Defense Secretary James Mattis told congressional Republicans at their annual retreat in West Virginia Thursday that he is increasing defense spending to strengthen the military.
“I need to make the military more lethal. Some people think I’m supposed to be an equal-opportunity employer,” Mattis told GOP lawmakers at the retreat, which is being held at the Greenbriar resort in White Sulphur Springs.
Mattis said that the Trump administration would request $716 billion in defense spending from Congress for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1. – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [divider][/divider]When President Donald Trump addressed members of Congress for his first State of the Union speech on Tuesday, he promised to once again make military spending a priority.
“I am asking the Congress to end the dangerous defense sequester and fully fund our great military,” he said. “As part of our defense, we must modernize and rebuild our nuclear arsenal, hopefully never having to use it, but making it so strong and powerful that it will deter any acts of aggression by any other nation or anyone else.”
Trump also announced he is making sure the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay remains open. – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [divider][/divider]Our military’s role is to keep the peace; to keep the peace for one more year, one more month, one more week, one more day; to ensure our diplomats who are working to solve problems do so from a position of strength and giving allies confidence in us. This confidence is underpinned by the assurance that our military will win should diplomacy fail.
While diplomacy is the preferred method of conflict resolution, after a four-decade career in the Marines, Mattis is well aware of the dangers posed to the U.S. However, he offered a grave warning to anyone who is considering a physical attack on America.
“To those who would threaten America’s experiment in democracy, they must know: If you challenge us, it will be your longest and your worst day,” Mattis declared.
He advised detractors to “work with our diplomats” because “you don’t want to fight the Department of Defense.” – READ MORE
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