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
White house lunch with ambassadors from the United Nations Security Council, President Trump spoke about the threat from north korea and about what he sees as a chance for a new beginning for the United Nations. The mission of the United Nations and the u. N. Security council is to maintain International Peace and security. These are important aims and shared interests. But as we look around the world, its clear that theres much work for you to achieve. Youre going to be very busy people i suspect over the coming months and years. Our nation faces serious and growing threats and many of them stem from problems that have been unaddressed for far too long. In fact, the United Nations doesnt like taking on certainly problems, but i have a feeling the people in this room and i know for a fact that nikki feels very strong about taking on problems that people steered away from. I encourage the Security Council to come together and take action to counter all of these many threats. On syria, t
lindsey graham said he d spoken to mattis and mattis was very concerned about the kurdish fighters the u.s. would be leaving behind and what might happen in syria if the u.s. left. so we know now that mattis had been very concerned about all this. this morning early he decided he needs to speak to the president. he goes to the white house, meets with him at 3:00 this afternoon, tries to get the president apparently to change his mind. the president did not and that s when mattis decided he needed to resign, that he could no longer serve this president of the united states. but there is something else looming out there tonight and this is a potentially imminent decision to also draw down as much as potentially half of the u.s. troops in afghanistan this can be between 5,000 and 7,000 or so depending on how you count mr. trump is making it clear
seen. and as we move into the winter months very rapidly here, there is something else and it sounds like inside baseball. but it s actually very critical. mattis leaves in february. you re going to see a change of command in several key positions that was already scheduled. the head of central command who oversees the wars in the middle east and afghanistan is leaving this winter. the head of special operations command leaving this winter. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff already scheduled to retire in october, his replacement will be general mark milley, the head of the army. general milley, a supporter of president trump, but also a man of the battlefield with lots of combat experience in afghanistan. he will be somebody who will have to answer a lot of tough questions about how can you take troops out of afghanistan? how can you not support alliances? how can you not support nato?
go. that is essentially the decision that jim mattis has made tonight. and now the big question, will there be anybody else in the administration that makes a similar decision, wolf? that s an important question, indeed. what are you hearing? who s possibly going to be taking his job over at the department of defense? well, this now becomes one of the most fascinating questions. because in the last day and a half, it is republicans in congress who had been so local in their opposition to president trump s decision to take troops out of syria. there has been almost no support for that decision by the president. so how does a new secretary of defense come in, go through confirmation hearings, and everybody not just scratch their head and wonder what is going on. how does a new secretary of defense do that? that very much remains to be