Yesterday, I watched an interview (found
here) with retired U.S. Marine General and Secretary of Defense candidate
James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis. Mattis is an incredibly knowledgeable veteran who
reached the rank of 4 star general (the 5 star rank was retired in the early
80s) and has had a celebrated career in both the armed forces and in policy analysis
at the Hoover Institute. In his time in the Marines, he was known as a champion
for a better American approach to COIN (counterinsurgency) and an executor of
innovative responses to irregular warfare by focusing on thorough analysis of
one’s enemies. Mattis’ candidacy for the Secretary of Defense is a really
exciting idea, and I sorely hope that Trump has the common sense to see that.
But back to the interview. At one point, Mattis responded to
a question, stating, “Technology throws a few odd wrinkles in, but the bottom
line is: the fundamental impulses, the fundamental challenges, and the
solutions are pretty timeless in my line of work.” He elaborated...
