Defense pick Mattis wary of Iran – ‘Eager for fight’

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Defense Secretary nominee retired Marine Corps Gen James Mattis arrives at his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill, on Jan 12, in Washington, DC. Gen Mattis will need a waiver from Congress to bypass a law prohibiting recently retired military officers from serving as defense secretary. (AFP)

WASHINGTON, Jan 12, (Agencies): In November 2012, shortly before the White House ended his tenure commanding US forces in the Middle East, Marine Gen James Mattis delivered an urgent message to his boss: An Iranian fighter jet had fired errantly on a US drone flying over the Arabian Gulf. In considering how the US should respond, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta took into account a central feature of Mattis’ reputation — his nerve. “I could sense that Mattis did not want to back down,” Panetta recounted in his memoir, “Worthy Fights.” “And that the White House was wary of his resolve. As I already knew, the White House didn’t fully trust Mattis, regarding him as too eager for a military confrontation with Iran.”

Faded
That crisis faded. But Mattis now stands on the brink of becoming Pentagon chief for a president-elect, Donald Trump, who has pledged to toughen US policy toward Iran. That could have broad implications as the incoming Trump administration weighs trying to modify the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reconfigure the American posture in the Middle East after complaints from US allies that President Barack Obama yielded too much ground to Tehran. Mattis told Congress on Thursday the United States must be ready to confront Russian behavior in areas where the two countries cannot cooperate, even as he backed Trump’s bid to engage with Moscow. Mattis, poised to become the first career military officer to lead the Pentagon since the 1950s, said Thursday he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to “break” the NATO alliance that has anchored American and European security for more than half a century.

Threats
At his Senate confirmation hearing, Mattis portrayed Russia as a strategic adversary and placed it at No. 1 on his list of security threats. He said the history of US-Russian relations is short on successful efforts at lasting cooperation, something President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to pursue. Mattis said he agrees with thrust of Trump’s plan to increase the size of the US military, but their views on Russia appeared at odds. Trump has repeatedly emphasized his hope for good relations with Putin, even as US intelligence agencies have accused the Russian leader of orchestrating a campaign of interference in the 2016 US election.

Of Putin, said Mattis, a former NATO military leader: “He is trying to break the North Atlantic alliance.” He said he has explained to Trump his views on Russia, which include a deep worry that Moscow is determined to create a sphere of unstable states on its periphery through intimidation. Mattis said he supports the Obama administration’s moves to reassure European allies after Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region and military activity in eastern Ukraine. While the US should remain open to working with Russia, Mattis said, the prospects for cooperation are narrowing. The context was clear. As Mattis spoke, Trump’s choice to run the CIA, Rep Mike Pompeo of Kansas, sided with intelligence officials who claim the Kremlin was behind the election cyberattacks, adopting a similarly tough stand against Russia.

Ties between the former Cold War foes also have been strained by Syria’s civil war. Mattis appeared to be cruising toward confirmation. He faced no hostile questions from Republicans or Democrats, receiving bipartisan praise for his reputation as a straight-talking, well-read man of integrity and intelligence. “How about Mr Secretary?” Rep Lindsey Graham, R-SC, asked him half-jokingly. William Cohen, a defense secretary for Democratic President Bill Clinton, introduced Mattis as a “humble man with very little to be humble about.” “He’s a man of thought as well as action,” Cohen said. Mattis said the world order was under “the biggest attack since World War II,” blaming Russia, China and international terrorist organizations for its destabilization. Asked by Sen John McCain, the Armed Services Committee’s Republican chairman, if the US military was ready to confront these challenges, Mattis replied: “No, sir.”

On cyberattacks, Mattis noted that wars often are started by miscalculation. He said the US needs to set clear boundaries so that adversaries know what the US will not tolerate. A former top commander of US forces in the Middle East, Mattis said he believes Washington must “restore a better relationship” with Israel and Arab partners. Still, he declined to embrace the common Republican assertion that President Barack Obama allowed Israel’s military edge over its regional foes to erode. In prepared testimony, Mattis said he understands his role as the Defense Department’s civilian leader would be different “in essence and in substance” from his four decades in uniform. “The esprit de corps of our military, its can-do spirit and its obedience to civilian leadership reduces the inclination and power of the military to criticize or oppose the policy it is ultimately ordered to implement,” Mattis said. He called civilian control “a fundamental tenet of the American military tradition.” Mattis, 66, retired in 2013 after serving as commander of US Central Command in charge of all US forces in the Middle East.

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