Mattis nixes holiday tradition of seeing troops in war zones

[progree]

Source: AP

For only the second time since 9/11, America's defense secretary didn't visit U.S. troops in a war zone during December, breaking a long-standing tradition of personally and publicly thanking service members in combat who are separated from their families during the holiday season.

Pentagon boss Jim Mattis, who spent more than four decades in the Marine Corps and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, made a five-day trip through the Middle East in early December. He stopped in Kuwait and Pakistan — countries adjacent to Iraq and Afghanistan — but didn't cross the borders to see troops at war in either country. Last week, he visited troops in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at military bases in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, wishing them holiday cheer.

It has been 15 years since a U.S. defense chief didn't travel to a war zone during the festive season. And the only time a holiday visit was skipped since Americans began fighting in Afghanistan was in December 2002. That year, then-Secretary Donald Rumsfeld went to a command post in Qatar that would be used a few months later to coordinate the launch of the Iraq war.



Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/mattis-nixes-holiday-tradition-seeing-153434749.html

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Here's another, also in Latest Breaking News

Mattis: 'I'm saving money for bombs' instead of gratitude tokens
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141950091

[marble falls]

1. He didn't get to be a General by exposing himself to friendly fire....

He didn't survive Nam with a rifle company as a 2nd Looey with a copy of Marcus Aurelius in his pocket by exposing his butt to his troops, dagnabbit.

[former9thward]

23. Do you have evidence of that?

He has a bronze star with a V for acts of valor in combat. In Afghanistan, as a General, he was known to sleep in fox holes with his troops when other commanders were in private rooms. He was confirmed 98-1. Do you know something Democrats in the Senate didn't?

[marble falls]

26. What exactly are you asking me to prove? Are you saying he wasn't made a 2nd Lt out of....

college ROTC to a Marine rifle company in Viet Nam in 1969 and that one of his commander's(a General) remarked that he was one of the most educated and finished men he had ever commanded and noted he always carried a copy of Marcus Aurelius book 'Meditations' with him in his pocket????

Why are you so pissed off about that????? I can prove that but I am not quite sure why you feel the need for it.

[former9thward]

29. You stated he "did not expose himself to friendly fire".

All the evidence is that he was on the line with the troops he commanded. There is no evidence for your statement.

[marble falls]

30. And at the same time reported his running a Marine rifle company in Viet Nam in '69....

as a newly minted 2nd Lt, let alone the decorations he earned there and later. Can you not take a joke, particularly when I mentioned the fact he was on the ground in the boodocks with a Marine rifle company in Viet Nam in '69? Let alone mentioning his supperior officer stating his sterling character and his habit of carrying Marcus Aurelius' 'Meditations' with him? Are you an ex-marine? It was a rib-elboing jibe referenced to his breaking a tradition of Christmas visits to the troops in the field and his decision not to hand out traditional coins opting instead to save the costs for more "bombs".

Jeez. Note to self: don't jibe a Marine general, just might be a humorless ex-Marine in the audience.

Park your evidence.

[former9thward]

31. I am ex-Air Force

Freely admit I am not tough enough to be a Marine. Sorry I did not catch the humor.

[marble falls]

33. I'm ex-Navy, like you I take slandering an ex-military pretty seriously. Happy New Year's, brother!

[Ohiogal]

2. If any of Obama's

defense secretaries had done this, you'd never hear the end of the outrage from the RWNJ's.

[dalton99a]

11. There is no doubt.

[democratisphere]

3. Mattis doesn't dare leave drumpf alone with the football.

Keeping drumpf close, and the football closer!

[Efilroft Sul]

16. My thoughts exactly. n/t

[Squinch]

4. Fear of fragging.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

5. Fragging Saint Mattis?

Surely you jest. He is loved by every guy that I served with personally, and by most everyone on my units FB page, and I was in the Army. He is damn near worshipped like a god in the Marines. Google image Saint Mattis. That exact picture replaced Sec Carter's portrait on a lot military bases until the official portraits were received.

[EX500rider]

6. lol...St Mattis of Quantico, the Patron Saint of Chaos

?v=1487745414

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

7. lol

Yep, that would be it.

[hack89]

17. He is beloved in the military

He is perceived as a warrior and not a politician.

[keithbvadu2]

8. Eventually they will get there

[alarimer]

9. Because he knows they hate him?

This administration is filled (by design) with garbage people. He is a fucking piece of shit.

Once your war machine gets going, good luck signing up the cannon fodder with shit like this.

[hack89]

18. You clearly know nothing about the military

They love him. He is perceived as one of them and not a politician.

[alarimer]

19. That mindset is incredibly fucking dangerous.

Military leaders should not be lionized. They simply see the world in black and white. And it is the most undemocratic institution we have. The military is not in charge, should not be in charge in this or ANY administration. Someone like this should not be near the levers of power. EVER.

[hack89]

20. Just pointing out that he is not hated by the military. Nt

[alarimer]

37. Because he is a warmonger.

And sees every problem as something to bomb.

Of course the rank and file like that. All they want to do is blow stuff up. There is no nuance, no possible gray areas in that world.

But of course the real world isn't like that. This country is capable of committing (and has in fact committed) great evil, usually by the military. I see no good in appointing a bloodthirsty warmonger in anything.

[hack89]

38. ok. ntNt

[Calista241]

36. I don't see a problem with Gen. Mattis as Secretary of Defense

He's highly respected by the rank and file because he's been where they've been. He's done the things they do every day, and he did them well.

Mattis retired in good faith after 41 years in the Marine Corps, several years before the 2016 election. Like everyone else, I seriously doubt he expected Trump to win the election. Secretary of Defense wasn't a job he campaigned for, and at the end of the day, 98 Dems voted for his confirmation.

I believe that he's been a moderating force on Trump's foreign policy. We're not at war with North Korea. We're not at war with Iran, Russia, or anyone else on our nation's list of potential foreign adversaries.

[yardwork]

10. What an asshole. /nt

[olegramps]

12. I am not in the least assured when our government is in the hands of blood thirsty generals.

Last edited Mon Jan 1, 2018, 12:22 PM - Edit history (1)

They scare the hell out of me and should do the same to any sane person. The military academies should be shuttered and anyone aspiring to be professional military be trained in non-military universities where they are exposed to a multitude of opinions rather than being brainwashed in group-think institutions.

[Plucketeer]

13. +1K

"Hoo Rah! I finally get to do what I've trained all my life to do!"

[irisblue]

14. About the first article quoted

Why are there so many hateful commentators on Yahoo?
I read the article & the 10 listed comments are...bizarre.

[FSogol]

15. "You're on your own troops" or "If caught, the President will disavow all knowledge..."

[Danmel]

21. Maybe he didn't want to hand out those tacky trump coins?

But a lack of gratitude seems to be a theme with this group.

[politicaljunkie41910]

35. I would expect a General to have his own coins. When I was in the Army we would have dignitaries

come through and they would have their own coins, not the presidential coin. And when I say dignitaries, they were usually Generals i.e. NATO Commander, Commander of European Forces, African Forces, etc.

[truthisfreedom]

22. Fucking bizarre. I'm gonna ask my military buddy what he thinks about his.

My family was non-military but this just doesn't sit right with me.

[Kaleva]

24. I don't think many in the military actually cares about this.

[Ken Burch]

25. Probably figures "why bother? by next Christmas, Trump'll get most of 'em killed..."

"...might as well not get too attached to any of 'em".

[Raven123]

27. Perhaps:

he is aware of just how Trump has enraged the world and knows any administration official who travels to high risk areas are at even greater risk than typical of precipitating violence.

he knows that should something happen to him, we would be in deep trouble as he is a part of a fragile barrier between Trump and war.

he is fearful,of what Trump might do in his absence.

In any event, I wouldn't criticize him for this.

[Vinca]

28. Was he golfing with Dear Leader?

[DallasNE]

32. A Retired General With Contempt Towards The Troops

Those "gratitude tokens" are far more important for moral that all of the bombs that could be bought. How much does it cost to fly from Pakistan to Afghanistan - $10,000. That will buy about 2 bombs.

Trump recently tweeted that first responder pay is too high so he apparently wants to bust the police and fire unions like Reagan busted the air traffic control union.

I thought the troops and police were two of Trumps core base so why is he crapping all over them? Does he think they are too dumb to catch on to what is really going on. Just more broken promises. Don't listen to what he says, watch what he does - always good advise.

[Kaleva]

34. When I was in, the arrival of a big wig was a major pain in the ass.

[dawn frenzy adams]

39. I have no respect

for a man that calls himself Mad-dog Mattis.