Hultqvist (S) besviken efter beskedet om Mattis avgång

James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) who is currently serving as the 26th United States Secretary of Defense and a former United States Marine Corps general. Mattis commissioned in the Marine Corps through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps after graduating from Central Washington University. A career soldier, he gained a reputation for intellectualism and eventually advanced to the rank of general. Mattis served in the Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq. From 2007 to 2010, he commanded the United States Joint Forces Command and concurrently served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. His was Commander of United States Central Command from 2010 to 2013. After retiring from the military, he served in several private sector roles, including as a board member of Theranos. Mattis was nominated as Secretary of Defense by President-elect Trump and confirmed by the Senate on January 20, 2017. He needed a waiver from Congress to allow his nomination to be considered, as he had only been separated from the military for the previous three years despite U.S. federal law requiring at least seven years of retirement for former military personnel to be appointed Secretary of Defense. As Secretary of Defense, Mattis has affirmed the United States' commitment to defending longtime ally South Korea in the wake of the North Korea crisis. An opponent of proposed collaboration with Russia on military matters, Mattis has consistently stressed Russia's threat to the world order. Mattis has occasionally voiced his disagreement with certain Trump administration policies, opposing the proposed withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, and has criticized budget cuts that hamper the ability to monitor the impacts of climate change.