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We do everything humanly possible, consistent with military necessity, taking many chances to avoid civilian casualties, at all costs.

James Mattis

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James Mattis
Avoid
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Everything
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More quotes by James Mattis

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The American people and the American military will never get used to civilian casualties. And we will - we will fight against that every way we can possibly bring our intelligence and our tactics to bear. We're not the perfect guys, but we are the good guys.
James Mattis
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In a country with millions of people & cars going everywhere, the enemy is going to get a car bomb out there once in a while.
James Mattis
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Find the enemy that wants to end this experiment (in American democracy) and kill every one of them until they're so sick of the killing that they leave us and our freedoms intact.
James Mattis
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An untrained or uneducated Marine ... deployed to the combat zone is a bigger threat to mission accomplishment ... than the enemy.
James Mattis
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What would you do differently as defense secretary to compensate for this record in which the greatest military in the world, as we are constantly told, doesn't get the job done?
James Mattis
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It's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you, I like brawling.
James Mattis
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I think, broadly speaking, the US military's role - US military activism in various parts of the Islamic world over the past several decades has been counterproductive.
James Mattis
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I don't see lethality as the problem. I mean, the lethality of US forces is quite remarkable.
James Mattis
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Our strategy right now is to accelerate the campaign against ISIS. It is a threat to all civilized nations.
James Mattis
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You are part of the world's most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.
James Mattis
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I would consider the principal threats to start with Russia. And it would certainly include any nations that are looking to intimidate nations around their periphery, regional nations nearby them, whether it be with weapons of mass destruction or I would call it unusual, unorthodox means of intimidating them.
James Mattis
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The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears.
James Mattis
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You can overcome wrong technology. Your people have the initiative, they see the problem, no big deal ... you can't overcome bad culture. You've gotta change whoever is in charge.
James Mattis
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I don't lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.
James Mattis
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I just hope we can find our way back to engaging with one another, arguing strongly with one another, and then going down and having a root beer together or something and - and having a good laugh about it as we work together for the best interests of the next generation of Americans who are going to inherit this country.
James Mattis
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2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant Afghan Security Forces and the international troops who have stood and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan against terrorism.
James Mattis
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I think the core problem is much closer to recognizing where force is of value, where it is useful, and to distinguish that from situations in which war is not useful or is indeed counterproductive.
James Mattis
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Treachery has existed as long as there's been warfare, and there's always been a few people that you couldn't trust.
James Mattis
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Be the hunter, not the hunted: Never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down.
James Mattis
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The United States has been essentially engaged in an ongoing war that most people date from 2001. That war has taken us to Afghanistan, to Iraq, in a lesser way to other countries - Libya, Somalia, Yemen.
James Mattis