Meet The New Boss – Same As The Old Boss? - Rahoul Duke

Won’t get fooled again… The lyrics continue in the 1971 hit song by The Who. The brutal irony that the song is intended to express has possibly never been more true than just recently when General James Mattis was nominated to replace General David Petraeus as the commander of CENTCOM or US Central Command located at South Tampa’s MacDill Air Force base.

General James Mattis' infamy was etched into history when he ( then a 3-Star General) stared directly into cameras that were broadcasting to the entire planet and smugly declared:

“It’s fun to shoot people in Afghanistan... actually, it's a lot of fun to fight... it's a hell of a hoot (sic) It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you. I like brawling."

He added: "You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them."

When asked for comment about General Mattis' remarks, an unnamed source who works at MacDill pointed out the irony "jeez our jails are full of guys who, to use the General's word, “ain’t got no manhood” because they slap women around and better yet they do it for no reason at all, and most of them have been doing it for a lot longer than five years."

"Now, I'm not saying it wouldn’t be fun to shoot these guys, ok maybe just one or two," our source continued with a laugh, "but I would definitely say that announcing it to the world during a public interview makes me question whether or not he (Mattis) is the guy we want running things in the Middle East."

His nomination highlights more recent incidents of top American brass that have needed to have their feet surgically removed from their mouths after public remarks that go well beyond indiscretion and into the realm of incompetence.

General Mattis is replacing General Petraeus as head of Central Command because General Petraeus was chosen to replace General McChrystal as Commander of the war in Afghanistan. General McChrystal got sacked for making equally indiscrete and colossally stupid remarks about his boss (President Obama) to a reporter from Rolling Stone Magazine.

McChrystal’s remarks in Rolling Stone’s The Runaway General are best characterized by the article's byline:

“Stanley McChrystal, Obama's top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House.”

It’s true; you almost need a score card to keep up with the ongoing reshuffling of our military’s leadership as it plays out like a game of musical chairs with President Obama controlling the music. 

As head of Central Command, General Mattis would oversee U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq and Iran.

Robert Gates, the defense secretary, said he was impressed with the marine general's "strategic insight and independent thinking", adding that he had learnt not to speak bluntly in public after a speech in San Diego in 2005. Gates said he raised the issue with Mattis when interviewing him for the job and was confident he wouldn't repeat such statements in the future.

With McChrystal gone and Mattis pending Senate confirmation appearing likely, things are different but has any really changed?