“Warrior Monk” is a cool nickname. Like it better than “Mad Dog”….which brings up another image:
Anyhow, don’t want to be pre-mature, but the rumor has it from a very good source (Donald Trump) that retired General James Mattis is going to be our next Secretary of Defense.
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mattis
My last post on the subject:
Andrew Bacevich comments on the subject (the link to the long article is in my previous post):
Yet Pres. Trump is also likely to double down on the use of conventional military force. In that regard, his promise to “quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of [Islamic State]” offers a hint of what is to come.
Trump’s appointment of the uber-hawkish retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his national security adviser and his rumored selection of retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis as defense secretary suggest that he means what he says. In sum, a Trump administration seems unlikely to reexamine the conviction that the problems roiling the Greater Middle East will someday, somehow yield to a U.S.-imposed military solution.
Having retired generals as the National Security Advisor and as Secretary of Defense does not necessarily indicate only a kinetic solution to all problems, but there is always a concern with “groupthink,” to use a still valid term from the 60s. One only has to look at the early recommendations made to President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis to appreciate the dangers of this.
The interesting thing is that Trump himself on multiple occasions has expressed a desire to disengage from various areas of the world. I for one, still have no idea what our National Security Policies are going to be, and am not sure we can determine anything from these cabinet picks. I wonder if the incoming administration has decided what our National Security Policies are going to be.
