Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis Retiring in February 2019; Trump removes Mattis effective January 1

[Secure Da Bag]

Good question. That's what they say but Trump can pardon, nominate, and get waivers for his security clearance. They have the votes in the senate to confirm him. I wouldn't overthink it much.

Shieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. I kinda wish he would. Just to see the head explosion and overdrive in fukkery that would result from it.

Might have an actual bipartisan response for the first time if that happens.

 

[ZoeGod]

They may want it but it’s another thing of going to actual war

The Pentagon has war gamed that out and it’s catastrophic.

@ZoeGod disagrees but I just don’t see it.

War with Iran will happen. Mattis was anti Iran but he did not want an armed conflict with Iran because he feared the consequences of a war. He supposed the Iran nuclear deal but when he read the details he was for it. With Mattis gone if Iran withdraws from the deal because their patience is running thin and restart their nuclear program best believe Bolton and Pompeo along with Nethanyahu and MBS will tell him to bomb Iran. This has been my prediction since Trump won. He will drag America into a quagmire in Iran.

Mattis’s Last Stand Is Iran

 

[Jean Jacket]

Good question. That's what they say but Trump can pardon and hire and get waivers for his security clearance. They have the votes in the senate to confirm him. I wouldn't overthink it much.

Everything that comes out of the Oval Office is trite hyperbole...

It's like changing back and forth from WWE and WWF in 1999... Full blown bipartisan grandstanding...and we all gape/cheer respectively at this fukking train wreck.

 

[88m3]

War with Iran will happen. Mattis was anti Iran but he did not want an armed conflict with Iran because he feared the consequences of a war. He supposed the Iran nuclear deal but when he read the details he was for it. With Mattis gone if Iran withdraws from the deal because their patience is running thin and restart their nuclear program best believe Bolton and Pompeo along with Nethanyahu and MBS will tell him to bomb Iran. This has been my prediction since Trump won. He will drag America into a quagmire in Iran.

Mattis’s Last Stand Is Iran

You think Putin is going to let his client states get ripped to shreds by his puppet?

 

[Secure Da Bag]

I wonder if Russian nuke planes landing in Venezuela piss Mattis off any.

 

[Strapped]

Good riddance , all those military heads just create chaos & death

 

[DrBanneker]

You think Putin is going to let his client states get ripped to shreds by his puppet?

It's a toss up. We wouldn't win long term and if it helped destroy global US power, hey charge it to the game

 

[ZoeGod]

You think Putin is going to let his client states get ripped to shreds by his puppet?

Who says Iran would be ripped to shreds. It won’t be picnic. Trump has a weird hard on for Iran. Putin asked Trump to stay in the nuclear deal Trump didn’t listen and unilaterally withdrew from the deal. When it comes to Iran he shares the same mentality as MBS, Nethanyahu,Bolton and Pompeo. He wants to defeat them. And if they restart their nuclear program he will go ahead and start a war.

And for Putin the US bogged down in Iran benefits him. Wargame scenarios say war with Iran would push the price of oil to $200-500 a barrel. Now with middle eastern oil offline because the war and chaos spreads across the region who benefits from this? Russia. Secondly Russia would supply Iran with weapons to drag the war on to turn the war into a bloody festering wound for America. War with Iran would be no picnic and could actually become a bloody stalemate which benefits Russia. Russia will simply send arms and support via the Caspian Sea to keep the war running. The amount of resources to wage with Iran is ridiculous.

According to a December 2017 Rand Corp. report, a major conflict with Iran would require the U.S. to deploy 21 Air Force fighter squadrons, five heavy bomber squadrons, six Marine Corps fighter squadrons, 18 attack submarines, four aircraft carriers, a suite of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance vehicles, six Marine infantry battalions, three Army brigade combat teams, and a crowd of special operations forces — not to mention a host of drones, satellites, cruisers, counter-mine vessels, supply ships, refueling aircraft, and surface-to-air batteries. Put another way, a war with Iran would require the U.S. Air Force (for example), to deploy nearly half of its fighter squadrons (there are 55 in all) to a single conflict. It could do it, but just barely.

“We’ve been in the air and in combat since 1993,” a senior retired Air Force officer said, “and the wear and tear on the force has been considerable. The tempo has been crushing.” This claim is actually an understatement: Nearly 30 percent of Air Force aircraft are not “mission capable,” the service is experiencing a shortfall in experienced pilots by some 2,000, and maintenance crew capabilities have deteriorated. And what is true for the Air Force is true for the other services. In 2016, Army Vice Chief of Staff Daniel Allyn conceded that only one-third of his force is at “acceptable levels of readiness,” and in January of this year, a group of influential Navy officers expressed fears at an American Enterprise Institute war game that “the combination of constant commitments and diminishing resources” may well have left the Navy “too small, too old, and too tired” to carry out its mission requirements, according to a write-up of the event. Meanwhile, in 2016, Marine Gen. John Paxton reported that half of all U.S. Marine units were “suffering from some degree of personnel, equipment, or training shortfalls.”

With all these resources in one theater Russia could start some shyt in Ukraine with US attention in Iran. Putin has a lot to gain from this. In normal circumstances a war with Arian is a stalemate because the air and sea campaign is not enough to stop their nuclear program. The Pentagon has said the only way to permanently stop their nuclear program is an invasion and occupation of Iran. And no on is insane enough to propose that not even Bolton. But with Russia aid the war simply never ends and hurts America as the casualties mount.

 

[thatrapsfan]

War with Iran will happen. Mattis was anti Iran but he did not want an armed conflict with Iran because he feared the consequences of a war. He supposed the Iran nuclear deal but when he read the details he was for it. With Mattis gone if Iran withdraws from the deal because their patience is running thin and restart their nuclear program best believe Bolton and Pompeo along with Nethanyahu and MBS will tell him to bomb Iran. This has been my prediction since Trump won. He will drag America into a quagmire in Iran.

Mattis’s Last Stand Is Iran

I’m skeptical the withdrawal decisions are part of a grand strategy devised by Bolton/Pompeo. There’s no way either would argue in favour of a withdrawal in Syria, where Iran’s hand will be strengthened or from Afghanistan for that matter.

I think this is very much Trump following his instincts and doing something he knows will capture attention and confuse/divide his opponents. From the standpoint of domestic politics, I think he’s right and this may be a brilliant move. I can very much see Dems sounding incoherent on FP as he undercuts all the policy preferences of their base.


Remember Trump isn’t driven by ideology whatsoever, for better or worse ( usually worse). In the case of Iran, I don’t think he personally feels any which way, so if he decides that a grand bargain is the best way forward for his political chances he will do it. I wouldn’t even be slightly surprised if we hear of Trump planning a summit between him and the Supreme Leader next summer.

 

[ZoeGod]

I’m skeptical the withdrawal decisions are part of a grand strategy devised by Bolton/Pompeo. There’s no way either would argue in favour of a withdrawal in Syria, where Iran’s hand will be strengthened or from Afghanistan for that matter.

I think this is very much Trump following his instincts and doing something he knows will capture attention and confuse/divide his opponents. From the standpoint of domestic politics, I think he’s right and this may be a brilliant move. I can very much see Dems sounding incoherent on FP as he undercuts all the policy preferences of their base.


Remember Trump isn’t driven by ideology whatsoever, for better or worse ( usually worse). In the case of Iran, I don’t think he personally feels any which way, so if he decides that a grand bargain is the best way forward for his political chances he will do it. I wouldn’t even be slightly surprised if we hear of Trump planning a summit between him and the Supreme Leader next summer.

Trump did the withdrawal because he isn’t going to get the wall he promised his base. So his other promise was to get out the foreign entanglements in the Mideast to show his base and conservative talk radio that he is a man who keeps his word.

With regards to Iran he spoken throughout his campaign as he hates the Iran nuclear deal. He hates it because he has an irrational racist hatred for Obama and wants to destroy his legacy. Secondly he just like other conservatives hold a grudge against Iran.m for the Marine Beirut bombings and the embassy kidnapping. They feel Iran got away with it and never felt true American might. His whole Iran policy is very very hawkish. From sanctions, withdrawing from the nuclear deal, from backing MBS and Nethanyahu, to his UN speech which was virulently anti Iran. His administrations policy is regime change. And tensions are high between the two nations that any incident in the Gulf could spark a war. And Iran is loosing patience with the deal and they aren’t going to negotiate a new deal simply because it will make them look weak. And the nuclear deal is very very harsh on Iran. It’s the most intensive inspections regime in history. What more could they give up? Their ballistic missile program which has been their whole defense strategy? No way. I don’t see a summit. If anything I see Iran withdrawing from the deal because they have gained nothing staying in the deal and restart their nuclear program which best believe Trump unlike Bush and Obama will start a war.

 

[88m3]

Who says Iran would be ripped to shreds. It won’t be picnic. Trump has a weird hard on for Iran. Putin asked Trump to stay in the nuclear deal Trump didn’t listen and unilaterally withdrew from the deal. When it comes to Iran he shares the same mentality as MBS, Nethanyahu,Bolton and Pompeo. He wants to defeat them. And if they restart their nuclear program he will go ahead and start a war.

And for Putin the US bogged down in Iran benefits him. Wargame scenarios say war with Iran would push the price of oil to $200-500 a barrel. Now with middle eastern oil offline because the war and chaos spreads across the region who benefits from this? Russia. Secondly Russia would supply Iran with weapons to drag the war on to turn the war into a bloody festering wound for America. War with Iran would be no picnic and could actually become a bloody stalemate which benefits Russia. Russia will simply send arms and support via the Caspian Sea to keep the war running. The amount of resources to wage with Iran is ridiculous.



With all these resources in one theater Russia could start some shyt in Ukraine with US attention in Iran. Putin has a lot to gain from this. In normal circumstances a war with Arian is a stalemate because the air and sea campaign is not enough to stop their nuclear program. The Pentagon has said the only way to permanently stop their nuclear program is an invasion and occupation of Iran. And no on is insane enough to propose that not even Bolton. But with Russia aid the war simply never ends and hurts America as the casualties mount.

Didn't say it would be picnic but you're lying to yourself if you think Iran wouldn't be sent back to the dark ages militarily and economically. Syria and Hezbollah would also be screwed if they're stupid enough to engage. I have mixed feelings about the Rand Corp study as I would imagine you do.

Yeah, Putin supposedly asked Trump to stay in the nuclear deal... at the end of the day pulling out of the deal was extremely damaging to the US. So again who benefits? Not the US. I think comparing the potential benefit of of oil prices rising to having his allies leveled is a serious reach. You really think Russia would be able to resupply Iran if the US went to war with Iran?

I don't think Europe would sit idle while Russia was carrying on with this hypothetical either. I also doubt China would be amused for long their economy is already teetering.


I don't want the US to go to war with Iran either again for the record. There's no justification for it and congress wouldn't support it.

 

[Secure Da Bag]

The only people who benefit from a war with Iran is Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and OPEC. Everyone else is fukked.

Let's hope Trump doesn't go extra stupid at all and keeps it domestic.

 

[NkrumahWasRight Is Wrong]

This is worrisome

 

[88m3]

The only people who benefit from a war with Iran is Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and OPEC. Everyone else is fukked.

Let's hope Trump doesn't go extra stupid at all and keeps it domestic.

He's running out of domestic calamities to engage in and the dems took the house...

 

[BoBurnz]

Trump has left the US woefully unprepared for the new, multi-polar world we're entering. His foreign policy has been absolutely, utterly disastrous. And Mattis was the last man in the room holding anything together resembling sanity and calm nature.

When the SecDef is just another GOP establishment bootlicker then the cards fall away and the US is left in the worst position possible. A declining power without key allies in regions it needs them and no ability to fix it.

We don't talk enough about how bad his FP has been from a contextual level.