Character

October 21, 2019

Forty-three years. That’s forty-three: General Jim Mattis’s service to the United States as a U.S. Marine. He added nearly two more as Secretary of Defense, resigning in December 2018. His departure followed President Trump’s announcement that he intended to withdraw from Syria a U.S. force that acted as a buffer between Turkey and the Kurdish forces that fought with the U.S. against the terrorist group ISIS.

In his resignation letter Mattis wrote that “Because you have a right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours … I believe it is right for me to step down.”

Earlier in his letter Mattis wrote that “our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive systems of alliances and partnerships. … I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. … 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.”

He closed with: “I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.” At that time Trump backed away from pulling the U.S. force.

As the whole world knows, two weeks ago Trump attempted to appease the president of Turkey by withdrawing the U.S. contingent from Syria, over strong objections from his advisers and Congressional Republicans and Democrats. The House of Representatives, split between impeachment-pushing Democrats and Trump-groupie Republicans, still came together on October 16 to vote 360-60-4 to condemn the Syria pullout. After being reminded by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer that Mattis had warned that “ISIS would resurge” in the absence of a U.S. force, the president called Mattis “the world’s most overrated general,” adding that “I captured ISIS in one month.”

Trump looks at U.S. Mideast policy and sees not a commitment to stand with allies against aggression by authoritarian regimes and the ravages of extremist factions and terrorists, but a hot campaign issue: a promise to end “endless wars.” Instead, his action of backstabbing the Kurds invites endless war, as Turkey’s powerful military destroys Kurdish towns, the Kurds ally with the bloodthirsty Syrian regime, and ISIS fanatics execute civilians. But his shtick about “endless wars” sounds like a winner among the Trump cult, his so-called “base.” They still show up at those MAGA rallies, and they love those cracks about “fake news” and “do-nothing Democrats.”

What they don’t care about is character, for example, the character of Mattis, who devoted his life to defending America and American allies in bloody places in Afghanistan and Iraq. His mission was leadership and the teaching of leadership in brutal combat environments. He often has been quoted as saying, to Marines in Iraq, that “whenever you show anger or disgust towards civilians, it’s a victory for al-Qaeda and other insurgents,” and “every time you wave at an Iraqi civilian, al-Qaeda rolls over in his grave.”

Character yet again shone through Mattis’s refusal since he left office to join many deeply worried Americans in criticizing the charlatans and amateurs now running U.S. foreign policy.

Instead, he maintained the personal dignity—the bearing—he had honed over those 45 years, offering only that, “If you leave an administration, you owe some silence. When you leave an administration over clear policy differences, you need to give the people who are still there as much opportunity as possible to defend the country.”

Others differ, saying those people have had their chance and failed, that Mattis should speak up.

Early in his career Mattis served at Marine Corps Base Quantico, the “Crossroads of the Corps,” going through the Amphibious Warfare School and Command and Staff College. After promotion to lieutenant general he returned to Quantico to head up the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, or MCCDC, which develops Marine Corps tactics and strategy.

When I finished my Marine Corps service in the mid-1970s—a lifetime ago—I left D.C., where I had worked as a communications-electronics officer at Headquarters Marine Corps, after a year with the Third Marine Division on Okinawa. Sandy and I moved back to northern Virginia a decade later. In my civilian work life I returned many times to Quantico and MCCDC.

In terms of facilities, Quantico is far different from when I was there to attend Marine Officers Basic School and Officers Communications School. But Mattis left his mark. His philosophy is indelible. It starts and finishes with development of character in defense of sacred values. Rather than tolerate ignorance and political opportunism in defense policy, he resigned, reinforcing those values. He gave the nation 45 years of character. The nation is left with: Trump.