James Mattis to be appointed US Defence Secretary

President elect Trump has picked up retired Marine General James Mattis for the coveted post of Secretary of Defence. Mattis had retired as Chief of US Central Command in 2013 has often quoted that US lacks an overall and effective strategy in middle-east. Mattis has often stood against the relevance of “political Islam” and has underlined it as the major security issue facing United States.

However, the appointment of Mattis will follow only after a pass resolution by the Congress for it bypasses a federal law which states that defence secretaries should not be on any active duty in the previous seven years. Similar exemption had been passed in 1950 when General George C. Marshall was appointed for the post.

James Mattis has served in the Marine Corps for over four decades and is reputed as the most influential military leaders of his time. He is known for his aggressive and strategic talk.  After retirement he has served as a consultant and a visiting fellow with Hoover Institution. He possess a tough opinion against all adversaries of US notably Iran.  Mattis also served as the supreme allied commander of transformation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation from November 2007 to August 2010. During his tenure his prime focus was to improve the military effectiveness of the allies. Mattis had also expressed that America had become irrelevant in the Middle East in the present scenario and has the least influence seen in last 40 years.