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By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer NORTH COUNTY ---- Marine Corps officials confirmed Friday that Lt. Gen. James Mattis has called for an investigation into who leaked documents recently from a massive investigation of the 2005 deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, Iraq. An attorney representing one of eight Camp Pendleton Marines charged in connection with the incident said Friday it was essential Mattis order the probe given the notoriety caused by a Jan. 6 Washington Post article. The newspaper cited interviews with eyewitnesses who allege four of the Marines had gunned down five men. "A lot of...

Lt. Gen. James Mattis in his office at Camp Pendleton Tuesday during an interview. Lt. Gen. James Mattis told the North County Times during an exclusive interview this week that while a lot of work has been done in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is much to do to defeat the extremist threats to Middle East stability and long-term U.S. security. "The problem of violent extremists existed long before 2003, and it is going to exist long after the next presidential election," said Mattis, who also commands Camp Pendleton's 25,000-member I Marine Expeditionary Force. "We are going to have to confront...

Marine Corps' Middle East commander getting new job and fourth star CAMP PENDLETON -- The Defense Department formally announced Tuesday that Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis has been nominated by President Bush for a fourth star and appointment to the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. Mattis has led the base's 25,000-member I Marine Expeditionary Force and served as commander of Marine Corps forces throughout the Middle East since August of last year. He also served as the convening authority over war crime cases involving Marines in Iraq, a duty that he will pass to his successor. The U.S....

CAMP PENDLETON -- On the eve of his promotion to four-star general and a new assignment, Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis is being acclaimed by colleagues and observers for his combat command skills and adept handling of troops accused of killing Iraqi civilians. "I regard him as America's foremost war fighter," Gary Solis, a former Marine judge and prosecutor, said last week. "No general has ever had to deal with so many tough cases at one time and handled them with such skill and aplomb." Mattis will soon be on his way from Camp Pendleton to an assignment in...

Breaking: General Stanley McChrystal tenders his resignation A senior Capitol Hill source tells me that General Stanley McChrystal had tendered his resignation to President Barack Obama and that the White House is actively discussing a replacement who could be quickly confirmed by the Senate. The source said that among the names being touted as possible successors are General James Mattis, the outgoing head of the US Joint Forces Command and due to retire after being passed over as US Marine Corps commander, and Lieutenant General William Caldwell, commander of Nato’s Training Mission in Afghanistan. Of course, offering to resign...

CAMP PENDLETON — The top general who led Marines into combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, drawing both fire and praise for his handling of cases involving the deaths of civilians, bade a reluctant and emotional farewell to his troops Friday. Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, newly assigned to a joint command at Norfolk, Va., wrote to his Marines and sailors that "you've been my daily inspiration -- even on the toughest days, you've stood there boldly undismayed. . . . I'm forever in your debt." For the past year, Mattis has led the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A four-star general testified Monday that a lower-ranking officer did not influence his decision to bring criminal charges against the battalion commander in charge of Marines tied to the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Gen. James N. Mattis also testified there was no pressure from above ---- be it from the Pentagon, congressional contacts or the Marine Corps commandant ---- for him to criminally charge anyone in the Haditha killings. "I make my own decisions," Mattis said. (snip) He also said the intense media spotlight on the killings "had no influence whatsoever" in his decision...

A four-star general will testify at a pretrial hearing in the biggest criminal case against U.S. troops to arise from the Iraq war, a Marine Corps spokesman said Thursday. Gen. James Mattis is scheduled to address a military judge Monday on a defense motion to dismiss charges against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich on grounds of undue command influence, said the spokesman, Lt. Col. David Griesmer. The defense argues Mattis was improperly influenced by a military lawyer, Col. John Ewers, who investigated the killings of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in November 2005 and later became a top aide when the general...

WASHINGTON, July 8, 2010 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today recommended Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has recommended to President Barack Obama that he nominate Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, to succeed Army Gen. David H. Petraeus as commander of U.S. Central Command. DoD photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. If confirmed by the Senate, Mattis will succeed Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who now commands U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Mattis currently is commander...

Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis has been picked to take over U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon announced on Thursday. Mattis would replace Gen. David Petraeus, who is now in Afghanistan as the U.S. and NATO's top military officer there. The shake-up comes as the American public questions whether the fight in Afghanistan can be won, and the Defense Department is reeling from losing its top war commander -- Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

General Mattis Moves to CENTCOMAnother soldier-scholar enters the fray.  The president has nominated Marine Gen. James Mattis to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command, replacing Gen. David Petraeus, who has assumed command of the effort in Afghanistan. This is a welcome move. There is now a remarkable military tandem in place in the Greater Middle East, one that Victor Davis Hanson has compared to Grant and Sherman. It is no secret that my admiration for General Mattis is unbounded. I have expressed it on several occasions on National Review Online and the website of the Ashbrook Center. I...

Statement from Lt. Gen. James Mattis concerning his decision to drop all charges against Capt. Randy Stone in the Haditha murder case. The Marine Corps released his remarks Thursday:"I have thoroughly reviewed and considered all of the evidence surrounding the Haditha incident and Captain Stone's conduct with respect to command reporting of and response to the incident. It is clear to me that any error of omission or commission by Captain Stone does not warrant action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. "The Article 32 Investigating Officer recommended that the case not be tried at court–martial. I am aware...

The Pentagon says it’s not censoring anyone and technically this may be true. But a policy of defacto censorship seems to have descended upon the U.S. military. The appointment of Marine Corps General James N. Mattis to head up Central Command (CENTCOM) is, of course, very good news. Mattis, after all, may well be America’s greatest living general. He certainly is one of the most intellectually formidable advocates of counterinsurgency warfare. However, Mattis’ appointment –- or, to be more precise, the reaction to his appointment amongst reporters and by the Pentagon leadership — raises troubling doubts about whether the American...

The pundits, chattering classes and Beltway elite are all worried about Afghanistan. They think the war’s a hopeless cause, a “quagmire,” and, most damning of all in their minds, “Vietnam all over again.” But the new commanding general of U.S. Central Command, General James N. Mattis, says these worrywarts are all wrong about Afghanistan. Of course, the fretting of the chattering class is nothing new. It’s even typical and old-hat. The nattering nabobs of negativism, as the late great William Safire once dubbed them, are always worried that a war or a conflict will become too much for the American...

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 11, 2010 – Marine Corps Gen. James N. Mattis brings a wealth of experience in the Middle East to his new assignment as the commander of U.S. Central Command here, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. Gates presided at Mattis’ assumption of command in front of military and diplomatic officials from many of the counties in the Middle East and Central Asia. Mattis assumed command from Marine Corps Lt. Gen. John Allen, who has been acting commander since Army Gen. David H. Petraeus left the command to lead NATO operations in Afghanistan. Gates called Mattis...

Exclusive: CentCom commander’s call for third Persian Gulf carrier group was rejected, reports Eli Lake. * As Western diplomats meet this week in Baghdad to try to coax Iran’s leaders to disclose its full nuclear program, Gen. James Mattis will be keeping an eye on the Persian military. Mattis wanted to send a third aircraft-carrier group to the Persian Gulf earlier this year, The Daily Beast has exclusively learned, in what would have been a massive show of force at a time when Iranian military commanders were publicly threatening to sink American ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The four-star...

Reports indicate that Marine General James Mattis is being forced out of CENTCOM for questioning certain aspects of the Obama administration's Middle East policy. In particular, it appears his questions surrounding the U.S. response to Iran's nuclear ambitions drew the ire of civilian military and security advisers. These civilians were apparently upset by the way Mattis pushed them to "consider second and third-order consequences of military action against Iran." Nor did they appreciate the way he pushed them to think long term and consider what the U.S. will do if Iran develops non-nuclear weapons that can be used to keep...

Lost in the inaugural hullabaloo was Tuesday’s news that President Obama has relieved Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis, the colorful and highly decorated Marine who’s been in charge of the crucial US Central Command, which oversees the various wars in the Middle East, since 2010. (excerpt)

Mad Dog Mattis. The Warrior Monk. Married to the Marine Corps. It’s all hype that embarrasses Gen. James Mattis, the chief of U.S. Central Command, who is preparing to retire this spring after one of the most productive four-decade sprints in uniform of his generation. To Marines, Mattis is Chaos, his call sign and nom de guerre. According to interviews with more than a half-dozen officers who know him well, Mattis is an iconoclast and innovator who strove to outmaneuver the enemy on the battlefield, paralysis in Washington and the “yes, sir!” culture of the military. Others, particularly civilians, consider...

President Obama's pick to lead military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the Middle East is an experienced ground combat commander, but also earned a stern rebuke in 2005 for controversial comments about combat operations. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, then a lieutenant general, told a crowd in San Diego that it was "fun to shoot some people" and said that some Afghans deserved to die. "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years, because they didn't wear a veil," Mattis said. "You know guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So...