Meet Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis, Trump’s Iran Hawk Choice For Secretary Of Defense
By Yochi Dreazen for Vox - President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the Pentagon, retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, has said “it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot” Taliban fighters, told Iraqi leaders that “if you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all,” and accused the Obama administration of naiveté for inking a nuclear deal with Iran that will slow, but not stop, Tehran’s path to a bomb. Don’t let those quotes — or Mattis’s nickname, “Mad Dog” — fool you. Despite his salty language, Mattis is a serious strategic thinker who is widely respected inside and outside of the Pentagon for his intellect and willingness to offer unvarnished assessments of White House strategy, despite the risks to his own career.