Were you in the Marines? I'm looking for a nuanced opinion on Mattis so could I ask you a few questions?
Is Mattis technically a civilian now?
When Mattis makes comments about the President's decisions how can it be interpreted by people? What I mean by that is, do you think he genuinely thinks Trump is dangerous or does he have divided loyalties? This is what I'm really interested in. Why does he behave this way? Even if he disagrees with the President, doesn't he have a responsibility to support peace in the union by not publicizing it? As a Marine, how is your loyalty to the country interpreted, is it more to the President or the constitution (if that makes sense.) Sorry for all the questions! I'm just really interested in the military.
No worries! I was an e-3 in the infantry. I never rubbed elbows with anyone close to the status of Mattis, so everything I say is conjecture.
Me and my buddies all heard stories of 4 star general Mattis traveling in a caravan, hearing firefights over the radio, and jumping straight into the fray. Some PFC would look over and see Mattis returning fire with him. The dude is a full on badass, but even in the lowly ranks of where I was at, some people fought for country, some for their careers, some just for the sake of fighting. We’re all people, and susceptible to corruption.
In a lot of ways, I think Mattis is genuine. His entire life had been about force readiness, and military supremacy. I believe he could be a war hawk, just because that’s how his mind works.
Personally, like many great leaders before, I think he could be blinded with ambition, join covert factions, etc, while justifying it based off his existing reasoning.
Shit, look at lt. col. Ollie North. Badass Marine, corrupt as shit. Same thing with Robert Mueller. Total badass, but also total sell out.
It hard to say what motivates people. I think Mattis is doing bad things with bad people but believes he’s doing it for a good reason. That doesn’t exonerate him.
These people have never known a world without forward deployed maneuver units - permanently based somewhere in Europe, Asia, or otherwise. The idea of pulling that back and not having as large of a standing army or marine infantry is antithetical to what these people live and breathe. They really do see themselves as peace keepers and forces for good and not, in fact, expensive drains on the economy which drags America into things it shouldn't be, weakening us for the next big war that actually matters.
Yes, thank you. I had heard that Mattis was strongly respected for his willingness to fight alongside troops and his serious no-nonsense attitude. I could believe he's a war hawk like you pointed out for sure. I enjoy studying military strategy so his actions make a ton more sense from the angle of him being in a covert faction, but wow! That is really serious and not something I wanted to consider.
Were you in the Marines? I'm looking for a nuanced opinion on Mattis so could I ask you a few questions? Is Mattis technically a civilian now? When Mattis makes comments about the President's decisions how can it be interpreted by people? What I mean by that is, do you think he genuinely thinks Trump is dangerous or does he have divided loyalties? This is what I'm really interested in. Why does he behave this way? Even if he disagrees with the President, doesn't he have a responsibility to support peace in the union by not publicizing it? As a Marine, how is your loyalty to the country interpreted, is it more to the President or the constitution (if that makes sense.) Sorry for all the questions! I'm just really interested in the military.
No worries! I was an e-3 in the infantry. I never rubbed elbows with anyone close to the status of Mattis, so everything I say is conjecture.
Me and my buddies all heard stories of 4 star general Mattis traveling in a caravan, hearing firefights over the radio, and jumping straight into the fray. Some PFC would look over and see Mattis returning fire with him. The dude is a full on badass, but even in the lowly ranks of where I was at, some people fought for country, some for their careers, some just for the sake of fighting. We’re all people, and susceptible to corruption.
In a lot of ways, I think Mattis is genuine. His entire life had been about force readiness, and military supremacy. I believe he could be a war hawk, just because that’s how his mind works.
Personally, like many great leaders before, I think he could be blinded with ambition, join covert factions, etc, while justifying it based off his existing reasoning.
Shit, look at lt. col. Ollie North. Badass Marine, corrupt as shit. Same thing with Robert Mueller. Total badass, but also total sell out.
It hard to say what motivates people. I think Mattis is doing bad things with bad people but believes he’s doing it for a good reason. That doesn’t exonerate him.
Hopefully this was insightful.
These people have never known a world without forward deployed maneuver units - permanently based somewhere in Europe, Asia, or otherwise. The idea of pulling that back and not having as large of a standing army or marine infantry is antithetical to what these people live and breathe. They really do see themselves as peace keepers and forces for good and not, in fact, expensive drains on the economy which drags America into things it shouldn't be, weakening us for the next big war that actually matters.
Yes, thank you. I had heard that Mattis was strongly respected for his willingness to fight alongside troops and his serious no-nonsense attitude. I could believe he's a war hawk like you pointed out for sure. I enjoy studying military strategy so his actions make a ton more sense from the angle of him being in a covert faction, but wow! That is really serious and not something I wanted to consider.