Former Defense Secretary James Mattis appeared on "Meet the Press" Sunday to promote his new autobiography, but he refused to indicate whether or not he agrees with the president on the recent decision to allow attacks on Kurdish allies.
In a Washington Post column, opinion writer James Downie noted that Mattis "ducked" each time he was asked where he disagrees with President Donald Trump.
Mattis not only dodged questions about the U.S. and Russia, Mattis said he wouldn't "make political assessments" because the Defense Department stays outside of politics. Mattis is no longer at the Department of Defense, nor is he an active-duty soldier, so it's unclear what his excuse is.
"Worse yet, Mattis even admits that there are things he is deliberately withholding. When Todd observed to him 'that you do have more to say. You just don't believe this period of time is appropriate,' Mattis would only reply, 'Well, Chuck, I have a lot of faith in the American people. They know how to vote. They don't need military generals telling them that they think this political assessment is the one they should go with, or the other one is, that sort of thing, especially as corrosive as the political debate has grown in the country,'" quoted Downie.
He reiterated that the "I'm just a soldier" excuse is absurd given he was the head of the Defense Department.
"Beyond that, though it is good to know Mattis thinks highly of his fellow Americans, that's rather contradicted by his withholding valuable observations about the president's behavior behind closed doors," wrote Downie.
"Is America safer today because of this decision in Syria?" asked host Chuck Todd.
"That's a complex question. I would say, America's always safer when it builds the trust and a sense of reliability among our allies that we're reliable," dodged Mattis.
The two men then engaged in a conversation about the Constitution, which Mattis said, "we all need today."
"Saying we all need the Constitution these days is a statement heavy with implication that something is gravely wrong with U.S. democracy," wrote Downie. "Yet Mattis won't tell us if that's actually the case or why he's suggesting that. It's about as helpful as a traffic sign saying 'watch out!' without telling you what to watch out for."
He noted that Mattis isn't the first Trump official to be so cagey after leaving his White House position. Rex Tillerson, H.R. McMaster and Dan Coates have all refused to say anything.
Mattis, however, is on a book tour, trying to peddle his opinions, experiences and stories, but only on his terms. He's not going to talk about Trump. Instead, he wants to use the position under Trump to score profits for his book, which gives no useful understandings about the current state of foreign affairs.
