Decision, we are told, to draw down troops in afghanistan leaving Afghan Forces that the u. S. Had promised to support to the hands of the taliban and isis in afghanistan had to be two issues that were troubling jim mast t jim mattis significantly. His Code Of Ethics is you do not walk away from your friends on the battlefield. Mattis tonight simply may have run out of runway room ahead of him that he felt he could use in dealing with the president. He had been sidelined. He had been his advice on these matters had been rejected clearly. And mattis had had a strategy that simply wasnt working. He was trying to keep a low Public Profile and never say anything that would be contradictory to the president of the United States. He knew that this would infuriate trump. He knows that President Trump doesnt like to see other people
out there in public speaking. That it is all reserved for the president. So mattis over the last two years had had a strategy. You dont see him on camera holding p
out there in public speaking. that it is all reserved for the president. so mattis over the last two years had had a strategy. you don t see him on camera holding press conferences. he would come talk off camera to reporters. you don t see him out there that much. he s very measured. he tried very hard never to get crosswise with the president because of president trump s sensitivities. at the same time, he made it very clear he didn t see his job as saving president trump. he saw his job as supporting the u.s. troops out in the field risking their lives. and he will be concerned tonight that those troops see his move to resign as not being disloyal. that is something i think is fair to say is going to trouble him. how this is portrayed to the troops in the field. so he s taken great pains in this letter to say president trump, i can t really support what you re doing, soy need to