Mattis’ resignation outlines strategic perils for successor

WASHINGTON — The extraordinary resignation letter that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis handed to a surprised President Trump was not just a product of two years of accumulating frustration with an impulsive boss, but an outline of the strategic hazards facing the next Pentagon chief.

Mattis implicitly warned in his letter to the president of the threat to the U.S. from allowing alliances to fray and of the risk that disrespecting allies will undermine U.S. credibility. It was an outline of the challenges facing the nation and whoever takes over as defense secretary when Mattis leaves Feb. 28.

“As this Administration continues to implode, Secretary Mattis’ extraordinary resignation is a significant loss and a real indication that President Trump’s foreign policy agenda has failed and continues to spiral into chaos,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Mattis announced on Thursday his plan to resign, a move prompted by the decision by the president to pull all of the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops from the fight against the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria.

Mattis also was dismayed by plans under consideration to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and, as his letter made clear, did not see eye to eye with a president who has expressed disdain for NATO and doubts about keeping troops in Asia.

The person nominated to succeed Mattis will face a Senate likely to probe for evidence of new strategic direction in hotspots like Syria, Afghanistan and the Korean peninsula.

In making clear that he could no longer tolerate Trump’s approach to American foreign policy, Mattis appeared to fashion a letter that not only expressed his reasons for leaving but also sounded an alarm. He implicitly criticized the president’s unwillingness to stand up to Russia or take a stronger stance against Chinese assertiveness.

“I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours,” Mattis wrote. “It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritative model ... to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies.”

Nurturing and extending U.S. alliances was a pillar of Mattis’ approach to his job.

In addition to the frayed state of U.S. relations with NATO, Mattis’ successor also is likely to face other hazards hinted at in his resignation letter. These include preserving and rationalizing a strategy for ensuring a lasting defeat of the Islamic State group by the dozens of nations that had backed the U.S. after it entered Syria in 2014.

Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned in his resignation letter of the threat to the U.S. from allowing alliances to fray.