'Enough is enough': Former Defense Secretary Mattis blasts President Trump over handling of protests "We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership."
In rare public comments James Mattis, President Donald Trump's first and former defense secretary, has blasted the commander in chief for how he has handled the wave of protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer.
"Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people -- does not even pretend to try," Mattis wrote in an essay in The Atlantic. "Instead he tries to divide us."
"We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort," wrote Mattis. "We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children."
Mattis told ABC News Chief Global Affairs Anchor Martha Raddatz, "Enough is enough," shortly after the publication of his essay on Wednesday evening.
Since resigning as defense secretary in December 2018 over Trump's plans to pull U.S. military troops out of Syria, Mattis has never directly criticized the president.
In the essay entitled "In Union There is Strength" Mattis wrote that he has watched this week's events and is "angry and appalled."
"We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers," he wrote. "The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values -- our values as people and our values as a nation.
Mattis wrote that never did he dream the oath to preserve the Constitution that he and other service members took would be used " to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens -- much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside."
Tweeting his response late Wednesday, Trump mocked Mattis as "the world's most overrated General" and said "the only thing Barack Obama and I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis.
"Glad he is gone!" Trump added noting that he "he didn't like his 'leadership' style or much else about him" and said "his primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations."
"We must reject any thinking of our cities as a "battlespace" that our uniformed military is called upon to "dominate," Mattis wrote in an apparent reference to current Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who recently used that term in a conference call with governors.
"We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Park. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution," he continued.
"At the same time, we must remember Lincoln's "better angels," and listen to them, as we work to unite," he wrote. "Only by adopting a new path -- which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals -- will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad."
Mattis' rare public comments about Trump are a major shift for a man who has always maintained he would remain apolitical, as he did during his distinguished Marine career.
"It was an honor to serve under Secretary Mattis in the Pentagon, both as an American and as a former United State Marine," said Mick Mulroy, an ABC News contributor who served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East policy.
"He exemplifies the ethos of service before self and the principle that military officers should be apolitical," said Mulroy. "I believe he was apolitical as secretary and is now. It was probably a difficult decision to write this statement and that makes it even more important."
Muhgeetah on June 4th, 2020 at 11:41 UTC »
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/emboldened-adversaries-and-shaken-allies-mattis-savages-obamas-lack-of-leadership-in-new-book%3f_amp=true
not the first time Mattis has criticized his former boss. New book incoming?
eccary on June 4th, 2020 at 04:56 UTC »
I will never understand why this site thinks being a conservative means 100% support of any president with an R next to his name. Trump does good things and bad things, as do all presidents.
DeltaBetaBeta on June 4th, 2020 at 02:12 UTC »
Mattis' Statement:
IN UNION THERE IS STRENGTH I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand—one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values—our values as people and our values as a nation.
When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens—much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.
We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict—a false conflict—between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.
James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.” We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.
Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was ‘Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is ‘In Union there is Strength.’” We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis—confident that we are better than our politics.
Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people—does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.
We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.
Only by adopting a new path—which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals—will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.