Final Update:

At midnight tonight, Secretary of Defense Mattis will turn over the Pentagon keys (and many other keys) to his temporary replacement.

Typical of this low-keyed patriot, General, Mattis did not have any kind of departure ceremony.

Instead he called on the U.S. military to stay firm in its mission “to support and defend the Constitution while protecting our way of life.”

“Our department is proven to be at its best when the times are most difficult. So keep the faith in our country and hold fast, alongside our allies, aligned against our foes,” Mattis said.

UPDATE:

A vindictive, fatuous and vacuous Trump, furious about James Mattis’ stingingly veracious letter of resignation (below), is removing the Defense Secretary from his post by January 1, two months before he had planned to depart.

In a tweet, Trump announced that Patrick M. Shanahan, Mattis’s deputy and a former Boeing executive, would serve as the acting defense secretary, according to the New York Times.

Trump likes Shanahan because he appears to be a “yes-man” at least on certain issues. The Times: “Aides say that Mr. Trump likes him in part because he often tells the president that he is correct to complain about the expense of defense systems.”

Original Post:

Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a former four-star U.S. Marine Corps general, stepped down today as Trump’s secretary of Defense.

While there is plenty of commentary on both the resignation and the letter of resignation (below), I believe the general’s letter says it all and needs no explanation, clarification, dissection or analysis.

It is respectful, correct and to the point as we would expect from a flag rank officer, but is also crystal clear, especially under the circumstances.

Thanks to the Washington Examiner for the letter

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
1000 DEFENSE PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 20301-1000
December 20, 2018

Dear Mr. President:

I have been privileged to serve as our country’s 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.

I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department’s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong U.S. global influence.

One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the U.S. remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world.

Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO’s 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9/11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.

Similarly, I believe we must he resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model gaining veto authority over other nations’ economic, diplomatic, and security decisions to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.

My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.

Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date of my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department’s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a new Secretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability within the Department.

I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million Service Members and the 732,079 DoD civilians receive undistracted attention of the Department of all times so that they can fulfill their critical, round-the-clock mission to protect the American people.

I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.

James N. Mattis

DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando

UPDATE: In a must read article ‘A tailspin’: Under siege, Trump propels the government and markets into crisis, The Washington Posts offers this tidbit.

Trump has been isolated in bunker mode in recent weeks as political and personal crises mount, according to interviews with 27 current and former White House officials, Republican lawmakers, and outside advisers to the president, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer candid assessments.

“There’s going to be an intervention,” one former senior administration official said speculatively. “Jim Mattis just sent a shot across the bow. He’s the most credible member of the administration by five grades of magnitude. He’s the steady, safe set of hands. And this letter is brutal. He quit because of the madness.”

In his resignation letter, Mattis wrote, “My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues .?.?. Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.”

Although Trump’s relationship with Mattis has been rocky for months, the president spent the first part of Thursday focused on another fraying relationship: with his conservative base.

And:

Inside the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump was in what one Republican close to the White House described as “a tailspin,” acting “totally irrationally” and “flipping out” over criticisms in the media….\
…Trump’s pinballing conduct — veering from a promise of a shutdown to moving toward a deal, then changing his mind — has vexed members of his own party. Many Republican lawmakers said they sense that Trump is adjusting uneasily to the dynamics of a soon-to-be divided government and lashing out to reclaim some of his dominance over the congressional agenda.

The defense secretary’s resignation compounded the concern.

“Having Mattis there gave all of us a great deal more comfort than we have now,” retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said. “Chaos has kind of been the norm, but it seems to have been heightened. Sometimes you think it’s got to settle, and then another thing happens.”

SOME REACTION ON TWITTER:

Dorian de Wind, Military Affairs Correspondent

The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.

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