What concerned me was that [James Mattis] played not only a critical role as a battlefield commander in Fallujah, but also, afterwards, when he was promoted to various other higher-ranking positions, he served as a convening authority in court-martial proceedings against various marines who had been accused of atrocities - for example, in the Haditha massacre, where a group of marines went on a killing spree after one in their unit was killed.
James MattisOnce ISIS is defeated, there is a larger effort under way to make certain that we don't just sprout a new enemy. We know ISIS is going to go down. We have had success on the battlefield. We have freed millions of people from being under their control.
James MattisNo war is over until the enemy says it's over. We may think it over, we may declare it over, but in fact, the enemy gets a vote.
James MattisIn a country with millions of people & cars going everywhere, the enemy is going to get a car bomb out there once in a while.
James Mattis