{"id":83628,"date":"2018-12-21T07:25:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T11:25:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=83628"},"modified":"2022-01-13T20:33:02","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T01:33:02","slug":"secretary-of-defense-mattiss-resignation-letter-to-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=83628","title":{"rendered":"Secretary of Defense Mattis’s resignation letter to Donald Trump\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Secretary of Defense has resigned and will step down from the role at the end of February.<\/p>\n

Dear Mr President:<\/p>\n

I have been privileged to serve as our country\u2019s 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.<\/p>\n

I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department\u2019s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong US global influence.<\/p>\n

One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.<\/p>\n

Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model gaining veto authority over other nations\u2019 economic, diplomatic, and security decisions to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.<\/p>\n

My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.<\/p>\n

Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department\u2019s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a new Secretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability within the Department.<\/p>\n

I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million Service Members and 732,079 civilians receive undistracted attention of the Department at all times so that they can fulfill their critical, round-the-clock mission to protect the American people.<\/p>\n

I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.<\/p>\n

Jim N Mattis<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are already hoards of pundits\u00a0promulgating a plethora of hysterical analysis about this.\u00a0 It does appear that this has something to do with the President announcing that we will withdraw from Syria.<\/p>\n

I do not have access to the kind of information that the President does but my objections to withdrawing from Syria will probably die about twenty minutes after I do.<\/p>\n

I am sure most Americans on both sides of the aisle are saddened and alarmed by James Mattis leaving.\u00a0 \u00a0I am.<\/p>\n

Source: Jim Mattis’s resignation letter to Donald Trump \u2013 in full | US news | The Guardian<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Secretary of Defense has resigned and will step down from the role at the end … Secretary of Defense Mattis’s resignation letter to Donald Trump\u00a0<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":667,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/667"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83628\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}