Lt. Col. Ralph Peters rolled into Fox Business yesterday and offered a pithy, punchy explanation for why Iran's regime must be a bit queasy over President-elect Donald Trump's selection of Gen. James Mattis to serve as Secretary of Defense in the new administration. In spite of his "mad dog" nickname, Mattis isn't some belligerent warmonger; he is universally regarded as a truly brilliant, tough-as-nails, unswerving, conscientious patriot with unparalleled life experience. Before we get to Peters' assessment, do yourself a real favor and read this full piece about Mattis at The Federalist, written by a Marine who served under him on three occasions. A small sample from the must-read column:
General Mattis stood up and took a handheld microphone. Without referencing a single piece of paper, he discussed what each unit would do and in what sequence, and outlined his end state for each phase of the early war. He spoke for nearly 30 minutes, and his complete mastery of every nuance of the battle forthcoming was truly impressive. A narrator then took over and picked up the narrative, the rest of the first week of the early war in sequence. As he described each movement, the officers from that unit walked to the proper place on their terrain model, and by the end of an hour the colored jerseys were spread over nearly a football field’s worth of sand. What a show. At the end of the drill, questions were answered and then Mattis dismissed everyone. No messing around with this guy. Mike Murdoch, one of the British company commanders, leaned over to me, his eyes wide. “Mate, are all your generals that good?” I looked at him. “No. He is the best we have.”
And now, here's Peters:
"General Mattis understands the Middle East. He served there in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and contrary to that ‘mad dog’ nonsense, he is a very level-headed, firm guy. He doesn’t want to go to war if we don’t have to, but if we go to war, he wants to win. Iranian leadership should be very, very afraid. Their free ride is over."
In the segment, Peters also urges the Trump administration not to unilaterally abrogate the dreadful Iran nuclear deal, instead recommending that the US demonstrate zero tolerance on Iranian treachery, or additional violations of the letter and 'spirit' of the agreement. That said, as Leah mentioned earlier, the State Department has confirmed that contra Tehran, President Trump could choose to walk away from the accord -- which was quite emphatically never presented or voted upon as a formal treaty (or even technically signed into effect). Meanwhile, here's what Iran is up to these days, just in case anyone had forgotten the evil and backwards values the regime imposes upon its people:
Iran opens amusement park where children wear military uniforms and get to play games attacking Israel. Just great. https://t.co/cHzjqIAtyf
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) December 5, 2016
Curious: Does this amusement park also boast an attraction in which the kiddos can simulate vastly out-negotiating the Obama administration? Before you go, read this Politico essay, which frets that Mattis may hold a debilitating grudge against Iran. It seems as though the General still harbors a seething animus towards the regime for its central role in murdering 220 Marines in their Beirut barracks more than 30 years ago. Gosh, imagine that. For its part, Iran remains the world's number one state sponsor of international terrorism, with its activities on this front "undiminished" since partnering with Obama, according to Obama's own State Department. I'll leave you with former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director under President Obama telling Congress to grant Mattis the waiver he needs to become Defense Secretary. Is this one of the battles Democrats really want to wage?
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