Enemy Of The State
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 11 months ago
In his new article, however, Mattis says the opposite, calling for the “end of America First”:
The United States today is undermining the foundations of an international order manifestly advantageous to U.S. interests, reflecting a basic ignorance of the extent to which both robust alliances and international institutions provide vital strategic depth. In practice, “America first” has meant “America alone.” That has damaged the country’s ability to address problems before they reach U.S. territory and has thus compounded the danger emergent threats pose.
…
In January, when President Joe Biden and his national security team begin to reevaluate U.S. foreign policy, we hope they will quickly revise the national security strategy to eliminate “America first” from its contents, restoring in its place the commitment to cooperative security that has served the United States so well for decades. The best strategy for ensuring safety and prosperity is to buttress American military strength with enhanced civilian tools and a restored network of solid alliances—both necessary to achieving defense in depth. The pandemic should serve as a reminder of what grief ensues when we wait for problems to come to us.
Oh. I see. Maybe this has something to do with being a sell-out and enemy of the state?
As coauthor with three other writers in a Nov. 23 Foreign Affairs column, Mattis did not mention that he works for the The Cohen Group consulting firm. Nor did he challenge China’s tough talk against U.S. policies regarding Taiwan, nor the strict economic retaliation Beijing levied against Australia.
[ … ]
The Cohen Group is run by another former Defense Secretary. William Cohen, who has been involved with China since 1978, when he went there to meet with Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, according to the organization.
So he’s deep state then, like most of the other generals. Fire all the generals and start over completely.
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On November 28, 2020 at 1:09 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
Re: “So he’s deep state then, like most of the other generals. Fire all the generals and start over completely.”
That’s sound advice. The decades-long slog to become an officer of flag/general rank selects against the very qualities we are supposed to prize most in our senior military leaders.
Young officer cadets are taught about “duty, honor and country” at places like West Point and Annapolis, but once they are commissioned, even if they believe in those things, they rapidly find out that day-to-day life in the military is a very different and extremely political animal.
Even the good ones find swimming against the tide of group-think, political-correctness, and expediency hard going, and many eventually leave the services prematurely, or find themselves slowly being co-opted into the system, or shunted aside into dead-end assignments without a future.
This struggle to remain true to one’s values while building a career in uniform has always been challenging, but since the spread of Cultural Marxism across American society and into its institutions – including the armed forces – a half century ago, it has become nothing less than a nightmare for traditional Americans.
It has become holy writ in the armed forces – especially to anyone who desires to make a career as a senior enlisted man or officer – that anyone not “on board”
with women in combat, diversity, affirmative action, multiculturalism and all the rest of it – that it is a career-ender to transgress against these sacred totems of P.C. Get with the program or get out. It’s been this way since the Tail Hook scandal back in the early1990s, and the trend has only accelerated since then.
Also wrapped up in that particular package is that one must not question the core tenets of interventionism, neo-conservativism/neo-liberalism, globalism and internationalism, nor the institutions and policies thereof – the UN, NATO, the World Bank, IMF, etc. Foreign policy realism, or enlightened national self interest – are dead-and-gone as viable alternatives.
Nor must one notice that the U.S. armed forces have been reduced to de facto mercenaries for the new world order and the globalists, to say nothing of the Arab sheiks and their new pals in Tel Aviv.
And you must not violate the taboo on criticism of Sunni Islam or the Arabs; it is OK to criticize Iran – but no other Islamic adversaries are approved. And you’d better not mention Muslims too much when discussing terrorism, or the fact that jihad is a core tenet of Islam – lest you find your heretofore stellar career over, like Major Stephen Coughlin did.
If you like Putin or even merely regard him as a competent leader looking out for his nation’s interests, you’d better not mention it, or there goes your promotion.
Moreover, one must not question the effectiveness or the core assumptions of the all-volunteer force structure, and heaven forbid that one talk about bringing back the draft! That’s a one-way ticket out of the foreign policy establishment in Washington, D.C.
It must always be borne in mind that the higher one rises in the armed forces, either as an officer or senior NCO, the more political it becomes. And no one in the armed forces may be promoted to flag/general officer rank without the “advice and consent” of Congress. Meaning that becoming a general is inherently political, and that if buttering up Congressmen and Senators isn’t to your liking, you probably won’t get past light bird or colonel, no matter how good the rest of your package is.
The late Colonel John Boyd, USAF, a maverick and independent thinker (a true one, not a fake like John McCain), one of our nation’s finest military officers and then one of our finest military theorists and thinkers, was famous as “The Ghetto Colonel” and before that, as the “Mad Major,” or simply as “Genghis John” for his take-no-prisoners approach to his work, life and especially for his treatment of phonies and fakes of all kinds, whom he despised regardless of rank.
Boyd was famous for taking aside young officers with stars in their futures, and sitting them down for a blunt face-to-face talk which started off with something like “Well, tiger, you’re a real blue-flamer and you’re going places….” and ending up with Boyd telling the individual in question, “You’ve reached a fork in the road, you can either be someone, or you can do something – but probably not both.”
What he meant was that if you wanted to perform a real service to the nation, and to your branch and to your colleagues in uniform, you will probably have to forsake reaching high rank, getting rich or becoming widely-known or famous. Getting things done meant stepping on toes, sometimes powerful toes, and ruffling feathers – and if you wanted that, you had to pay the price.
Or, you could take the easy way out and play the games the perfumed princes and courtiers in uniform all played in the Five-Sided-Puzzle-Palace. These are the folks who reap the riches, the rank, the notoriety, and the fame, plus lavish sinecures at Fortune 500 defense firms in retirement.
Boyd refused over his long career to accept anything – compensation, good or service – which even hinted at favoritism, graft, or the like. He and his family lived in a small apartment even as he was promoted into the field grade ranks. Boyd was no respecter of rank when ripping into someone, especially when he thought the target of his ire had behaving stupidly or unethically. He was known to tell generals to their face that they were idiots. Which is probably one reason he made Colonel – O-6 – but not general/flag rank. Boyd was fortunate to get that far; he had made many enemies over his career and they had long memories. Fortunately for him, his work was stellar and he had friends in uniform, too.
The rot and dead wood which infest the senior ranks of the officer corps at present is appalling, but also highly typical of long periods of peace or relative peace. Genuine war-fighters, the kinds of generals and admirals who win battles and win wars, make official Washington nervous and upset the routine functioning of the system. Bureaucrats-in-uniform, or what the late Colonel David Hackworth called “perfumed princes,” are much-preferred in the usual places and by the usual suspects.
So, when there’s a war to be won, the hard-noses and war-fighters have a chance to rise, but until then, it is pretty uncommon for the real deal to make it past O-6. A few gems find their way into the coal scuttle, but not too many.
From my vantage point as a historian – a military historian in particular – it is telling how many of the “stars” anointed by the MSM as “heroes” and the greatest general officers since Patton and MacArthur – have come a cropper over last decade or two. Petraeus, McCrystal, and now Mattis, and there are many more on that list of near-do-wells, sad sacks, traitors to their oaths, and the like.
On November 28, 2020 at 3:28 am, Old Bill said:
If by “fire all the Generals” you mean set them all on fire, then I agree, Herschel.
On November 28, 2020 at 10:23 am, Bill Buppert said:
Generalissimo Mattis is not an enemy of the state, quite the contrary. There is a reason America has not won a serious armed conflict since 1945 and even that with the able help of the Russians in the War to Save Josef Stalin and make the world safe for communism.
Even the much vaunted Eisenhower was always a friend of the deep state despite his brief sober comments on the MI complex.
Ike: “Extremes to the right and to the left of any political dispute are always wrong.”
And:
“I have just one purpose, outside of the job of keeping this world in peace…and that is to build up a strong progressive Republican Party in this country. If the right wing wants a fight, they are going to get it. If they want to leave the Republican Party and form a third party, that’s their business, but before I end up, either this Republican Party will reflect progressivism or I won’t be with them anymore.”
Scratch a flag officer and you will most likely find a government supremacist.
And we all observe that all political systems devolve to the left in larger and larger government. The deep state has the most powerful gravitational field in any political milieu.
In order to become a flag officer, you must have a spotless administrative performance record which incentivizes the political knife-fighter who is both Machiavellian and a sycophant to his immediate superiors making feces one of his five food groups. The habit of pleasing one’s management always short circuits and atrophies innovation, risk and immediate action; three prime ingredients of successful war fighting (among many).
I am retired from the Army and had a middling career, neither a high-flyer nor a blue-flamer. Most spent in light infantry, airborne and SOF units and particularly tackling the wicked irregular warfare problems at which the whole of the US military is wretchedly bad and inept.
The wars in the Middle East ruined the SOF units existentially because the sexiness of and frankly, simple, missions of Direct Action reduced the Special Operations Forces to door kicking in the middle of the night and shooting people in the face. The core missions of unconventional warfare and building partisan forces in austere conditions is talked about but NEVER practiced. That is a skill set that demands a much more rigorous intellectual framework and flexible martial imagination that the US forces are not capable of.
In the end, all these flag officers are simply procurement management for the latest gadgets that fill the void of extraordinary military malpractice across the entire armed conflict spectrum. They are the gatekeepers of strategic deficit disorder.
On November 28, 2020 at 11:00 am, Frank Clarke said:
Never in any thread I have followed on this blog have I ever read so many clear, concise, and deeply-delving analyses of our military than here.
Gentlemen, well done.
On November 28, 2020 at 11:31 am, Deserttrek said:
Selling out the USA for profit or intellectual satisfaction is a traitor.
I bought into the mattis pr.
Glad to see the truth
On November 28, 2020 at 12:02 pm, Ron W said:
The “deep state” does have a long history of opposing an “America First” foreign policy, even by violent means:
“Now let me make it clear that I believe there can only be one defense policy for the United States and that is summed up in the word “first.” I do not mean first, but. I do not mean first, when. I do not mean first, if. I mean first – period. I mean first in military power across the board. Only then can we stop the next war before it starts. Only then can we prevent war by preparing for it.” –John F. Kennedy, VFW Convention, Detroit, 1960
On November 28, 2020 at 12:38 pm, Fred said:
The bigger problem is CIA and State and DHS, and elements within FBI. The DoD, flags excepting perhaps, mostly supports Trump and America Firstism, especially the pointy end of DoD. I’ve said here before that DoD installed Trump, and they are trying very hard right now to provide evidence to support four more years. CIA is trying to overthrow that, and doing a very good job at it, OBTW.
On November 28, 2020 at 12:50 pm, Frank Howard said:
Mattis has officially removed himself from the ranks of Former Marines, and entered himself on the list of Turd Sniffing Ex Marines. The obvious effects of drinking the obama coolaide have turned his addled brain to jelly.
On November 28, 2020 at 1:45 pm, John said:
He must spend a lot of time avoiding mirrors. What kind of a world exists in that sick mind?
On November 28, 2020 at 2:17 pm, scott s. said:
I trace the problem to Goldwater-Nichols Act. Officers in the their first 10-15 years are becoming proficient in their craft, and from 15-20 leading and making decisions. But G-N has cut that off by forcing officers into the “joint” system. An officer can’t wait too long to put on a purple suit or he will no longer be competitive. They made an exception for submariners, but I think today even those guys are forced into the joint arena. (This is for the warfighters — those in technical and support specialties have different career paths).
As for senor enlisted, at least in the USN when they went to the selection board system for Chief (E-7) and up, that allowed HQ to shift emphasis to getting college degrees, doing community service, anything not involving actually doing the job. Then they created “fleet master chief”, CSM and the like to have a cadre who didn’t even work in their rate/MOS any more.
On November 28, 2020 at 6:36 pm, Jack said:
Was never mantis fan boy.
Was just a gut feelin. Glad I stuck to it.
People made interesting meme’z of the clown , but thats all they did.
Seem’s , thats his only worth.
On November 28, 2020 at 6:38 pm, Jack said:
(I think) Fred, hits it 100%
Imo
On November 28, 2020 at 9:15 pm, Jim Bery said:
and General Flynn…he is A OK with his Turkish sell out and admitted cow-tow to the great Putin? ” dont react to Obama sanctions now…Trump will be in power soon” essentially what admitted to telling Russian minister – and what got him convicted.
On November 28, 2020 at 9:37 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I think you may have your facts skewed. And he was taken up on charges (not convicted) because he talked to the cops.
Never talk to cops.
On November 28, 2020 at 9:59 pm, Grandpa said:
Mutt Dog Matisse’ has vented his spleen against his Commander. He has violated his oath, and, in the end, sullied his uniform and my beloved Corps. Not only can he go to work for the Chinese, he can go live with them.
On November 28, 2020 at 10:04 pm, X said:
“reflecting a basic ignorance of the extent to which both robust alliances and international institutions provide vital strategic depth”
It appears that Mattis is the one who is ignorant — ignorant of George Washington’s Farewell Address:
“The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible… It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world… ”
and ignorant of the foreign policy of John Quincy Adams:
“[America] goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own.”
Mattis is a lackey for Bibi and the Knesset, and the Marines he commanded are expendable mercenaries for the Zionist State, not defenders of the American people and the American nation.
On November 28, 2020 at 10:45 pm, The Wretched Dog said:
Georgiaboy61 and Bill Buppert are dead on. I said it when Mr. Trump was elected, and I say it now: he ought to have fired every general- and flag-officer that made rank under Obama. Every one.
As a graduate the Military Academy (class of ’84), branched Infantry, I saw this rot as a captain, and left active duty in ’92. Stayed in the US Army Reserve, branched Ordnance and, later, Logistics (when that became a separate branch for field-grade CSS).
Retired as a Colonel, mostly because of my logistics-plans service in Iraq and duty as an Inspector General.
And – because of my American Patriot ethos and professionalism – got called ‘racist’ by the slackers, and received a general-officer letter of reprimand (for being a professional who maintained standards of performance).
Made O-6, nevertheless. Would not have made O-6 if I had stayed on active duty.
The Wretched Dog
On November 29, 2020 at 8:22 am, Matt Bracken said:
From the first time Mattis rose to national prominence, I distrusted him.
I distrust any General or Admiral who arrives with a flock of flacks surrounding him, singing hosanna’s to his superior intellect, his amazing reading list, calling him a true renaissance man, repeating his supposed quotes as true pearls of wisdom, etc.
Gag me.
When a general arrives with a bigger P.R. team than ops staff, beware.
On November 29, 2020 at 11:21 am, Paul inFL said:
A few years ago I went to a send off of about 200 national guard personnel from MN to Iraq, the general was up at the podium and said all the stuff and I remember the each and every one of you statement that I herd in the Army Reserve from the late 50’s. After the goodby ceremony the guardsmen went into the two greyhoud buses parked out on the street. They went into the buses but the general stayed behind. I thought to myself why does he not go with them to Iraq? What is all this fancy talk and then stay behind? Then my attitude changed as I saw the real picture, the generals were too good to go to Iraq, they would stay home and dress up and go to parties and act big be high class.