Posted on 01/30/2017 10:54:10 PM PST by SeekAndFind
As a point of law, Mattis has no authority himself under Trump’s order to grant visas. That falls to DHS and the State Department under section 3(g), although it would be … weird if any of the Pentagon’s recommendations for exemptions from the travel ban were to be turned down.
Mattis reportedly wasn’t consulted while the order was being drafted, which may help explain his (alleged) annoyance at it. Two thumbs up for the crack Trump political team in cutting the single most respected member of their natsec team out of the policymaking process. I wonder how many more Bannon-style power plays like that it’ll take before Mattis decides he has better things to do with the rest of his life than serve as a front man for actions on which he has no input.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, blindsided by President Trump’s travel ban that includes U.S. allies in Iraq, is submitting to the White House a list of Iraqis who have helped the U.S. military so they can be considered for exemptions to the temporary immigration freeze affecting seven majority-Muslim countries.
Some officials say Mattis was stung by the blistering criticism leveled by former military commanders and lawmakers who said the blanket ban risked the lives of Iraqi interpreters and others who have supported the U.S. military at great personal risk…
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mattis was displeased with how the ban was implemented, and with the lack of consultation with the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security.
If it cheers him up any, the first snap poll after the order was issued shows majority support for the key principles in the order:
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 57% of Likely U.S. Voters favor a temporary ban on refugees from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen until the federal government approves its ability to screen out potential terrorists from coming here. Thirty-three percent (33%) are opposed, while 10% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Similarly, 56% favor a temporary block on visas prohibiting residents of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen from entering the United States until the government approves its ability to screen for likely terrorists. Thirty-two percent (32%) oppose this temporary ban, and 11% are undecided.
If not for the initial cock-up barring green-card holders, which has now been remedied by an order from John Kelly, the left would have had less ammo to try to turn this into a galvanizing outrage. I think the temporary ban on refugees is unfortunate since they’re already closely screened and the U.S. accepts far, far fewer than Europe does, but the numbers don’t lie. The public is okay with excluding them, at least temporarily, on the principle of “better safe than sorry.” It’ll be an interesting test of strength between Trump and the media, which are in saturation mode trying to turn the public against Trump’s action (replete with disinformation about it being a “Muslim ban,” etc), to see if the polling starts to turn negative on his order in the coming days.
Here’s Seth Moulton, an Iraq veteran turned Democratic congressman who knows Mattis, who claims that there’s “no way in hell” he would support the order.
when Trump signed the order, Mattis was standing right behind him smiling away...even put the pen in his pocket.
Man, he’s really got the sneering thing going on, doesn’t he?
It must be hard to feel so...powerless, futile.
when Trump signed the order, Mattis was standing right behind him smiling away...even put the pen in his pocket.
YEP. PROBABLY WROTE THE DAMN THING.
BEST THING Trump could do now is start his own Government News Channel.....oh wouldn’t that freak the media the hell out of their stinking minds. Hell just take over PBS. Change it to TBS.
and then I have to spend a fortune on those darn nieces and nephews :)
AllahPundit is generally a buffoon. This is actually an example of how it is working well and the right people will be accounted for and not hung out to dry.
Stop posting lies from allah idiot and that trump hate site hot gas from Salem media a Trump hater media scam forccheapmlabor espress.
it’s fake news from a trump hate media website.
you lost poster.
your hate of trump is well documented here.
stop posting lies from a trump haters.
That would have avoided all those in-airport sob stories, wherein the ACLU comes to the rescue winning a restraining order from a federal judge, and the MSM goes wild with human interest features about the poor moon-god worshiping victims.
As for Secretary Mattis, the order should have included a Pentagon contact to verify exceptions ...
This is why I called quits on Hot Air. Allahpundit is just unbearable. There are better sites out there.
THUMBS UP! WELL SPOTTED!
FR really needs to ban all of the Salem witch media websites, including townhall.com, redstate.com, human events, etc
First of all, "some officials" is meaningless.
Whose defense secretary is Jim Mattis? Obama's? Trump's? a temporary holder of the post? What?
Why is so much reported with such incompetent ambiguities?
I assume Mattis is also aware how many of these koranimals (linked to below) were koranimals who lied to become residents, some even citizens before returning to their koranimal ways?
The military might as well have the killers vet themselves! The military seem to have no more competence that Obama's flying monkeys "vetting" terrorists.
What gives?
20 “vetted” Muslim refugees who turned to jihad :
I can see Mattis being upset. He also, you notice, has kept it under wraps (if he IS angry).
Mattis knows how to work within an organization. He’ll deliver a message to the boss and this boss will listen.
Hot Air can shove it.
“They need to set the record straight on this. We do not need to know how anyone in this administration “feels” about the President’s decisions. It is not “about Mattis”. He was selected to do a job not make news for himself.”
I absolutely agree. If true, this is disconcerting, especially in context with Mattis’ views on Israel. I know I am in a minority here, but I don’t trust Mattis at all, and I certainly do not agree with his views that Israel defending herself is a problem.
The Jester is a big disappointment as well. I thought he was ‘conservative’, but bashes President Trump constantly.
Maybe there is a clue in his name.
Hm.
I wonder what it could be?
Bfl
Yep....you said it!
So where were these interpreters two weeks ago? Why didn’t the Obama administration allow them in?
"James Jay Carafano, a vice president of the conservative Heritage Foundation and a member of Mr. Trump’s transition team, said that little of that work was shared with career officials at the Homeland Security Department, the State Department or other" agencies.
"There was 'a firewall between the old administration and the incoming one,' Mr. Carafano said."
"One reason, he said, is that when the Trump transition team asked pointed questions suggesting new policies to the career officials, those questions were swiftly leaked to the news media, generating negative stories. So the Trump team began to limit the information they discussed with officials from the previous administration."
“Why share it with them?” Mr. Carafano said.
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