This morning, I wrote that Gen. James N. Mattis was being nominated to succeed Gen. Petraeus as commander CENTCOM.
I quoted the New York Times’ example of the general’s “bluntness” :
For his part, General Mattis has gotten in trouble for past observations on a life of combat. In 2005, he received an official rebuke for comments that included “it’s a lot of fun to fight.”
“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap around women for five years because they didn’t wear a veil,” he said while speaking at a forum in San Diego. “You know guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway, so it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”
A lot of news sources I’ve seen are cutting off the quote just after “It’s fun to shoot some people” in order to make Mattis look like some inhumane hair-trigger crazy who goes around popping just anybody, but reading the full quote tells us that the General is quite the defender of women and doesn’t mind ridding Afghanistan of any of its turban-clad Ike Turner types. Why aren’t women’s rights and anti-domestic violence activists patting him on the back?
I decided to look into and did find some inconsistencies in how the general was being quoted.
In an 11:03 “correction,” leading with “Corrected 11:03: An earlier version of this item incorrectly quoted Gen. James Mattis,” the Washington Post wrote:
Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, then a lieutenant general, told a crowd in San Diego that it was “fun to shoot some people” and said that some Afghans deserved to die.
“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years, because they didn’t wear a veil,” Mattis said. “You know guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot ’em.” (Watch Mattis’s comments in the video above.)
An earlier WaPo version today only had:
In 2005, Mattis was chastised by his superiors for saying in a public speech in San Diego that it was “fun to shoot some people.” Mattis was a three-star general at the time, stationed in Quantico, Va., when he told an audience that some Afghans deserved to die.
Finally, yesterday evening’s Wa Post version said this:
In 2005, Mattis was chastised by his superiors for saying in a public speech in San Diego that it was “fun to shoot some people.” Mattis was a three-star general at the time, stationed in Quantico, Va., when he told an audience that some Afghans deserved to die.
“Actually, it’s a lot of fun to fight,” he said. “You know, it’s a hell of a hoot. . . . It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right upfront with you. I like brawling.”
He added, “You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”
His comments evoked laughter and applause from the audience.
Most other news sources are sticking to the version quoted by the New York Times.
It is not clear to this reader which version the Post’s correction applied to.
Perhaps it’s all a tempest in a “Wa Post,” perhaps not.
Regardless, the title of our original post referring to the new commander as a “blunt-talking, seasoned veteran” stands.
