Pentagon taps Mattis to take over
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WASHINGTON -- Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, an erudite combat veteran known for quoting poetry and openly expressing his enthusiasm for "killing the enemy," has been picked to take over the U.S. Central Command, the Pentagon announced Thursday.
Gen. Mattis would replace Gen. David Petraeus, who is in Afghanistan as the U.S. and NATO top military officer there. Gen. Petraeus took over after Gen. Stanley McChrystal was removed June 23 by President Barack Obama in the wake of a Rolling Stone magazine article that quoted Gen. McChrystal and his staff mocking U.S. civilian leaders.
Gen. Mattis is currently head of Norfolk, Va.-based Joint Forces Command, which coordinates strategy and trains young generals. In June, he was passed over for the job of Marine Corps commandant in favor of Gen. James Amos.
As head of Central Command, Gen. Mattis would oversee U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as across the Middle East, including Iraq and Iran. In his new position, Gen. Mattis technically would be Gen. Petraeus' boss. The job requires Senate confirmation.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters that he was impressed with the general's "strategic insight and independent thinking."
Gen. Mattis is a general seemingly straight out of central casting, a gravel-voiced warrior best known for leading troops into the bloody battle of Fallujah in Iraq in 2004.
Fond of quoting William Shakespeare, Prussian military theorist von Clausewitz and the ancient Chinese strategist-philosopher Sun Tsu, Gen. Mattis tends to speak bluntly of the harsh realities of war. His candor got him in trouble in 2005, when he asserted in a public speech in San Diego that it was "fun to shoot some people."
Gen. Mattis, a three-star general at the time, said some Afghans deserved to die. "Actually, it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot. ... It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you."
First Published July 9, 2010 12:00 am
