Criticism Rains Down on Blunt General(CAIR comments)

LATIMES ^ | 05/03/05 | Esther Schrader

[Pikamax]

Criticism Rains Down on Blunt General By Esther Schrader Times Staff Writer

5:29 PM PST, February 3, 2005

WASHINGTON — The Marine general who led 65,000 troops to Baghdad in the first, furious push of the Iraq war is drawing criticism after he said of fighting insurgents in Iraq, "It's fun to shoot some people."

Lt. Gen. John Mattis made the comments Tuesday at a San Diego forum on tactics in fighting the war on terror. Mattis, who has been known as "Mad Dog Mattis" to troops, is currently commanding general of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va.

His comments were criticized by American Muslims and the Marines' top commander said he had "counseled" Mattis. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, speaking at a televised news conference after the furor erupted, said he had not seen Mattis' remarks and refused to discuss them.

Seated at a long table next to other military commanders, Mattis told about 200 people at the San Diego Convention Center: "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight, 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."

[JohnnyZ]

the Marines' top commander said he had "counseled" had a good laugh with Mattis.

[Txsleuth]

Maybe we should make a video of him saying these remarks and send it to al-Jazeera so they can play it for Zarqawi!!!

[phoenix0468]

Whew, I was worried. I had heard it closed. Man I hear that place is hell on earth.

[phoenix0468]

I knew that would rankle some people, and it wasn't meant to be derogatory in any way. What I mean is a Marine is a Marine. The character and courage of one Marine is pretty darn close to the next. That's a good thing. And it comes from the "forging" like steel in the fires of Pendleton and Parris Island. I am former Army. I would never even compare an Army soldier to a Marine in Character and Courage. Now, there are some of us dogs who wouldn't back down from any fight, but I really don't think I could find any Marine that would.

[semaj]

Mattis is the true Warrior Monk!

A straight shooter and talker if there ever was one. We need more of his kind.

[OKIEDOC]

CAIR terrorists in our on country.

Same as Kennedy, Boxer, Pelosi, McKinney, Dennis K and most of the other Dimorats.

[grounhog]

No problem. Kill them before they can kill us.....

[sheik yerbouty]

The General is a wise man.

[jaykay]

"Magnificent! Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God help me, I do love it so!" -- George S. Patton

http://www.rightwingnews.com/quotes/patton.php

[Jarhead1957]

I’ll let you in on a little secret all Enlisted Marines know. There are officers and there are Officers. Lt. Gen. John Mattis is a Chesty Puller type Officer, and Enlisted Marines would follow him anywhere. Polished he ain’t, a warrior he is! God bless him! (Before you tell me to use spell check, I know ain’t ain’t a word)

[BluH2o]

Well, here we go again, the pantywaist liberals have their knickers in a knot ... warrior ethos isn't anything they can pretend to understand ... their all about appeasement (you know, if we're really, really nice the bad guys will go away).

[beyond the sea]

"You go into Afghanistan, you've got guys who slapped 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." ---

OK with me.

[BluH2o]

Curious ... is General Mattis the guy who relieved the full bird who was leading Marines on the drive to Baghdad? As I recall a battalion of Marines were doing all the heavy lifting running up the eastern flank of the two pronged assault. The Marines were slowed down by having to go thru or around built up areas while the Army, to the west, was moving thru open terrain. The Marines were lagging slightly behind so their commander was sacked. The general consensus seemed to vindicate the commanding officer as it was felt his sacking was reactionary and unjust.

[RaceBannon]

Yes, it was. Mattis did relieve that Col, he wasn't pushing his people hard enough and the flanks were exposed.

Tough decision, but the Colonel erred.

Mattis was right. Too bad for the Col, he retired right after that.

[BluH2o]

Mattis was right. Too bad for the Col, he retired right after that.

Read a fairly lengthy article in the WSJ shortly after the unceremonious sacking of the Marine Col.. The story didn't portray Mattis in a favorable light ... he was described as being austere, never married, except to the Marine Corps, living an almost monk like existence. The guy he fired, admired by his troops, had a stellar record in the Corps ... it was felt he got shafted big time by Mattis.

[eyespysomething]

Wah wah wah!!

[phoenix0468]

you know, if we're really, really nice the bad guys will go away

Would smiling at them as you blow their head off with your M-4 carbine help?

[F16Fighter]

Dear Gen. John Mattis,

Thank you for your splendid accomplishments in exterminating the enemy and inspiring those under your command to do the same with honor and gusto.

To quote General S. Patton:

"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.

He won it...by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle."

P.S. -- Ignore the rantings of the anti-America detractors -- they're stark raving mad

[GunnyB]

Hey - yeah you - all you scumbag MSM turds. This General is a Warrior of the first rate, something that you worthless maggots would never understand. So please, move on to your next disaster and leave the fighting to us...

BTW, If a terrorist is dead, they aren't fighting us or bombing you tomorrow...

PS - As a matter of fact, the General IS right, it IS fun to shoot SOME people (VC, Arab Terrorists, Terrorists in general, woman abusers, child abusers). You want to know why? Because some folks are tired of turning scum of the earth over to your precious little "rule of law" judicial system and seeing the criminals get off scot free...