have a defense minister whose views are better aligned with your views on this, Issues and others, I think it is right for me to step down”.
Mattis praised the international coalition in fighting the Islamic state and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which was established nearly 70 years ago between North America and Europe.
Trump has always questioned NATO usefulness because of the high cost on his country.
“My views on treating allies with respect, as well as being clear about malignant actors and strategic competitors, were based on information that has spanned more than four decades of working closely on these issues”, Mattis wrote.
President Trump hinted at the possibility of Mattis’s departure since last October, then told CBS, “Maybe (he leaves office) I think it is closer to being democrat, if you want the truth … may leave.
I mean, at some point, everyone leaves”.
But on Twitter on Thursday, Trump didn’t stop praising his defense minister, who will effectively leave office at the end of February, credited him with “tremendous progress”.
