US lawmaker and Marine veteran insulted for opposing Mattis as Pentagon chief

A US congressman and Marine veteran, who fought with invading American forces in Iraq, has said he will stand by his bid to oppose retired Marine General James Mattis as the next defense secretary despite being harshly insulted by fellow veterans.

Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego from Arizona said he has been “insulted repeatedly by fellow combat veterans, with some inaccurately calling him “POG,” a derisive acronym that stands for “person other than grunt” and implies he did not serve in the infantry” for his decision to vote against Mattis, US-based daily the Washington Post reported Saturday.

“Others called him a “Blue Falcon,” a term describing someone who turns on a friend for their own personal gain,” the daily added, citing Gallego, who became a congressman just last year.

“Marines in general are the harshest critics of other Marines,” Gallego said, noting that he does not take it personally despite the rhetorical attacks by fellow veterans, using obscene language. 

The harsh reactions came in response to Gallego’s tweet, announcing why he opposes Mattis and insisting that “civilian leadership of the military is too important.”

“Why the hell did people elect you? Did you use your military experience to get elected? Should be ashamed!”  read one of the tweets posted in reaction to his position.

“From one Marine to another, you're a disloyal disgrace to our uniform. If you spent any time anywhere you'd know he's best,” read another.

Gallego declared on December 5 that he opposes President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Mattis as Pentagon chief because he believes “strongly in the principle of civilian leadership of the military.”  

He further emphasized: “Current law requires that a military officer be out of active duty for at least seven years before taking the job of defense secretary. I do not believe this long-standing check should be cast aside, and I will oppose a waiver of this rule, even for someone as exceptionally qualified as General Mattis.”

“If we are just automatically going to do these kinds of waivers without serious discussions and understanding the implications to civilian control of the military and the tradition of civilian control of the military, I think we’re doing a grave disservice — a grave disservice — to our job as members of Congress,” Gallego added.

The US lawmaker went on to state that he would “love” to see Mattis in another role in government, including national security adviser, “but US citizens also need to have a discussion about how many retired generals they want to have running the federal government,” he said.

Other than Mattis, Trump has picked retired Marine General John Kelly to run the Department of Homeland Security, retired Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as national security adviser and met with Army General David Petraeus and Navy Admiral James Stavridis for potential cabinet positions in his administration.

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