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By John Ubaldi

Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump confounded political experts by running an unconventional race which eventually catapulted him to the White House.  Now he can do the same thing with national security by naming Ret. Marine Corps General James Mattis as his Secretary of Defense.

If Trump choses Mattis as his Secretary of Defense, he would be only the second retired senior military officer to hold the position since General George C. Marshall served in the early days of the Korean War.

The only hurdle Trump would face if he hired Mattis, would be federal law which currently mandates all retired service members to wait the customary seven years after serving on active duty before they could assume the office of secretary of defense or any other senior defense positions.

Orginally the limit was 10 years set by Congress in 1947 with the establishment of the National Security Act, but later modified in 2008 to just seven years.  Mattis would need a special wavier from Congress if Trump nominated him, since he retired from active service in 2013.

Once Trump started to consider Mattis as a potential secretary of defense the focus has been on the legal requirements of not having been separated from the military for the customary seven years, but what is missing from this argument is what the general brings to national security at this crucial time.

With the election of Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States, he brings enormous business acumen to the White House, but brings virtually no foreign policy experience to the Oval Office.

At this crucial period the president-elect will not have the luxury of easing into the office as past presidents have had, foreign policy will test Trump, so why not have a steady and experience hand as secretary of defense.

As soon as President-elect Trump takes the oath of office as president he will have to deal right away with the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.  Currently, military operations by Iraqi forces with assistance by the U.S. are under way to retake the ISIS controlled city of Mosel in Iraq, and the Islamic State capital of Raqqa in Syria.

Whatever the outcome, the U.S. will have to make crucial decisions on what direction to move forward on. What strategy would President Trump take with regard to post-stability Iraq and Syria? How would he deal with Syria and its embattled leader President Bashar al-Assad, who is heavily backed by military support from Russia and Iran? How would Trump deal with Russia’s deep involvement in the Syrian civil war, what about an assertive Iran which the Sunni Arabs and Israel believe is the real threat to regional stability.  The very countries we need to defeat ISIS, view the threat entirely different from the U.S., how would President Trump deal with this complex situation.

The strategic disengagement by the Obama administration has further complicated matters with many in the region, especially our allies believing the U.S. is retrenching from the Middle East, which sent a signal to our adversaries that America is a diminished power.

By selecting General Mattis as the next secretary of the defense, it would virtually be shot across the bow without firing a shot that America is not retreating from the region, would reassure our allies, and signal to our enemies, notably Iran, that America is back, with a new sheriff in town.

Mattis would reassure our allies in the region that he believes who the real threat to regional stability is. Back in April Mattis stated, “The Iranian regime in my mind is the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East. Despite repeated mentions of the Islamic State and al Qaeda by others… Nothing I believe is as serious in the long term in enduring ramifications in terms of stability, and prosperity and some hope for a better future for the young people out there than Iran.”

He continued, “It remains the single most belligerent actor in the Middle East… Their consistent behavior since 1979 through today shows no sign of changing.”

General Mattis brings impeccable credentials to the office, not only his long storied military career in the U.S. Marine Corps with combat service in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but his deep knowledge of the region from his time as the commanding general of U.S. Central Command. Mattis is known as a straight shooter and would tell a President Trump what he may not want to hear.

The Trump administration will not have the luxury of time in dealing with a chaotic and deteriorating Middle East. One only has to remember how previous presidents were consumed by the complexities of the Middle East, and you cannot avoid it, a Trump administration will have to deal with the hand he has been dealt.  Mattis would give him someone who knows the issues involved and has the knowledge of knowing the leaders of the various countries we will be need to defeat ISIS and fix the fractured relationship between our allies and the U.S., which disintegrated under the Obama administration.

If Trump wants to focus on the reviving the U.S. economy, why not have a defense secretary who knows the region, know the leaders of the region, knows the complexities of the region, but more importantly as a general brings power that the leaders in the region respect.

The Middle East is a tribal region, they don’t understand weakness,  power and strength is all they have ever understood.  They may not have liked the autocratic and dictatorial rulers but they maintained stability.  Mattis brings this type of forceful leadership, but with a strategic mind to the position.

His selection would extend beyond the Middle East; his deep strategic intellect he brings comes from years of studying the great strategic theorists of the past and the present. In the Marine Corps and throughout the national security community he was known as “mad dog,” but also the “warrior monk,” from his deep study of history, and foreign cultures.

General Mattis knows the other challenges a President Trump will face, especially with a resurgent Russia not only in the Middle East, but in Europe as well. How would Trump deal with China?  Our allies would be reassured with Mattis at the helm of the defense department, that the U.S. would honor its strategic commitments, and is a reliable ally.

History is ripe with vague notions of security by the U.S., one only has to look at how the U.S. became involved in the Korean War and Gulf War where ambiguous statements led to U.S. military action.

The chaotic foreign policy left by President Obama to his successor, Trump will need a sure handed secretary of defense to reassure our allies that America will live up to its international commitments and send a signal to potential adversaries if force is used it will be all in, and no halfhearted measures.

Finally, the selection of General Mattis as the next defense secretary would be a huge morale booster to the men and woman in the military who have had to endure eight years of social engineering all under the guise of political correctness.

Mattis would infuse a “warrior ethos” into the defense department with the clear understanding the purpose and mission of the armed forces is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country.

Generals would be chosen not by political correctness but by their competence as warriors, much in align with the last General who served as defense secretary General George Marshall.  This is solely missing in todays armed forces.

One only has to understand the two of the most famous quotes by General Mattis is to “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”  The other one is to understand, “You are part of the world’s most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.”

Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump spoke he would bring in the best America has to offer, at this crucial period, the best secretary of defense the nation could have is General James Mattis!