The Generals Can’t Save Us From Trump
By JONATHAN STEVENSONJULY 28, 2017
During a recent conference in Singapore, someone asked Secretary of Defense James Mattis whether, given President Trump’s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Paris climate agreement, we were “present at the destruction” of the America-led postwar order. In a twist on a remark by Abba Eban, the former general answered: “Bear with us. Once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing.”
It was vintage Mattis: witty, learned and confident in his country’s future. But it was also dispiriting, suggesting that he disagreed with President Trump, but was unable to do much about it.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/opinion/sunday/mattis-mcmaster-foreign-policy-trump.html?ref=opinion
