Secretary of Defense James Mattis let it be known he did not like the framing of a question from a reporter who asked if children deaths, in places like Yemen, from American-made weapons are acceptable.
“At what point [does it] become unacceptable for Yemeni children and innocent civilians to be killed with American weapons,” a reporter from Al Jazeera asked.
“That’s a strange way to characterize the question, being that we didn’t start the war,” Mattis interjected. “And I think we have to look at here is probably can we get this to the U.N. brokered peace table that the U.N. special envoy is trying to get it to.”
“That is the goal. That doesn’t change no matter what tragedy happens on the battlefield,” he continued. “If what we’ve done in the past had reduce the loss of innocent life, then I would not want to stop doing that and think ‘There we took care of that problem’ and watch that number go up.” – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Secretary of Defense James Mattis gave a strong rebuke to the recent news that the military parade, to take place at the orders of President Donald Trump, was going to cost $90 million.
While traveling in South America, Mattis told reporters he had not seen an estimated cost for the total parade.
Mattis then gave his thoughts on the report and the defense official who provided the high number.
“Whoever told you that is probably smoking something that’s legal in my state, but not in most states,” he said. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said there was no truth to reports that the Pentagon is engaging in “damage control” after President Donald Trump’s meeting with allies in Brussels, Belgium.
“I just heard about this story that the Pentagon is in damage control,” Mattis told reporters in a short press conference with reporters.
“That was fascinating, I love reading fiction.”
Mattis, who spoke with reporters during his flight from Zagreb, Croatia, to Oslo, Sweden, Friday, said the administration is getting strong results in discussions with NATO allies.
Mattis said the news was not fact-based and suggested the reporters accompanying him in “full transparency” would have noticed if the NBC report was true.
“It must have been the most pleasant damage control … I ever could have imagined, with the level of unity, of purpose that we experienced there,” Mattis said.
“People are entitled to their opinion even if it is not fact-based.”- READ MORE
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