Citizen Writers Fighting Censorship by Helping Americans Understand Issues Affecting the Republic.
In an era where retired officials rush to cable news studios, write tell-all books, and lob political grenades at their former colleagues, James Mattis has done something unusual: he has mostly stayed quiet.
Every time the United States gets involved in a foreign conflict, the opening act is usually impressive. Precision strikes, shock-and-awe, special operations raids, satellites, drones, cyber, carrier groups—the whole high-tech orchestra. When it comes to breaking things, the U.S. military is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Regimes fall, palaces empty, statues get pulled down, and cable news runs dramatic graphics about “the end of an era.”
Syria is not a declared war. There is no Syria-specific Authorization for Use of Military Force. There is no victory condition, no end state, no honest explanation that survives five follow-up questions.