You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts. If they start living in a dream world, it's going to be bad.
James MattisFind the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they're so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact.
James MattisI think, broadly speaking, the US military's role - US military activism in various parts of the Islamic world over the past several decades has been counterproductive.
James MattisI don't see lethality as the problem. I mean, the lethality of US forces is quite remarkable.
James MattisWe can kill lots of people. We do kill lots of people. We can destroy virtually anything we choose to destroy.
James MattisI would consider the principal threats to start with Russia. And it would certainly include any nations that are looking to intimidate nations around their periphery, regional nations nearby them, whether it be with weapons of mass destruction or I would call it unusual, unorthodox means of intimidating them.
James Mattis