Sec Mattis is an officer and a gentleman. I don't have a bad word to say say about him. He's also they only one who would ask for Rip-It energy drink, probably from his time in the sandbox.
This isn't a criticism but an observation. The General is a hammer, and when you're a hammer every problem looks like a nail. Boss sees there is no more value in having all our troops in the Middle East, something a lot of people saw a lot earlier.
The cost/benefit ratio of being in the Middle East will never work out in our favor. We'll never win hearts and minds, we'll never export democracy, and we now produce more oil at home then we import.
It's the job of every Cabinet secretary to further the President's agenda. Not vice-versa.
