Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis didn't just announce his resignation on Thursday, he took the unusual step of writing a letter to his boss Donald Trump that amounted to a straight-up rebuke of the president. "My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues," he wrote, later adding, "Because you have the right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position."
Mattis was widely seen as the grown-up in an administration that lacked much in the way of experience. In a March profile, the New York Times magazine called him "the lone cabinet member to have survived with his status and dignity intact," and noted his commitment to maintaining the United States' traditional diplomatic alliances, which, as Mattis highlighted in his letter, Trump does not exactly share. Mattis's legacy and views will be debated as his tenure winds down (he's officially leaving in February), but one thing is clear: His departure signals the end of an already chaotic era and the beginning of an even more unhinged one.
The straw that broke Mattis's back appears to have been the sudden announcement by Trump that he would withdraw all US troops from Syria, a decision met with confusion from American allies, condemnation from many foreign policy analysts, and praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The move was seen as a boon to Syria's authoritarian government and its allies Russia and Iran—which made it all the more confusing given Trump's well-established anti-Iran animus. (Trump is also reportedly planning on pulling out thousands of troops from Afghanistan.)
The Syria withdrawal was one of Trump's rare moves that momentarily scrambled ideological coalitions, with Republican hawks attacking him while those on the left who have a generally dim view of US military interventions were not so quick to condemn, even if they disagreed with the abrupt nature of the pullout. Matt Duss, Bernie Sanders's foreign policy adviser, noted on Twitter that Congress hadn't authorized the presence of troops in Syria. Michigan Congresswoman-elect Ilhan Omar got a little more salty, writing of Mattis: "That time when you got mad because your boss didn’t want to kill people anymore... Seriously, quitting over an end to unauthorized war, isn’t principled its SAD!" And Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy avoided praising the withdrawal while also disagreeing with the presence of troops:
But even without Mattis, the Trump administration is sure to remain chock full of hawks, from National Security Adviser John Bolton to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And there's evidence Mattis was a check on some of the president 's worst instincts, reportedly helping to block wild Trumpian ideas like assassinating Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad. The former NATO commander was also a reassuring presence for America's European allies.
It remains to be seen if Mattis's replacement, whoever that may be, can do any of that. The Atlantic's David Graham got quite a quote in a piece published Thursday evening:
“Mattis is the last brake on a president that makes major life-and-death decisions by whim without reading, deliberation, or any thought as to consequences and risks,” said a senior US national-security official on Thursday, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to talk freely. “The saving grace is that this president has not been tested by a major national-security crisis. But it will come, and when it does, we are fucked.”
Trump's cabinet is clearly in turmoil. In the last two months, John Kelly announced his departure as White House chief of staff, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he was stepping down amid investigations into alleged unethical conduct, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions was fired. All this disorder could add up to extremely rash decisions on Trump's part.
Will Trump decide to fight the war in Afghanistan primarily with mercenaries, as he's reportedly considered? Will his nominee for attorney general, William Barr, who has criticized the Robert Mueller investigation, fire the special counsel, ushering in a new stage in our slow-boiling constitutional crisis? Without Mattis, will Trump be even more antagonistic toward Europe? Will the administration embark on various illegal actions that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he prevented?
Trump is not quite a lame duck president yet, but thanks to the Democrats' winning control of the House of Representatives, his chances of advancing a legislative agenda have dropped to essentially nil. He'll have to advance his policies through executive action, which could very well mean even more governing by whim, even more sudden about-faces, and even more decisions that attract widespread criticism and court challenges. Mattis was reportedly worried that a US withdrawal from Syria would destabilize the region. His own departure will almost certainly have the same effect on Washington.
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