A6
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2018
Mattis resigning as Pentagon chief
By ZEKE MILLER
and LOLITA BALDOR
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
—
Defense Secretary Jim Mat-
tis resigned after clash-
ing with President Donald
Trump over the abrupt with-
drawal of U.S. troops from
Syria and after two years
of deep disagreements over
America’s role in the world.
Mattis, perhaps the most
respected foreign policy offi -
cial in Trump’s administra-
tion, will leave by the end of
February after two tumultu-
ous years struggling to soften
and moderate the president’s
hardline and sometimes
sharply changing policies.
He told Trump in a letter
that he was leaving because
“you have a right to have a
Secretary of Defense whose
views are better aligned with
yours.”
His departure was imme-
diately lamented by for-
eign policy hands and law-
makers on both sides of the
aisle, who viewed the retired
Marine general as a sober
voice of experience in the
ear of a president who had
never held political offi ce
or served in the military.
Even Trump allies expressed
fear over Mattis’ decision to
quit, believing him to be an
important moderating force
on the president.
“Just read Gen. Mattis
resignation letter,” tweeted
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
“It makes it abundantly
clear that we are headed
toward a series of grave pol-
icy errors which will endan-
ger our nation, damage our
alliances & empower our
adversaries.”
Mattis did not mention
the dispute over Syria in his
letter or proposed deep cuts
to U.S. forces in Afghani-
stan, another signifi cant pol-
icy dispute. He noted his
“core belief” that Ameri-
can strength is “inextricably
linked” with the nation’s alli-
ances with other countries, a
position seemingly at odds
with the “America First”
policy of the president.
The defense secretary
also said China and Russia
want to spread their “author-
itarian model” and promote
their interests at the expense
of America and its allies.
“That is why we must use all
the tools of American power
to provide for the common
defense,” he wrote.
The announcement came
a day after Trump surprised
U.S. allies and members of the administration’s often
Congress by announcing the chaotic national security
withdrawal of all U.S. troops decisions and to soften some
from Syria, and as he con- of Trump’s sharper tones
tinues to consider cutting in with allies.
half the American deploy-
Opponents of Mattis,
ment in Afghanistan by this however, have seen him
summer. The news coin- as an unwanted check on
cided with domestic turmoil Trump.
as well — Trump’s fi ght
Mattis went to the White
with Congress over a border House Thursday afternoon
wall and a looming
to resign after fail-
partial government
ing to persuade the
shutdown.
president in a tense
Trump’s
deci-
Oval Offi ce meeting
sion to pull troops
to change his deci-
out of Syria has been
sion on withdrawing
sharply criticized for
troops from Syria,
abandoning Ameri-
according to two
Jim
ca’s Kurdish allies,
people with knowl-
Mattis
who may well face a
edge of the conver-
Turkish assault once
sation but not autho-
U.S. troops leave, and had rized to discuss it publicly.
been staunchly opposed by
Another U.S. offi cial said
the Pentagon.
that Mattis’ decision was
Mattis, in his resignation his own, and not a “forced
letter, emphasized the impor- resignation.” The offi cial
tance of standing up for U.S. spoke on condition of ano-
allies — an implicit criticism nymity to discuss internal
of the president’s decision on deliberations.
this issue and others.
Trump said a replacement
“While the U.S. remains would be chosen soon.
the indispensable nation in
“The president’s national
the free world, we cannot security team’s job is to give
protect our interests or serve him advice and it’s the pres-
that role effectively without ident’s job to make a deci-
maintaining strong alliances sion,” said press secretary
and showing respect to those Sarah Sanders.
allies,” Mattis wrote.
At the start of the Trump
Last year, Republican administration, the president
Sen. Bob Corker — a fre- had gushed about his respect
quent Trump critic — said for Mattis, repeatedly call-
Mattis, along with White ing him “Mad Dog,” despite
House chief of staff John Mattis’ own public insis-
Kelly and then-Secretary of tence that the moniker was
State Rex Tillerson, were never his. Instead, his nick-
helping “separate our coun- name for years was CHAOS,
try from chaos.”
which stood for “Colonel
Tillerson was fi red early Has An Outstanding Sugges-
this year. Kelly is to leave tion,” and refl ected Mattis’
the White House in the com- more cerebral nature.
ing days.
The two quickly clashed
“This is scary,” reacted on major policy decisions.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top
During his fi rst conversa-
Democrat on the Senate tions with Trump about the
intelligence committee, on Pentagon job, Mattis made it
Twitter. “Secretary Mattis clear that he disagreed with
has been an island of stabil- his new boss in two areas:
ity amidst the chaos of the He said torture doesn’t work,
Trump administration.”
despite Trump’s assertion
“Jim Mattis did a superb during the campaign that it
job as Secretary of Defense. did, and he voiced staunch
But he cannot be expected support for traditional U.S.
to stand behind a President international
alliances,
who disrespects our allies including NATO, which
and ingratiates himself to Trump repeatedly criticized.
our adversaries,” said Wil-
Mattis was credited by
liam Cohen, who served as some in the administra-
defense secretary under Bill tion for blocking an execu-
Clinton and knows Mattis tive order that would have
well.
reopened CIA interrogation
Mattis’ departure has long “black sites.” Trump has
been rumored, but offi cials said the Pentagon chief con-
close to him have insisted vinced him it wasn’t neces-
that the battle-hardened sary to bring back banned
retired Marine would hang torture techniques like
on, determined to bring mil- waterboarding.
itary calm and judgment to
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Associated Press
Trump call with Turkish leader
led to US pullout from Syria
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s deci-
sion to withdraw American troops from Syria was made
hastily, without consulting his national security team or
allies, and over strong objections from virtually every-
one involved in the fi ght against the Islamic State group,
according to U.S. and Turkish offi cials.
Trump stunned his Cabinet, lawmakers and much of
the world with the move by rejecting the advice of his top
aides and agreeing to a withdrawal in a phone call with
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, two
U.S. offi cials and a Turkish offi cial said.
The Dec. 14 call provides insight into a consequential
Trump decision that prompted the resignation of widely
respected Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. It also set off a
frantic, four-day scramble to convince the president either
to reverse or delay the decision.
The White House rejected the description of the call
from the offi cials but was not specifi c.
Trump says a shutdown
could ‘last for a very long time’
WASHINGTON — Facing a midnight deadline to
avoid a partial government shutdown, President Donald
Trump said today a closure could drag on “for a very long
time” and he tried to lay blame on congressional Demo-
crats if there’s no deal over his demand for U.S.-Mexico
border wall money.
Trump’s tweet came ahead of a meeting with Senate
Republicans to discuss the budget deal and border secu-
rity. The Senate has been called back into session to con-
sider the package approved by House Republicans late
Thursday, which includes the $5.7 billion Trump wants
for the border with Mexico.
Senators had passed their own bipartisan bill earlier
in the week to keep the government running, with bor-
der security at existing levels, $1.3 billion, but no money
for the wall. Both bills would extend government funding
through Feb. 8.
More than 800,000 federal workers will be facing fur-
loughs or forced to work without pay if a resolution is not
reached before funding expires at midnight.
USDA moves to tighten work
requirements for food stamps
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is set-
ting out to do what this year’s farm bill didn’t: tighten
work requirements for millions of Americans who receive
federal food assistance.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday pro-
posed a rule that would restrict the ability of states to
exempt work-eligible adults from having to obtain steady
employment to receive food stamps.
The move comes the same day that President Don-
ald Trump signed an $867 billion farm bill that reautho-
rized agriculture and conservation programs while leav-
ing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,
which serves roughly 40 million Americans, virtually
untouched.
Passage of the farm bill followed months of tense
negotiations over House efforts to signifi cantly tighten
work requirements and the Senate’s refusal to accept the
provisions.
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En route to his fi rst visit
to Iraq as defense secre-
tary, Mattis bluntly rebuffed
Trump’s assertion that
America might take Iraqi
oil as compensation for
U.S. efforts in the war-torn
country.
The two also were divided
on the future of the Afghan-
istan war, with Trump com-
plaining from the fi rst about
its cost and arguing for with-
drawal. Mattis and others
ultimately persuaded Trump
to pour additional resources
and troops into the confl ict to
press toward a resolution.
U.S. offi cials say there
now is active planning in the
Pentagon that would pull as
many as half the 14,000 U.S.
troops out of Afghanistan by
summer. They say no fi nal
decision has been made.
Trump also chafed at the
Pentagon’s slow response
to his order to ban transgen-
der people from serving in
the military. That effort has
stalled due to multiple legal
challenges.
More recently, Trump
bypassed Mattis’ choice for
the next chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen.
David Goldfein, the Air
Force chief, was Mattis’ top
choice, but Trump chose
Gen. Mark Milley, the chief
of the Army.
The
Pentagon
has
appeared to be caught off
guard by a number of Trump
policy declarations, often
made through Twitter. Those
include plans that ultimately
fi zzled to have a big mili-
tary parade this month and
the more recent decision to
send thousands of active
duty troops to the Southwest
border.
Mattis has determinedly
kept a low public profi le,
striving to stay out of the
news and out of Trump’s line
of fi re.
Those close to him have
repeatedly insisted that he
would not quit, and would
have to either be fi red or die
in the job. But others have
noted that a two-year stint as
defense chief is a normal and
respectable length of service.
Born in Pullman, Wash-
ington, Mattis enlisted in
the Marine Corps in 1969,
later earning a history degree
from Central Washington
University. He was commis-
sioned as an offi cer in 1972.
As a lieutenant colonel, he
led an assault battalion into
Kuwait during the fi rst U.S.
war with Iraq in 1991.
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