During his hearing today, Democrats directly questioned General Mattis on past statements that indicated opposition to women in ground combat. Here’s how CNN described the exchange:
Mattis repeatedly dodged direct questions about whether he opposes women serving in combat positions or gays in the military, despite Gillibrand reading back his past comments to him.
In one case, she quoted a passage in Mattis’ book, “Warriors and Citizens,” in which he decried the military being subject to societal pressure on causes like women in combat.
“We fear that an uninformed public is permitting political leaders to impose an accretion of social conventions that are diminishing the combat power of our military,” he and his co-author wrote, as Gillibrand read in the hearing.
At the hearing, Mattis responded, “If someone brings me a problem, I’ll look at it. But I’m not looking for problems.”
He continued, “My belief is we have to stay focused on a military so lethal that on a battlefield it will be an enemy’s longest day and worst day when they run into that force. … My concern is with the readiness of the force.”
He indicated he would come in with a predisposition to not re-open past decisions.
“I’ve never come into any job with an agenda, a pre-formed agenda of changing anything. I come in assuming the people before me deserve respect for the job they did and the decisions they made,” Mattis said.
I have three thoughts. First, it seems from his answer that General Mattis won’t walk into the job and undo the Obama administration’s decision to open all ground combat roles to women. That’s unfortunate, but it’s not the end of the discussion.
Second, Mattis also said, “The standards are the standards and when people meet the standards, that’s the end of discussion on that.” So long as he remains firm in this position, the actual number of women in ground combat roles will be very, very small. Simply put, they’re not strong enough to keep up with the guys, and if Mattis truly prioritizes readiness, then he may do better than pause the military’s social transformation; he may roll it it back significantly.
Third, CNN is right that his answers “left wiggle room that he could roll back both women in all combat positions and gays serving in the military.” The language of lethality is not the language of social justice. I read Mattis as finessing the question of women in combat, not deciding it. We’ll see what he does in office.