The more I see and hear of the likely future Secretary of Defence of the United States of America, the more I like him:
- “Be polite, be professional, but
have a plan to kill everybody you meet.” – from a speech Mattis
delivered to Marines arriving in Iraq in 2003. This is widely acclaimed
as the ultimate Mattisism, winning extra cool points for being
compatible with Patrick Swayze’s famous advice to new bouncers in Road House. - “No war is over until the enemy says it’s over. We may think it
over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.” –
probably the other most widely-repeated Mattisism, it has been quoted in contexts ranging from the Iraqi troop withdrawal to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. - “You are part of the world’s most feared and trusted force. Engage
your brain before you engage your weapon. Share your courage with each
other as we enter the uncertain terrain north of the Line of Departure.
Keep faith in your comrades on the left and right and Marine Air
overhead. Fight with a happy heart and strong spirit.” – from a letter
Mattis wrote to the 1st Marine Division, the day before they began
their assault on Iraq in 2003. He is restated his point about using your
head on the battlefield many times; another popular formulation was,
“The most important six inches on the battlefield are between your
ears.” - “From our first days at San Diego, Parris Island, or Quantico, NCOs
bluntly explained to us that the Corps would be entirely satisfied if we
gave 100%, and entirely dissatisfied if we gave 99%. And those NCOs
taught us the great pleasure of doing what others thought impossible.” –
from a speech Mattis gave when receiving the Marine Corps University Foundation’s 2014 Semper Fidelis Award. - “Now from a distance, I look back on what the Corps taught me: to
think like men of action, and to act like men of thought!” – from the
same 2014 Semper Fidelis Award speech. - “I’ve never found it to be useful. I’ve always found, give me a pack
of cigarettes and a couple of beers, and I do better with that than I
do with torture.” – Mattis’ thoughts on waterboarding, according to Donald Trump. - “Every morning I woke up and the first three questions I had, had to
do with Iran, and Iran, and Iran. It remains the single most
belligerent actor in the Middle East.” – Mattis on Iran, from an April speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies - “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.” – Mattis on the Taliban, at a 2005 panel discussion in San
Diego, California. This one caused some trouble for Mattis. Marine Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee defended him, but said “should have chosen his words more carefully.” [OOH-RAHHH!!!] - “There are some people who think you have to hate them in order to
shoot them. I don’t think you do. It’s just business.” – Mattis choosing
his words more carefully, after the above-mentioned controversy. [BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!] - “The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event.
That said, there are some assholes in the world that just need to be
shot. There are hunters and there are victims. By your discipline,
cunning, obedience and alertness, you will decide if you are a hunter or
a victim. It’s really a hell of a lot of fun. You’re gonna have a blast
out here! I feel sorry for every son of a bitch that doesn’t get to
serve with you.” – Mattis drawing an important distinction between
assholes and sons of bitches to a group of Marines in Iraq, as quoted by
Thomas E. Ricks in his book Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005. - “I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with
you, with tears in my eyes: If you f**k with me, I’ll kill you all.” –
Mattis to Iraqi tribal leaders, also quoted by Ricks in Fiasco. [Gen. Mattis, please please PLEASE put this on a placard on your desk at the Pentagon, sir.] - “In a country with millions of people and cars going everywhere, the
enemy is going to get a car bomb out there once in a while. There are
going to be good days and bad days. Bottom line.” – Mattis on the grim
realities of counter-terrorism operations in a 2007 interview. He was talking about Iraq, but unfortunately his observation would be valid anywhere. - “I think it’s very clear that this enemy has decided that the war,
the real war for them, will be fought in the narrative, in the media.
This is not a place where we’re going to take the enemy’s capital and
run up our flag and drink their coffee and that sort of thing.” – from
the same interview. - “Marines don’t know how to spell the word defeat.” – proudly cited
by the USMC as the retired General’s salute to the indomitable spirit
of the Corps. Misusing this quote to tease Marines about their spelling
abilities is not recommended. - “I get a lot of credit these days for things I never did.” – Mattis
on his own legend, to midshipmen at the Naval Academy in 2004. He also
gets a lot of credit for things he never said, as hilariously satirized
in a Twitter hashtag
full of phony #MattisQuotes. (A sample: “Build a man a fire and he will
be warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest
of his life.”)
Everything that I have seen about Gen. James Mattis indicates that he would bleed on the Flag to keep it red. He is a true patriot.
He clearly loves his country and his men. This is not the kind of man who would subscribe to idiotic social-justice ideology that endangers the lives of America’s fighting men.
I have a very hard time imagining SecDef Mattis saying with a straight face that women should serve in front-line combat roles, for instance. Or that women could become Navy SEALs or MARSOC operators or Army Rangers- the real kind, like this man, not the watered-down female kind whose records the Army desperately destroyed when questions were raised about whether these new lady badasses were given preferential treatment.
(I’ll give you exactly one guess as to what I think is the answer to that question.)
Gen. Mattis appears to understand in his very bones, as every true warrior does, that “no Department of Defence ever won a war”. He understands that war requires one to take the fight straight to the enemy, to break his will to fight, and to be willing and able to engage in horrific acts of violence to achieve victory- while still staying true to the Laws of War.
At this point, all we need for the God-Emperor Ascendant to truly assume his mantle is for him to start wearing golden Artificer Power Armour and create a bunch of superhuman Primarchs and then use their gene-seed to create almost-as-amazing Space Marines.
If these initial signs are any indication, the next few years are going to be a riot for us.
1 Comment
One thing people forget about the "enemy gets a vote" thing: Only one vote is needed to start a war.