Living up to his reputation as fearless, Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis did not bat an eye in answering a question, "What keeps you awake at night?," replying immediately "Nothing. I keep other people awake at night."
The comments, in an interview with CBS’s “Face The Nation” on Sunday, came as the U.S tries to deal with a wide range of foreign threats from terror organizations, as well as from Russia and North Korea.
The secretary of defense’s reputation, earned as a four-star general whose nickname is “Mad Dog,” was bolstered by numerous quotes during his nomination process which were often irreverent and flippant, Fox News reported.
In the CBS interview, Mattis said the U.S. is planning to switch to “annihilation tactics” against ISIS, after the terror group claimed a number of attacks carried out in western nations.
"We have already shifted from attrition tactics where we shove them from one position to another in Iraq and Syria, to annihilation tactics where we surround them," Mattis said. “Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa. We're not going to allow them to do so. We're going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate.”
Mattis also commented on the strategy to deal with Russia, saying that President Donald Trump is trying to deal with it in a diplomatic manner, but “At the same time while willing to engage diplomatically, we are going to have to confront Russia when it comes to areas where they attack us, whether it be with cyber, or they try to change borders using armed force.”
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