NPR is reporting that we have a newly appointed Secretary of Defense starting January 1. Trump is making sure that he doesn't need to deal with Jim Mattis at all now. In another typical Trump maneuver the new Secretary is straight from Boeing, certainly assuring an ethical arms-length from any military/industrial-complex situation.
"Shanahan was confirmed by Congress as deputy secretary of defense in July 2017. He has essentially served as chief operating officer for the Pentagon, as NPR reported in May. The former Boeing executive told NPR's Steve Inskeep that new technology will shape the future of war.
"The investment in weapons systems is long term," Shanahan says."Stand by for lots of new "investments" in Boeing! (Competitors need not apply.)
✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲ ✲Additional Info from
The San Francisco Chronicle:
Trump forces Mattis out two months early"WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump, who aides said has been seething about news coverage of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's scathing resignation letter, abruptly announced Sunday that he was removing Mattis two months before his planned departure"
"The president made the decision hastily in reaction to negative news coverage, according to senior administration officials, one of whom said Trump was eager to retaliate against Mattis and show up the widely respected former general.'
"Trump had complained to aides that Mattis did not share his enthusiasm for negotiating defense contracts, and he likes that Shanahan took a special interest in such matters, according to a senior administration official.
Since his arrival at the Pentagon, Shanahan has emphasized making the department more efficient and business-friendly and has won plaudits at the White House by pushing through Trump's vision for a space force, against the wishes of many of the building's leaders and uniformed brass."
"Shanahan lacks the kind of foreign policy experience that has become customary among defense secretaries, putting someone atop the Pentagon who lacks the deeply seated views on matters such as withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan that Mattis held."(Bold emphasis added.)
Comments
Apropos to your subject line: John McCain Once Suggested Trump’s New Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan was a 'fox in the Henhouse' (Newsweek, today).