US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis announced his departure from the Trump administration on Thursday local timeCredit:SUSAN WALSH
"You have a degree of moral and ethical reputation that I think could help ensure that in the future more sustainable decisions are made, including by the Americans," he said in a speech in Canberra in 2015.
"I don't forget the debt my country owes you and we'll never forget those irredeemable debts."
As Defence Secretary, Mattis made eight trips to the Indo Pacific in two years – a sign of how invested he was in our region.
In an administration populated by grifters and leakers, Mattis stood out as a beacon of experience, competence and restraint.
Alongside Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Mattis was part of an "axis of adults" working to stop Trump from making impulsive and potentially disastrous decisions.
Traditional Republicans who may have personally loathed Trump took solace in the knowledge that he could be reined in by the more moderate figures around him.
Tillerson and Kelly both announced their departures earlier this year, and now Mattis is joining them. As Lowy Institute Michael Fullilove said: "The last adult is leaving the room".
The breaking point was Trump's decision, against Mattis's advice, to withdraw US troops from Syria.
The Pentagon chief's departure sparked an immediate nervous breakdown in Washington.
“This is scary,” Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Twitter, describing Mattis “an island of stability amidst the chaos of the Trump administration".
Mattis made clear in his resignation letter to Trump that he wasn't just leaving, he was quitting in protest.
After outlining his belief in alliances and opposition to authoritarianism, he wrote: "Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position."
Notably, he neither thanked Trump nor offered him any praise.
If you can't hear the alarm bells ringing, you'd better get your ears checked.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio said Mattis' resignation letter "makes it abundantly clear that we are headed towards a series of grave policy errors which will endanger our nation, damage our alliances and empower our adversaries".
Australian politicians and Defence leaders can only hope Trump appoints a Mattis-like figure, rather than a lackey, to replace him.
Mattis's departure coincided with tumbling stock markets and a federal government teetering on the edge of a shutdown. Just last last week one of Trump's closest former allies was sentenced to prison and others are on the way.
The year in US politics is not ending so much as imploding.
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