{"id":11434,"date":"2018-10-02T19:24:47","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T02:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=11434"},"modified":"2018-10-02T19:24:47","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T02:24:47","slug":"mattis-is-more-valuable-than-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/mattis-is-more-valuable-than-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattis Is More Valuable Than Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victor Davis Hanson \/\/ National Review<\/p>\n

Michael O\u2019Hanlon presented<\/a>\u00a0recently a persuasive argument why Defense Secretary James Mattis should stay on the job for at least the duration of Trump\u2019s first term in order to finish his current initiatives \u2014 apparently in response to unsubstantiated rumors that Mattis\u2019s reputation has grown among some anti-Trump establishment circles as the \u201cadult in the room\u201d who can redirect Trump into proper lanes, or in reaction to the unsourced assertions of Bob Woodward (all denied by Mattis) that the secretary had deprecated Trump in his absence.<\/p>\n

In truth, Mattis has never been more important to Trump. His reputation as a no-nonsense advocate of deterrence gains more resonance as we seem to be returning to more conventional, traditional, and big-power challenges from Russia, China, and Iran in the Persian Gulf. That increased deterrence is largely as a result of Trump\u2019s cancellation of the Iran deal, tough talk on trade, Chinese provocativeness in the South China Sea, and stepped-up sanctions against Russia, including efforts to corral Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

For all the talk of disruption and chaos in foreign policy, at the close of the administration\u2019s second year, there is emerging a new strategic clarity that reflects the efforts of a superb foreign-policy team of Pompeo, Bolton, Mattis, Haley, etc.<\/p>\n