Free Republic

Both the left and the right are wrong about Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis. He is neither the Jack Nicholson caricature of a Marine depicted in the 1992 movie A Few Good Men nor the callous and mad eccentric depicted by George C. Scott in the 1970 movie Patton. And Gen. Mattis didn’t just talk the talk; he walked the walk. He led from the front. Indeed, on at least one occasion that I know of, the General was bloodied from a firefight or improvised explosive device while out on patrol with junior, enlisted Marines one-third his age....

Copy of a letter written by Maj.Gen James Mattis and distributed to every member of the 1st Marine Division a day before the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq

Slamming settlements, James Mattis, former commander of CentCom, tells crowd in Aspen that moderate Arabs are forced to hide support for America. Retired US Marine Corps General James Mattis recently said that America pays a price for its perceived bias in support of Israel. “I paid a military security price every day as the commander of CentCom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel, and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can’t come out publicly in support of people who don’t show respect for the Arab Palestinians,” he...

WASHINGTON — On the eve of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the commanding general of the 1st Marine Division distributed a one-page "Message to All Hands." It was a succinct warning to those going into battle about what to expect from the enemy and his expectations for them. His instructions and encouragement on deportment, skill, courage and compassion harkened back to Shakespeare's rendition of Henry V on St. Crispin's Day and Eisenhower's guidance to his troops going ashore at Normandy. The close, an admonition paraphrasing Roman General Lucius Sulla: "Demonstrate to the world there is 'No better friend, no worse enemy' than...

Last December, in my post, “Obama purges U.S. Command, Part 1,” I wrote: Within two months after the Benghazi attack, four senior U.S. military officers were purged: Gen. Carter Ham, on October 18.Adm. Charles Gaouette, on October 27.Gen. David Petraeus, on November 9.Gen. John Allen, on November 13. Ostensibly, Petraeus’ “retirement” and Allen’s suspended promotion are due to both men’s moral conduct. But surely we are not so naive as to think that Petraeus and Allen are the only U.S. military officers who’ve ever committed adultery or written flirtatious email. As for Ham’s “retirement” and Gaouette’s “temporary re-assignment” (reassignment to...

Obama Fires Top General Without Even a Phone Call Daniel Halper January 25, 2013 10:26 AM President Barack Obama fired General James Mattis, the head of Central Command, without even calling the general to let him know he was being replaced. "I am told that General Mattis was travelling and in a meeting when an aide passed him a note telling him that the Pentagon had announced his replacement as head of Central Command. It was news to him -- he hadn't received a phone call or a heads-up from anyone at the Pentagon or the White House," Thomas E....

“Word on the national security street is that General James Mattis is being given the bum’s rush out of his job as commander of Central Command, and is being told to vacate his office several months earlier than planned,” reports veteran national security correspondent Thomas E. Ricks. It now appears likely that Gen. Mattis, a Marine Corps legend, will leave his post as head of America’s most important combatant command in March, several months earlier than planned. Ricks continues: Why the hurry? Pentagon insiders say that he rubbed civilian officials the wrong way — not because he went all “mad...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2007 – President Bush has nominated Marine Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis to receive his fourth star and to lead U.S. Joint Forces Command, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced yesterday. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and President Bush’s nominee to lead U.S. Joint Forces Command, escorts Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her May 23, 2007, visit to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif. Photo by Lance Cpl. Jerry Murphy, USMC  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Mattis, currently “dual-hatted” as commander of 1st Marine Expeditionary Force...

NORTH COUNTY ---- Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis will be nominated for the rank of general and appointed commander of a high-level military planning and strategy unit based in Virginia, the North County Times has learned. Mattis, whose present job is commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command and head of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force, will become head of the Joint Forces Command and Supreme Allied Commander, Transformation. Multiple sources within the military and in Washington, D.C., confirmed that Mattis, who has overseen Marine Corps forces in the Middle East for the last 15 months and is...

WASHINGTON -- When a Marine lieutenant general last week said in public it was "fun to shoot some people" much hand-wringing ensued. The public outcry revealed less about him than it did about the hypocrisy of the United States. It is not unreasonable to expect such a senior officer to exercise better judgment than that, and indeed he was "verbally counseled" by the commandant of the Marine Corps. The judgment the Marine Corps expected Lt. Gen. James Mattis to make was that a "civilian" audience would not respond well to such bald truth. (It was, in fact, a room full...

In yet another display of how out-of-touch with reality the American Left truly is, liberals have chosen to defend the soulless words of a University of Colorado professor over the comments on staunch reality from one of this country’s bravest and most experienced military leaders. When assessing political issues like the one at hand, it’s important to observe which side of the isle the Left and Right fall on. I’ll expound on that in a moment. On February 4, 2005, Marine Lieutenant General James Mattis spoke to colleagues at a panel regarding strategies for the war on terrorism in San...

You've heard the quote from James N. Mattis; Commanding General of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, dozens of time by now: "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for 5 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." Displaying its usual knee-jerk antipathy towards the American military, the press seized on Mattis' comments, delivered in the middle of a panel discussion in San Diego last week. The message was clear. The Iraq war...

"I'll tell you right now, I don't get intelligence off a satellite," the general (Mattis) said. "Iraqis tell me who the enemy is. That is very dangerous for Iraqis. You think about how much courage that takes when you've got to live with these murderous bastards."

Lieutenant General James Mattis recently made comments at a forum in San Diego that are now pervading the news; he said, "It's fun to shoot some people… You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap 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." So of course, liberals have now become frantic in their revolted outrage. As the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nihad Awad, said, "We do not need...

Where's the rage, Catholic men? Rod Dreher 06:31 PM CST on Tuesday, February 8, 2005 With Pope John Paul II ailing, Catholics are starting to think about the next pope. My choice? Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Mattis, the crusty leatherneck now in trouble for saying that in war, it's fun to shoot bad guys. The Marine general told his audience: "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap 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...

General George S. Patton once said, "Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often discover what they lack." Those on the left seem to be cynical about everything to do with the war on terrorism. I think if Patton were alive today, he would say liberals lack the courage to fight the enemy, and he would slap a few of them around. Liberals are also cynical about the way the military handles terrorist prisoners. I am sure Patton would tell liberals they lack the basic understanding of warfare and prisoner handling, and he would challenge them to spend...

For those of you who missed it last night on Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes, famed author and pundit Ann Coulter (who people often compliment for her good looks) is apparently smitten with a certain soldier. Last night on H&C, after one of the hosts mentioned Lt. Gen. James Mattis, Coulter requested that from then on the hosts referred to Mattis as “Ann’s future husband". Sean Hannity chuckled and mentioned it as he sent the show to commercial break. James Mattis, the Lieutenant General who our friends over at HundredPercenter are currently saluting as “Our Modern Day Patton", gained...

"At ease, General Mattis. Your country salutes you, and needs you." I'd heard of U.S. Marine Gen. Jim Mattis from other Marines over the years and from news coverage of his own exploits. He was the blunt, bachelor general who had served nine tours of duty in the Middle East, including combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was the commander of the 1st Marine Division in the longest, fastest thrust of a division in Corps history -- that dash to Baghdad in 2003. I knew he wasn't just an officer; he was a leader. And a fighter. Not a statesman....

Reader Stephen Prince, of Phoenix, AZ, shares with us a letter he sent to another Mattis supporter. Col. Anderson is the CO of NROTC at Norwich University, Vt. Dear Col. Anderson, I read an article in the Arab News highlighting your defense of Lt. General Mattis. I would like to add that I am a former Marine officer myself. I served from 1984-1988. I was a graduate of the PLC Jr./Sr. program in 1981 and 1983. I can not tell you how bitter and ashamed I feel over the remarks made by Gen. Mattis. His remarks have now been published...