Both Leading Candidates to Replace Mattis are Maximum War Hawks

While “Mad Dog” Mattis was by no means a “hero,” it is almost a given that his replacement will be far more pro-war and pro-intervention than the outgoing secretary of defense.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Pictured left to right, General John Keane, General Jim Mattis and Senator Tom Cotton.  Photos | Associated Press | MintPress News.

WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis would be “retiring” in February and that a replacement for Mattis would soon be named. Mattis’ departure had been the subject of speculation since late June, when it was reported that Mattis was already being kept out of the loop

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As US and Western Allies Suddenly Push Peace in Yemen, Can Their Endgame be Trusted?

The U.S. has expressed a desire to rely in Yemen upon the often practiced and rarely successful strategy of breaking a nation into multiple enclaves based on ethnicity and political affiliation. The process, known as balkanization, has been implemented with disastrous results in Syria, Sudan and elsewhere.

Ahmed Abdulkareem
By Ahmed Abdulkareem
Jim Mattis | Saudi Arabia | Yemen

SANA’A, YEMEN -- Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of Ansar Allah’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee, welcomed U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ recent remarks urging an end to the three-year-long Saudi-led war in Yemen. In a tweet, Al-Houthi urged Mattis to announce an immediate end to the war, as well as to the Saudi coalition’s blockade that

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Trump “Actively Discussing” Mattis Replacement, Looking for Cooperative Iran Hawk

Mattis is the last remaining high-ranking member of the Trump cabinet who has publicly opposed the President’s Iran policy, particularly the U.S.’ unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
U.S. Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis at the Pentagon, Wash. DC., Aug. 23, 2018. DoD | Angelita Lawrence

WASHINGTON -- Media reports emerged this week that suggest that U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis may soon find himself out of a job, as President Donald Trump and his closest advisors are now “actively” discussing possible candidates to replace the Pentagon chief. Back in late June, MintPress News reported on related concerns that Mattis

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Is Mattis Next on Chopping Block for Questioning the “Adelson Agenda”?

Like Rex Tillerson and H.R. McMaster before him, administration officials are warning that Secretary of Defense James Mattis has fallen out of favor with the President for opposing key parts of his Sheldon Adelson-directed Middle East policy.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb

WASHINGTON – Like Rex Tillerson and H.R. McMaster before him, Secretary of Defense James Mattis – one of the longest-serving members of the Trump cabinet – may soon be out of a job. Just as was the case for the former secretary of state and the former national security adviser, media reports are now asserting that Mattis has been shut out of major

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The US, UK and France Strike Syria – What Comes Next?

There are stirrings of an imperative anti-war movement in the wake of the U.S. strike on Syria, but mostly the Pentagon controlled the message.

Gilbert Doctorow
By Gilbert Doctorow
Syrians wave flags and portraits of President Bashar Assad during a demonstration to show solidarity with the Syrian armed forces, at Omayyad Square, in Damascus, Syria, April 16, 2018. Syrians gathered in a landmark square in the capital of Damascus in support of their armed forces, which they say succeeded in confronting the unprecedented joint airstrikes by the West over the weekend. (SANA via AP)

The arguments between Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford before the Syrian air strikes, and between them and President Donald Trump and his ultra-hawk national security adviser, John Bolton, ended with “precision strikes” early Saturday morning in Damascus and near the city of

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Attacking Syria: Military Brass Thumbs Noses at the Constitution

It was a sad spectacle to see U.S. brass rubbishing the Constitution and trying to silence critics of the U.S. strike on Syria, says Ray McGovern in this commentary.

Ray McGovern
By Ray McGovern
In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) fires a Tomahawk land attack missile early Saturday, April 14, 2018, as part of the military response to Syria's use of chemical weapons on April 7. The United States, France and Britain launched military strikes in Syria to punish President Bashar Assad for an apparent chemical attack against civilians and to deter him from doing it again. (Lt. j.g. Matthew Daniels/U.S. Navy via AP)

Opinion -- The U.S. Constitution and international law suffered a stinging blow last night at the hands of an odd coalition that might be called Goldilocks and two moral dwarfs posing as Marine generals, together with a “Right Dishonorable” harridan and a young French poodle. As was the case 15 years ago when the U.S. and UK launched a war of

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