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Personally, I've never liked the 'America First' slogan. I think it's a given that all nations do things according to their interests. What I don't like about the slogan is how alienating
it is to our allies. But, as Mattis says, 'America First' has, under Trump, translated as 'America alone', and I don't think that is in our best interest.
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has broken his silence on the election with a public call to President-elect Joe Biden to alter the course of current defense policy.
Alongside three co-authors, Mattis published a piece in Foreign Affairs on Monday warning against abrupt departure from Afghanistan and calling for the elimination of "America First" as a tenet of defense strategy.
"To dismiss U.S. involvement today in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere as 'endless' or 'forever' wars -- as both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden do -- rather than as support to friendly governments struggling to exert control over their own territory misses the point," Mattis and his co-authors wrote. "It is in the United States' interests to build the capacity of such governments to deal with the threats that concern Americans."
Mattis was joined by Kori Schake, a long-time collaborator and now director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; retired Adm. Jim Ellis, former head of U.S. Strategic Command; and Joe Felter, a West Point graduate and Special Forces veteran of Afghanistan who now serves as a fellow at the Hoover Institution.
[...]
In practice, they added, "America first" has meant "America alone," making the nation more vulnerable to emerging threats.
it is to our allies. But, as Mattis says, 'America First' has, under Trump, translated as 'America alone', and I don't think that is in our best interest.
Mattis Calls on Biden to Scrap 'America First' Policy, Slow Pullout from Afghanistan
The former SecDef published a piece in Foreign Affairs on Monday warning against abrupt departure from Afghanistan.
www.military.com
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has broken his silence on the election with a public call to President-elect Joe Biden to alter the course of current defense policy.
Alongside three co-authors, Mattis published a piece in Foreign Affairs on Monday warning against abrupt departure from Afghanistan and calling for the elimination of "America First" as a tenet of defense strategy.
"To dismiss U.S. involvement today in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere as 'endless' or 'forever' wars -- as both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden do -- rather than as support to friendly governments struggling to exert control over their own territory misses the point," Mattis and his co-authors wrote. "It is in the United States' interests to build the capacity of such governments to deal with the threats that concern Americans."
Mattis was joined by Kori Schake, a long-time collaborator and now director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; retired Adm. Jim Ellis, former head of U.S. Strategic Command; and Joe Felter, a West Point graduate and Special Forces veteran of Afghanistan who now serves as a fellow at the Hoover Institution.
[...]
In practice, they added, "America first" has meant "America alone," making the nation more vulnerable to emerging threats.