US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis abruptly announced his resignation on Thursday, a day after President Donald Trump overruled his advice against pulling troops out of Syria and pressed forward on discussions to withdraw forces from Afghanistan.
Mattis will leave by the end of February after two
tumultuous years in the post, the latest high-profile exit to shake the
Trump administration.
In his resignation letter, Mattis told Trump that
he was leaving because “you have a right to have a Secretary of Defense
whose views are better aligned with yours”.
Trump wrote on Twitter that Mattis was retiring – but that’s not what the former Pentagon chief said.
The announcement came a day after Trump surprised Washington’s allies and members of Congress
by announcing the withdrawal of all US troops from Syria, and as he
continues to consider shrinking the American deployment in Afghanistan.
Trump’s decision to pull soldiers out of Syria has been sharply
criticised for abandoning Washington’s Kurdish allies, who may well face
a Turkish assault once US troops leave, and had been staunchly opposed
by the Pentagon.
Mattis, in his resignation letter, emphasised the importance of
standing up for US allies – an implicit criticism of the president’s
decision on this issue and others.
“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,”
Mattis wrote.
Philip J Crowley, a former US assistant secretary of state and national security council senior official, said behind Trump’s decision
to pull forces out of Syria and the rumoured, at least partial
withdrawal from Afghanistan “was the lack of any kind of strategic
process within the American national security system”.
“These are very consequential decisions,” he told Al Jazeera.
“I think both of them are defensible in one way … but in both cases
then you need some sort of strategic shift: we finished our military
operation here and then we’re moving ahead with a diplomatic initiative
there,” Crowley added.
“The fact that the president seems to have done both of these things
by instinct without broad consultation either within the American
government or the allies around the world is contrary to how Jim Mattis
would do business – and did do business throughout his distinguished
career.”
Successor to be announced
Mattis’ departure was quickly lamented by politicians on both sides
of the aisle, who viewed him as a sober voice of experience in the ear
of a president who had never before held political office or served in
the military.
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“This is scary,” tweeted Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, who is a Democrat.
“Secretary Mattis has been an island of stability amidst the chaos of the Trump administration.”
Mattis’ departure has long been rumoured, but officials close to him
have insisted that the battle-hardened retired Marine would hang on,
determined to bring military calm and reason to the administration’s
often chaotic national security decisions and soften some of Trump’s
sharper tones with allies.
Opponents of Mattis, however, have seen him as an unwanted check on Trump.
A White House official said Mattis informed Trump of his decision to
leave the administration on Thursday afternoon. Trump said a replacement
would be chosen soon.
Crowley said what the US had lost in Mattis was “the last genuine
conventional thinker in terms of national security policy, someone who
understands the importance of alliances and the importance of
predictability in terms of policy.”
He added: “President Trump seems to surround himself now increasingly
with more political thinkers and so it will be unclear who will be
offered the job, who will take the job and what their prospective
longevity will be.”
Clashes over policy decisions
At the start of the Trump administration in January 2017, the president had gushed about his respect for Mattis.
The “Mad Dog”, as Mattis was nicknamed, was widely respected in the
military. He served for 44 years, holding key positions during the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan and became a senior NATO commander.
But Trump and Mattis quickly clashed on major policy decisions.
During his first conversations with Trump about the Pentagon job,
Mattis made it clear that he disagreed with his new boss in two areas:
He said torture doesn’t work, despite Trump’s assertion during the
campaign that it did, and he voiced staunch support for traditional US
international alliances, including NATO, which Trump repeatedly
criticised.
Mattis was credited by some in the administration for blocking an
executive order that would have reopened CIA interrogation “black
sites”. Trump has said the Pentagon chief convinced him it wasn’t
necessary to bring back banned torture techniques like waterboarding.
En route to his first visit to Iraq
as defence secretary, Mattis bluntly rebuffed Trump’s assertion that
the US might take Iraqi oil as compensation for US efforts in the
war-torn country.
The two also were initially divided on the future of the Afghanistan
war, with Trump complaining about its cost and arguing for withdrawal.
Mattis and others ultimately persuaded Trump to pour additional
resources and troops into the conflict to press towards a resolution.
Trump also chafed at the Pentagon’s slow response to his order to ban
transgender people from serving in the military. That effort has
stalled due to multiple legal challenges.
Long list of departures
The Pentagon has appeared to be caught off guard by a number of Trump policy declarations, often made through Twitter. Those include plans that ultimately fizzled to have a big military parade this month and the more recent decision to send thousands of active duty troops to the southwest border.
During his first conversations with Trump about the Pentagon job,
Mattis made it clear that he disagreed with his new boss in two areas:
He said torture doesn’t work, despite Trump’s assertion during the
campaign that it did, and he voiced staunch support for traditional US
international alliances, including NATO, which Trump repeatedly
criticised.
Mattis was credited by some in the administration for blocking an
executive order that would have reopened CIA interrogation “black
sites”. Trump has said the Pentagon chief convinced him it wasn’t
necessary to bring back banned torture techniques like waterboarding.
En route to his first visit to Iraq
as defence secretary, Mattis bluntly rebuffed Trump’s assertion that
the US might take Iraqi oil as compensation for US efforts in the
war-torn country.
The two also were initially divided on the future of the Afghanistan
war, with Trump complaining about its cost and arguing for withdrawal.
Mattis and others ultimately persuaded Trump to pour additional
resources and troops into the conflict to press towards a resolution.
Trump also chafed at the Pentagon’s slow response to his order to ban
transgender people from serving in the military. That effort has
stalled due to multiple legal challenges.
Long list of departures
The Pentagon has appeared to be caught off guard by a number of Trump
policy declarations, often made through Twitter. Those include plans
that ultimately fizzled to have a big military parade this month and the
more recent decision to send thousands of active duty troops to the
southwest border.