President faces opposition from neocons trying to keep U. S. in perpetual war
As if President Trump’s stream of tweets defending his decision to pull US troops from Syria – and his lashing out at the apoplexy of th US military establishment – didn’t clearly communicate Trump’s anger over the resignation of Defense Jim “Mad Dog” Mattis (who said in his resignation letter that the Syria decision was the last straw), President Trump tweeted Sunday that he had appointed Patrick Shanahan, Mattis’s deputy and a former Boeing exec, to serve as the acting Secretary of Defense, effectively confirming reports that he was pushing to terminate Mattis immediately, ahead of the Feb. 28 departure date that Mattis had set out in his letter.
Trump then acknowledged his conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which reportedly inspired him to withdraw troops.
