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[Tripon]

James Mattis is quickly becoming one of the most powerful Defense secretaries in recent memory, with access to President Trump that few can match.

Trump last week gave the former Marine Corps general full authority to decide the number of additional U.S. troops sent to Afghanistan, a move that comes even before a war strategy has been set. The president has given Mattis similar authority in Iraq and Syria.

One sign of Mattis’s clout came last week during Trump’s first Cabinet meeting at the White House.

While the other Cabinet members began the meeting by praising Trump and thanking him for the opportunity to serve, Mattis took a different tack.

“It’s an honor to represent the great men and women of the Department of Defense. We are grateful for the sacrifices our people are making in order to strengthen our militaries so our diplomats always negotiate from a position of strength,” Mattis said.

“What I do is I authorize my military,” Trump said. “We have the greatest military in the world, and they’ve done the job as usual, so we have given them total authorization. And that’s what they’re doing. And frankly, that’s why they’ve been so successful lately.”

The White House has frequently defended the Pentagon’s authorization power, arguing the process allows commanders to respond to threats more rapidly.

“The president has always said, going back to the campaign trail, that the warfighters were very much hamstringed from doing the things they need to do to win. They were micromanaged under the Obama administration; to a degree they were micromanaged under the Bush administration,” the White House spokesman said.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/338508-mattis-gaining-power-in-trumps-cabinet

James Mattis will probably be one of the few people able to survive unscatched if and when this Adminstration goes under. Like, you're never going to be able to accuse James Mattis of working with the Russians.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

BTW how is that ISIS total obliteration plan going? when are the 30 days due?

 

[Gutek]

Makes sense. Trump is not interested in being the commander in chief. He's just an opinionated old man that randomly got elected to be president.

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Honestly the farther Trump is away from military command the better.

 

[Wag]

Do we want a general in charge of the button? Anyone is better than Trump, but still...