Former Defense Secretary James N. Mattis vowed to speak out on policy issues when the time is right but needs more time away from his most recent role as Pentagon chief before he goes public.
“There’ll come a time when I speak out on strategic issues, policy issues, that I do not have a question about,” he said at a Tuesday event hosted by the Center on Foreign Relations. “But I need to give some period of time to those who have to carry out the responsibility to protect this country in a very, very difficult age.”
The four-star general abruptly departed the Pentagon at the end of 2018 following disagreements with President Trump over withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
Mr. Mattis’ comments come in the midst of negotiations between U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Afghanistan’s militant Taliban movement to end the 18-year-long war. It has been reported that roughly 5,000 U.S. troops could leave the country as part of a deal now on the table.
The former Pentagon chief would not comment on the ongoing situation “because I’m not fully aware of the negotiations.” He said he will instead “defer to those who are trying to carry this out, the State Department and our diplomat there and it wouldn’t be right.”
Mr. Mattis has largely refrained from commenting on or directly criticizing Mr. Trump’s policies since his December resignation.
Although the former Marine includes his pointed resignation letter in the new book, he takes greater aim at former President Barack Obama for various foreign policy decisions he disagreed with while serving as the commander of U.S. Central Command under his administration.
Mr. Mattis said Tuesday that his latest book, “Call Sign Chaos,” was intended to be about his time in the Marine Corps and published before he was tapped to be secretary of defense.
He did clarify, however, that he would speak his mind about current events and policy decisions “when the time is right.”
“’I’ll know it when it’s right … when the time’s right to speak out about policy or strategy,” Mr. Mattis said. “When a general retires his uniform, he should retire his tongue about political assessments.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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