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| James Mattis (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, retired Gen. James Mattis, called for the strongest possible relationship with NATO, warning Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to “break” it.
At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mattis told Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., he would even support a permanent US military presence in the Baltics to bolster the alliance.
The former commander of US Central Command and NATO supreme allied commander for transformation, Mattis showed the daylight between his views and Trump’s comments denigrating US military alliances and stressing strong Moscow-Washington ties. In the wake of Trump’s seeming indifference to Russia’s efforts to influence the presidential election, Mattis faced tense questioning on the issue of Russia from several lawmakers.
Florida Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson asked directly: Where do his positions differ from Trump’s on Russia? On the one hand, Mattis said he sees Putin as “a strategic competitor … and an adversary in key areas.” Like Trump, he said he agrees in engaging Putin with “very modest expectations of areas of cooperation.”
When Nelson asked pointedly about Trump statement during the campaign regarding conditional support for NATO allies, Mattis defended his presumptive boss.
“I’m confident that the president-elect expects us to live up to our word to include NATO in Article 5,” Mattis said, referring to the NATO treaty’s mutual-defense clause.
“I hope you’re right, and I assume by your answer that you will stand up,” Nelson said. Mattis replied, "One-hundred percent.”
Nelson asked whether he expects to see tension with retired three-star general Mike Flynn, Trump’s pick for national security advisor and campaign-trail ally. “No, sir, I do not,” was Mattis’ initial terse reply.
“You need different ideas to be strongly argued,” Mattis said. “You don't want the tyranny of consensus of group-think early. … It’s not tidy, it will be respectful, of that I’m certain, and I don't anticipate that anything but the best ideas will win, sir.
Read the full story at DefenseNews
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