Trump's frontrunners for Pentagon job likely to share Mattis' views on Syria, Afghanistan

Fox News ^ | December 21, 2018 | Lukas Mikelionis

[familyop]

...Gen. Jack Keane and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., are considered the frontrunners to replace Mattis...For Trump to nominate Keane, however, he would have to swallow Keane’s hawkish stance...and his recent criticism of the move to pull out of Syria, which the retired general called a “huge strategic mistake." “Clearly, we're repeating the Obama mistake of premature withdrawal, which got us ISIS,” Keane said on Fox News’ “America's Newsroom” on Thursday. “In my judgment, we need to stick to it and finish the job,” Keane added, noting that the withdrawal of American troops will give “a victory of strategic proportions” to the Iranian regime.

[Alberta's Child]

The only ones in favor of our pullout to speak publicly so far is Putin in Russia and Erdogan in Turkey. Do you truly think they have America's best interests in mind?

And President Trump. How do you overlook him? Do you think HE has America's best interests in mind?

[yldstrk]

Iran has been surrounded for literally years. Pulling 2000 troops out of Syria doesn’t change that.

[familyop]

Some of his men testified against him. He’s a good man, though. Just a bit of a loose cannon at times and an icon of libertarians. He also said as a politician, that men who get behind on their child support should be caned. Little example there.

[Sirius Lee]

Hysteria isn't a rational basis for foreign policy. Russia and China can already nuke us at any time and there's not a damned thing you can do about it. Iran is trying to acquire nukes, but it is this President, Trump, who at least put the kibosh on having the U.S. taxpayer fund it.

We have a porous border with MS-13 and islamic terrorists and chinese spies waltzing right through. That is the immediate threat. The global adventurism is pure military industrial complex masturbation. Selling pork and burning through the bacon.

[familyop]

At least I was in platoons instead of sections (not a REMF).

[ek_hornbeck]

Don’t buy off on the Posse Comitatus lie. The military CAN LEGALLY AND SHOULD defend our border

Those who invoke Posse Comitatus as a reason not to defend our border do so because they're looking for an excuse not to defend the border at all. Their claims are based on a complete distortion of what Posse Comitatus means (i.e. not using the military as a police force). It's just as specious an argument as the idiotic refrain we keep on hearing about illegal immigrants: "Well, we can't deport them all [so why bother deporting any of them]."

[VietVet876]

I fear that the status of “complete” is when the contractors and their paid-off elected and appointed officials have milked all the dollars out of an action they can and are ready to move to fertile pastures.

[central_va]

Those who invoke Posse Comitatus as a reason not to defend our border do so because they're looking for an excuse not to defend the border at all.

Worth repeating. You are a great wordsmith!

[LS]

Look, generals are soldiers. Ultimately, to a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. This is not bad, just reality. That’s why you have a department of STATE too. Even the pacifistic Jefferson had to send our ENTIRE armed forces to Tripoli to beat the crap out of the pirates.

But they don’t have to stay there. I’m even in favor of greatly reducing—though not removing-—the number of bases in Germany.

[familyop]

"Hysteria isn't a rational basis for foreign policy."

That's right. Anti-defense people shouldn't be hysterical or so disrespectful as to call men "chicken hawks," as is often issued from such sewing circles.

"Russia and China can already nuke us at any time and there's not a damned thing you can do about it."

Movies like "The Day After" (along with stories like "The Second After") are not good material for learning about nuclear war. Neither is propaganda from the left in the form of documentaries. Nuclear exchanges would be the beginning of a greater war--not the end. And yes, plenty can and should be done about it in advance, too. It would make survivability easier and more likely.

[Sirius Lee]

And President Trump. How do you overlook him? Do you think HE has America's best interests in mind?

It's a form of TDS. schumer and pelousey love it when RINOs get giddy about blowing stuff up in other nations and ignoring the actual, present invasion of America. The pols on both sides of the aisle who accept bribes from the K Street boys representing Mitre, Lockheed, Raytheon, etc., sure love it.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

preach on brother....

People on this site were rah, rah, rah when we tore up the Iranian nuke deal. Most were willing to give Trump space with the Khashoggi murder because Saudi is important for our Middle East plans against Iran, yet they can’t see how us pulling out of Syria takes away our leverage from constraining Iran in Syria.

[GOPJ]

If General’s had their way we'd have troops in every country in the world ‘just to be on the safe side’...

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"WE are the invaders there. U.S. troops in Syria are the legal and moral equivalent of Chinese or Mexican troops in California."

I said nothing about Russia's right to be in Syria. I also agree that Obama was wrong in not getting Congress to authorize this. That is all in the past. I could go on and on about the correct way that this should have been resolved. If we handled it correctly in the first place, we would have never went into Syria. However, we have to deal with the present situation, in 2018. We are there and we have National Security Interests involved. They will not be served by us pulling out like this for a number of reasons that I already outlined.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"And President Trump. How do you overlook him? Do you think HE has America's best interests in mind?"

Even you would concede that he's not an expert on National Defense, correct? Can you name an American National Defense Expert that is in favor of it?

[LS]

Well, precisely. As I say, that’s fine, hammers are made for nails and I’d hate to have a general who was afraid to go into combat. But they don’t make policy, as MacArthur found out.

[Sirius Lee]

Well, I, for one, am not anti-defense and would never call you a chickenhawk. I hope your feelings are not hurt if that was even implied.

The references to sewing circles and crappy made-for-television movies is non-sequitur. Whatever point you may have been trying to make is unimportant.

Rest assured that President Trump is doing the right thing for America. I trust him. Don't you?

[10mm]

"...they can’t see how us pulling out of Syria takes away our leverage from constraining Iran in Syria."

Israel has been blowing up every Iranian base, depot, observation station, barracks, and anti-aircraft installion in Syria that they could find. I'm more that happy to leave the Iran/Syria problem to them.

[Jim Noble]

The Arabs are, eventually, going to be ruled.

By Turks, by Russians, by Persians. Perhaps by some combination of the three.

Who they are not going to be ruled by is Americans.

[Jarhead9297]

Ahhhh yes squad, platoon, company, division