tries to divide us,” it is necessary to appreciate the revered four-star general’s place in the pantheon of legendary American combat commanders and why what he had to say matters.I first met Gen.
Mattis on the eve of the Second Gulf War. I was among a handful of journalists and several thousand Marines who gathered under a huge canvas tent in the Kuwaiti desert to hear the 1 Marine Division commander talk about the looming invasion of Iraq.I had already heard tales of the Warrior Monk’s selfless leadership, his prodigious intellect, and his soaring oratory.
Over the course of an hour in the stifling heat, the then-two-star general held the audience spellbound with an eloquent, off-the-cuff tour de force.