{"id":98160,"date":"2016-11-23T10:06:15","date_gmt":"2016-11-23T17:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/?p=98160"},"modified":"2016-11-23T10:06:15","modified_gmt":"2016-11-23T17:06:15","slug":"god-bless-general-mattis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markshea\/2016\/11\/god-bless-general-mattis.html","title":{"rendered":"God bless General Mattis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Marine General James \u201cMad Dog\u201d Mattis appears to be a soldier of the old school who recognizes that war requires violence, but that such violence is something you have<\/em> to do, not something you get<\/em> to do. \u00a0One of his more memorable quotes (in a speech to his troop when they arrived in Iraq in 2003) is this: \u201cBe polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.\u201d Some call that brutality. I call it prudence. In a war zone where there are no uniforms and anybody might open fire or have a bomb strapped to their body, that is the tragic reality. Be prepared.<\/p>\n

But at the same time, he also emphasizes that there are limits to violence. And he just made that clear to our incoming president whose sole knowledge of war is dodging STDs as his \u201cpersonal Vietnam\u201d and playing \u201cCall of Duty\u201d. To this ignorant little boy whose knowledge of intelligence gathering come solely from watching \u201c24\u201d and wishing he could practice that kind of cinematic cruelty on whoever he deems a bad guy, the General had some persuasive arguments<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u201cI\u2019ve never found it to be useful,\u201d\u2018 Mr. Trump said, describing the general\u2019s view of torturing terrorism suspects. He added that Mr. Mattis found more value in building trust and rewarding cooperation with terror suspects: \u2018\u201dGive me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I\u2019ll do better.\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I was very impressed by that answer.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cTorture, he said, is \u2018not going to make the kind of a difference that a lot of people are thinking.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, the reason \u201ca lot of people are thinking\u201d torture works is because Trump has been saying it loudly and to great applause throughout his campaign. But the responsibility-averse Trump shifts the blame on to others as is his custom. Still, it\u2019s good that, for the moment at least, he is in the mood to rethink his views on torture and we should pray that Mattis\u2019 voice prevails and not that of others in his circle, who have said that \u201call options are on the table<\/a>.\u201d I suspect that Lt. General Flynn said this because he thought it was what the Boss wanted to hear, since he has criticized it elsewhere<\/a>. So that\u2019s hopeful sign too.<\/p>\n

The question, of course, is what Trump will do, not what he says, since he is a pathological liar and not somebody with a history of impulse control. In the heat of anger after a terrorist attack, God alone knows what this unstable man will order. But it is an answer to prayer, nonetheless, that General Mattis has gotten through to him on this. Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marine General James \u201cMad Dog\u201d Mattis appears to be a soldier of the old school who recognizes that war requires violence, but that such violence is something you have to do, not something you get to do. \u00a0One of his more memorable quotes (in a speech to his troop when they arrived in Iraq in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,37,186],"class_list":["post-98160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-good-news","tag-praise-reports","tag-torture-is-evil"],"yoast_head":"\nGod bless General Mattis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marine General James "Mad Dog" Mattis appears to be a soldier of the old school who recognizes that war requires violence, but that such violence is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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