Trump picks retired General James Mattis as Defense Secretary

Washington, Dec 2: US President-elect Dold Trump has chosen retired Marine General James Mattis as Defense Secretary. “We are going to appoint ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis as our Secretary of Defence. But we’re not announcing it until Monday so don’t tell anybody,” Trump said on Thursday at a rally in Cincinti, kicking off his post-election ‘Thank You’ tour.

“They say he’s the closest thing to General George Patton that we have and it’s about time.” he said. Mattis, who continued to rise through the ranks and establish his credentials as a military thinker, has said that Washington lacks an overall strategy in the Middle East, opting to instead handle issues in an ineffective one-by-one manner.

Last year, he said responding to “political Islam” was the major security issue facing the US, The Washington Post reported. He emerged as the top contender for Pentagon chief soon after Trump won the White House.

They met in New Jersey on November 19, with media reporting that Trump was impressed by Mattis’ resume. “The president-elect is smart to think about putting someone as respected as Jim Mattis in this role,” said a former senior Pentagon official. “He’s a warrior, scholar and straight shooter — literally and figuratively. He speaks truth to everyone and would certainly speak truth to this new commander-in-chief,” the official said. (IANS)