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Demonstrate to the world there is “No Better Friend — No Worse Enemy” than a US Marine.
General James N. Mattis is a United States Marine Corps officer currently serving (since 2007) as the Commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation for NATO.
[edit] Sourced
- You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually 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 there with you. I like brawling.
- For the mission's sake, for our country's sake, and the sake of the men who carried the Division's colors in past battles — "who fought for life and never lost their nerve" — carry out your mission and keep your honor clean. Demonstrate to the world there is “No Better Friend — No Worse Enemy” than a US Marine.
- Mattis' words in a message to the 1st Marine Division before the 2003 Iraq War as quoted in "Eve of Battle Speech" in The Weekly Standard (1 March 2003); also quoted in War Stories: Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003) by Oliver North, p. 53
- Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.
- One of the rules Maj. Gen. James Mattis gave his Marines to live by in Iraq, as quoted in Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (2006) by Thomas E. Ricks; as excerpted in Armed Forces Journal (August 2006)
- I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all.
- After the invasion of Iraq -and after sending his tanks and artillery home- Mattis sent this message to the Iraqi leaders in every area his men served in, as quoted in Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (2006) by Thomas E. Ricks; as excerpted in Armed Forces Journal (August 2006)
[edit] Misattributed
- No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy.
- Motto of the 1st Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps, used by Mattis in a widely reported address to the troops prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq; said to be derived from Sulla's famous self-made epitaph: "No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
[edit] Unsourced
- It's the mission of every Marine in this Battalion to send one dead Iraqi home to Mama.
- Speech before Task Force Ripper offensive to recapture Kuwait during Desert Storm.
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