Why does a shut down government need a defense secretary anyway?
James Mattis, a retired U.S. Marine Corps 4-star general, has quit as Trump’s secretary of defense a day after Trump decided to pull out of Syria without consulting the Pentagon. Trump is also expected to pull out of Afghanistan, likely opening the way for a Taliban victory in that country’s long-running civil war.
Mattis is leaving because of irreconcilable differences with Trump. CNN said, “Mattis’ resignation letter amounts to a rebuke of several of Trump’s foreign policy views, with the outgoing defense secretary touting the importance of US alliances and of being ‘unambiguous’ in approaching adversaries like Russia and China. It is devoid of any praise for the President.”
His resignation comes on the heels of retired Army general John Kelly’s departure as Trump’s chief of staff, also because of personal and policy differences. Many of the people around Trump who have been a moderating influence are bailing from his administration and Trump is replacing them with sycophants, so we can expect even more chaos and dangerously stupid policies from Putin’s handpicked U.S. president. They’re probably laughing in the Kremlin. Read story here.