So, how mad is General Jim Mattis? President-elect Donald Trump has confirmed his name for the post of defence secretary and the US military and political leaders around the globe are rushing to find out what the world would look like when he takes over on January 20 next year. Trump’s description of him as ‘my General Patton’ might not be off the mark. Mattis and Patton are the type of people who go to war because they love it. "Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet," is an aphorism which describes Mattis and the manner in which he would like to shape the US military. But he is not some trigger-happy cowboy. He is a respected strategist and a thinker. Mattis is a bachelor and when he takes up a posting, the 7,000 books in his possession move with him. He is an avid reader and before the invasion of Iraq he mandated that every major and above read Russell Braddon’s ‘The Siege’ which is the only book written about fighting a war in Iraq. He is going to bring this meticulous planning to the Pentagon. He has consistently criticized President Obama’s military strategy which focused more on withdrawal than engagement. The writing is on the wall: Obama’s guarded approach is going to be dismantled. But there will be a method to it, not madness.
