Today, in the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise decision to pull American troops out of Syria without first consulting either our allies, or our military leaders in the field, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis submitted his letter of resignation, making the revered General the most recent in a long line of people to either walk away from, or be forced from, the increasingly unstable Trump administration. For those of you who don’t have time to read the letter of resignation, which you can find below in its entirety, here’s the gist of it… “I’ve had enough of your lying to the American people, licking the boots of dictators, and treating our allies like shit.”
Here’s the letter.
Dear Mr. President:
I have been privileged to serve as our country’s 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.
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’s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong U.S. global influence.
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. NATO’s 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.
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’ 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.
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.
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’s 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.
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 DoD 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.
I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.
We are entering a very frightening time, folks. The bottom is literally falling out. The markets are in disarray, the indictments are piling up, and Donald Trump is becoming increasingly isolated, as people like John Kelly and Jim Mattis walk away. This will not end well.
77 Comments
I may be more worried now than I was after the election. In fact I know I am. Dark time. Solstice.
As of right now the United States has no Secretary of Defense, no White House Chief of Staff, no Attorney General, no one is sure who’s running the Department of Justice, the stock market is crashing, and the federal government is possibly on the verge of being shut down entirely
He wanted to advance a “new world order”. The preamble to the Constitution includes the statement “provide for the common defense” that in no way was meant to include any other nation besides our own. Our nation is not strengthened by overextending our military. If we can’t afford to protect our own borders, we have no business asking American soldiers to sacrifice their lives to protect others.
I’m worried about exactly the same as immediately after the election. Never has there been a more predictably bad outcome, to a point. How the remaining lobotomized loyalist react and what Russia and China do to capitalize on the utterly drifting ship of state remain to be seen.
You’re just looking at this all wrong. From another perspective, this is a well oiled machine based on a brilliant plan in Trump’s head, only becoming more finely tuned with each departure. Appatently, you just need to be completely bombed out of your mind on pot to see it. It’s kinda like wearing X-ray glasses.
This is all your fault for running Hillary. Why can’t you take responsibility?
It helps if you just imagine this is Frosted Flakes’ grandfather doing all this. I’m not sure how. But anyway, that’s what I’m told.
Make no mistake what happened today. The US military’s finest general of his generation, whom historians will compare to Grant, Marshall, & Ike, threw in the towel over Trump’s basic lack of patriotism & decency. You will tell your grandkids about this day, my fellow Americans.
I can’t imagine buying into this shit but you people live in it. Actual CIA-loving liberal Neocons…yuck! Americans want our men and women home. You are in the minority.
Q thinks Mattis resigned so that he can rule over the upcoming military tribunals…….
I thought my earlier post was lost in the Matrix, but now I see it was a typo of EOS.
Sounds like it, EOS.
“Dec 20 2018 21:02:56 (EST)
Rogers departure. Intel.
Sessions departure. Law.
Kelly departure. Warfare/MIL
Mattis departure. Warfare/MIL
Notice a pattern?
Q”
I think you’re right about the Night of the Living Dead scenario. Hopefully it ends similarly too. Maybe little Ivanka will turn and stab Melania to death with a gardening trowel.
Military tribunals are the upside for Trump’s base.
You know, HW and EOS, call me crazy, but a General of great repute is unlikely to trash a sitting president’s foreign policy (implying he’s allied with undemocratic nations) in his resignation letter if he’s planning to help that president institute Martial Law to concentrate that president’s power further.
Q’s predictions are in fact not coming true. Regularly. Not sure what it takes to deny that. You all are very patient, as committed loyalists to the conspiracist who is always asking you to be so. Wonder why he does that?
“Q thinks Mattis resigned so that he can rule over the upcoming military tribunals….” (of Clinton and Obama, I assume, right?)
Hi-fucking-larious.
Will you also think, when Trump goes to prison, that it’s all just part of his brilliant plan to bring down the deep state from within?
iRobert– THAT was funny. Just thought I’d let you know.
“Q’s predictions are in fact not coming true.”
Why don’t you list some things Q said and why they are not coming true then?
“Hi-fucking-larious.
Will you also think, when Trump goes to prison, that it’s all just part of his brilliant plan to bring down the deep state from within?”
You have lost on everything you have gotten excited about so far. What makes you think you are going to start winning now?
I have to get to work building my holiday shrine to Satan, but here is a list to mid-August. https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/qanon-failed-predictions/
https://www.newsweek.com/qanon-conspiracy-posts-trump-news-d5-december-5-george-bush-storm-great-1245823
lazy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/08/failed-prophecies-wont-stop-trumps-true-believers/
Reading about Q a bit, it’s notable how Q followers, speak of their community and the “Great Awakening” (Martial Law etc) in terms very much like Flower Grandpa talks of his allies in A2 council.
I think we may be right to start questioning the populist use of ‘community’ and community building strategies as forms of tribalism not communality.
“Drop #1 “claimed that “HRC extradition [was] already in motion effective yesterday with several countries in case of cross border run” with Drop #2 alleging “HRC detained, not arrested (yet)” and that there would be “massive riots organized in defiance and others fleeing the US.”
Why did HRC have to visit the FBI around this time? How do you think you or Mike ROTHSCHILD at the “Daily Dot” would know if she was detained or not?
“Drop #16, posted the same day, claimed that “Friday & Saturday will deliver on the MAGA promise” with a thorough house-cleaning of the government. That Friday, Nov. 3, saw the president leave for a tour of Asia, and no firings, but the predictions continued.”
That is when Trump met with Kim. The plan to free North Korea from deep state control was agreed upon at that time. What happened with NK after that? Anons already knew.
HW– I don’t know about you but I have jobs to finish and family, pets and a home to care for all while preparing for the holiday season. I don’t have time or will to research Q theories on my own. Not my interest area.
I see you are too lazy to respond to the articles, so maybe we are on the same page there.
Then don’t make ignorant comments about Q.
Oh, I spoke too soon.
I will say it is rich watching you spin these out. I like how the deep state provides deep cover for the false allegations of your Q theories. There’s really no way to know for sure if the predictions were proven true or not. We are not seeing mass arrests yet though and the sealed indictments have been plausibly well explained.
HW– You make ignorant comments about everything else. Q makes ignorant comments about everything else.
I feel really really ok about being ignorant about Q.
Too bad you have never proven my comments wrong. If you are ignorant but proclaiming to be knowledgable then you would fall where on the Dunning-Kruger chart?
I have not claimed to be knowledgeable. You have. I have made no claim to high intelligence etc. I speak my point of view directly which midwesterners (especially male) find disconcerting in a woman it seems. I have no certainty that I am right. I’m simply waiting for your predictions to come true. So far very very little has come to pass.
“Q’s predictions are in fact not coming true.”
“I have not claimed to be knowledgeable.”
resolve
On 7/25/18 at 4:28:35 PM Q posted this “Hands Up” pic of ‘no-name’ (McCain obviously).
https://qanon.pub/data/media/c934c7981337d31583e576ee93a9202e6fac64b6e27541890d2ab152497872e3.jpeg
“No name returning to headlines.
Q”
What happened at 4:28 PM on 8/25/18???
Notice President Trump never said his name until after he died. Remember? The left was howling about it. ‘We don’t say his name’ was an alternate to ‘no name’ used by Q.
“Q’s predictions are in fact not coming true.” — statement of fact which I documented. You can wiggle out of a few of them but not all.
I did not claim to be knowledgeable. I have read a few articles and many Q posts.
Convoluted twists of logic and interpretation is not proof of anything. The level of ambiguity in Q’s posts makes them hard to disprove. His reliance on dates attached to his predictions is not hard to disprove though.
You think you can just make a statement and call it true and that’s a wrap? You are out of your mind. You have to think “what are the chances?” Down to the minute one month before he was pronounced dead: no name back in the headlines.
“I did not claim to be knowledgeable.”
You already said that and cannot reconcile that you are in fact claiming to have factual knowledge of the nature of Q. You have read a few articles which I can take apart point by point. You are on the left of the Dunning-Kruger curve regarding Q (which encompasses a LOT) and you act like it. I wouldn’t say I am an expert on Q but I have read all 2,640 posts and much more about Q-related topics. Definitely I would be to the right on the curve.
Posts hung up. Don’t know if it is me or the site. Will wait to see if they appear.
I can take apart your documentation point by point. Just throwing up a few shitty articles means what? You are making a claim to know the nature of Q but you are on the left of the Dunning-Kruger curve when it comes to the topic.
You admit it is uncanny how Q posted that one month to the minute prior though, right? Unlikely let’s say. How many such unlikely coincidences would it take?
In fact when people on here were tripping out about President Trump not saying McCain’s name I laughed because I knew about “we don’t say his name.” I knew wtf was going on because of reading Q.
Now Trump has announced the removal of troops from Afghanistan too. Even if you support that move, this surprise announcement goes contrary to what we assured the Afghani’s for the past two years, we were at the table in peace negotiations with the Taliban AND we missed the opportunity to use the threat of pulling out to draw out concessions.
This is the master negotiator at work. He is all reaction and zero strategy. He can be effective sometimes because his volatility is so unpredictable. But on the world stage, this is all incredibly damaging and stupid, dangerous as well.
I guess having not been able to be effective elsewhere and having lost the support of his allies, he’s going to go all command control in chief on us.
The idea that anyone this impetuous could implement the kind of covert strategic plan Q imagines is comical. Boys playing superhero. Online cosplay.
What is it with men a conspiracy theories and secret signals?
I would like an explanation. I know I’m being super gendered here and I know women have plenty of their own paranoia and collective fantasy at play, I just want to understand the appeal of secret signs etc. I don’t get it. Feels very Encyclopedia Brown.
Trump fulfilling not only his own but BHO’s campaign promises. What did that liar campaign on?
Mrs. Warlord agrees. I know there are plenty of women involved in decoding. I’m telling you this has been planned with precision by military minds. The President has been playing rope-a-dope for a while now. Everything in place then…BOOM!!!
Obama never promised to leave Afghanistan. And he never engaged troops directly in Syria until the last two years. So I have no idea what you are talking about there.
As for women, I acknowledged I was making a generalization. Generalizations are by their nature not specific or ubiquitous. Q theories depend on this coded interpretation so of course, the women engaged are examining those. Mark has indulged similar ‘readings’ of public signs as evidence of something larger and hidden. I don;t see too many women on the left indulging such except maybe cute birds that land at Bernie’s feet.
And as for the larger predictions and the Big Boom, well I guess we’ll all see. Why ar you trying so hard to convince us of something that’s inevitable??? Who are you really trying to convince when you engage here?
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/obameter/promise/1096/end-war-afghanistan-2014/
“President Obama responsibly ended the war in Iraq and will end the war in Afghanistan in 2014.
Sources: BarackObama . com”
Documentation taken from BarackObama.com website in November 2012
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/557608-issues-an-economy-built-to-last-barack-obama.html#document/p3/a86841
Now you have an idea what I am talking about. He campaigned in 2012 on getting out of Afghanistan by 2014. I remember it. Why don’t you?
I mean you voted for him and you act like you are up on things so how did you miss that? You don’t like ending the war in Afghanistan but you voted for someone who claimed to want to do it. Good thing for you he is a liar. It’s poetic.
Whole lotta stfu going on.
Ah 2012. Yes. Obama promised expansion in 2008 and getting out in 2012. Which they did. Draw down to 8400 noncombat troops. Trump put more back in. That’s all cool. Foreign policy actually should not be made on the basis of political races, promises or strategies.
I don’t keep track of everything going on in politics, HW. No one does. And sometimes I forget things.
It would be a much more entertaining end if he donned a tux and top hat and sang Louis Prima’s “Just a Gigalo” as he tap danced out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. That may be asking too much though. He seems to have trouble remembering things like the national anthem and the apostle’s creed. We can just loud speaker the song and let him fumble through like he usually does.
And if he had a little Pepe the frog on his shoulder with a top hat.
Whatever became of that frog? He was so popular for a while.
I don’t call thousands of Americans being over there “getting out”. I’m saying if you don’t know what you are talking about maybe you shouldn’t make claims about whatever it is.
We spotted a painted Pepé hiding in plain site inside our voting location.
plain *sight*
…Spotted the first Q sticker I have seen in public today on a truck in town.
I put that there.
It was a joke.
I painted the Pepe too.
Why pull out the troops? There are still plenty of civilian brown people to kill. WE HAVE TO PROTECT AMERICA.
Stick a fork in him, he’s done. The tax cut can’t overcome the trade obstruction in their effect on the economy. The market has final say.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/21/perspectives/stock-market-fed-donald-trump/index.html
So, we’re just days from the big unsealing of indictments, no?
Or has Q hinted that the date has been pushed back?
What date would that be? You been holding out on Q knowledge, iRobert?
Wait, HW, are you saying that Q predicted when John McCain would die, or that he caused John McCain to die at that exact minute? Or did he just know that other people were going to kill John McCain at that exact minute?
Is Q a time traveler?
Noted hawk Noam Chomsky opposes our exit from Syria: http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/13cf816e-8e40-41c8-bb76-d453a3261d8b
This article from October. Note the statement by James Jeffrey re our withdrawal at end.
Veterans For Peace Statement on Withdrawal of U.S. Troops from Syria
Veterans For Peace is pleased to hear that President Trump has ordered a total withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, where they had no legal right to be in the first place. Whatever the reasoning, withdrawing U.S. troops is the right thing to do.
It is incorrect to characterize the U.S. military intervention in Syria as “fighting terrorism,” as much of the media is doing. Although the U.S. fought against the ISIL Caliphate (aka “ISIS”), it also armed and trained Islamist groups, including al-Qaeda aligned forces, who are seeking to destroy the secular, multi-religious Syrian state and establish a harsh fundamentalist order of their own.
Furthermore, the U.S. aerial bombardment of the city of Raqqa, Syria, similar to its bombardment of Mosul, Iraq, was itself terror in the extreme, causing the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians. These are huge war crimes.
A continued U.S. presence in Syria would only prolong a policy that has been disastrous for all the peoples of the region, who have already suffered way too much as a result of years of U.S. intervention and occupation on their soil. It would also be a disaster for the troops who are being asked to carry out this impossible burden.
In these moments when those in power advocate for remaining at war, Veterans For Peace will continue holding true to our mission and understanding that war is not the answer. We sincerely hope that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria will be total, and will be soon. We hope this will also lead to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, where the U.S. government is currently in talks with the Taliban and an end to U.S. involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, which is causing the death by starvation of tens of thousands of innocent children.
Veterans For Peace knows that the U.S. is a nation addicted to war. At this time of uncertainty, it is critically important that we, as veterans, continue to be clear and concise that our nation must turn from war to diplomacy and peace. It is high time to unwind all these tragic, failed and unnecessary wars of aggression, domination and plunder. It is time to turn a page in history and to build a new world based on human rights, equality and mutual respect for all. We must build momentum toward real and lasting peace. Nothing less than the survival of human civilization is at stake.
When in trouble, flood the zone with sh*t.
Have you seen Guantanamo Bay lately, Jim? They added a hospital for old folks recently among other major upgrades.
https://files.catbox.moe/l2tlsr.jpg
I don’t understand your response HW. Your post about Q and death of John McCain implied some kind of foreknowledge. In your view, how would he have this knowledge?
Picking up on a thread that FF started.
HW what do the right wing, conservative, heavy metal conspiracy theorist maynardites do to celebrate the holiday?
A tree and lights in the house? Family? Presents? Midnight mass?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qIXXafxCQ
I don’t know, Jim Monsoon. Thinking logically if it was no coincidence then the death announcement must have been planned. Either he was scheduled to be killed by someone or the announcement was bogus I suppose.
You go to the department stores and you see, ‘happy new year’ and you see red, and you see snow and you see all these things. You don’t see ‘merry Christmas’ anymore. With Trump as your president, we are going to be celebrating ‘merry Christmas’ again and it’s going to be done with a big, beautiful tax cut.
Yes. If Merry Christmas brings anything to mind it is ……
Tax cuts!
The multinationals are going to have a very merry Christmas. The middle-class will be getting coal in their stockings, as always.
Just so everyone is clear, in HW’s mind the delusion that McCain was murdered is a fantasy. That’s his preferable reality. That and martial law and Gitmo packed with liberals.
It’s the rapture, bitches. And the faithful will be rewarded with an isolationist, Christian fascist state. Woot!
HW must be burning weed like some people burn piles of leaves in autumn. I’m picturing a mound of primo gonja burning in the yard 24/7. His entire neighborhood must be so toasted out of their minds. I wanna live there.
“It’s the rapture, bitches. And the faithful will be rewarded with an isolationist, Christian fascist state. Woot!”
We made him do it. If we had only been nice like he was at first… He warned us.
I forgot to add that part. Oh and he’s not abusive, I am. No one whose fondest wish is a totalitarian fascist state brought in by the imposition of martial law and mass arrests is likely to be abusive.
That’s crazy bitch talk.
Trump says he agrees ‘100%’ with keeping U.S. troops in Syria:
Two months after saying all U.S. troops are leaving Syria, the president wrote members of Congress that he agrees with keeping a U.S. presence in Syria.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-says-he-agrees-100-percent-keeping-u-s-troops-n979466
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