[.....Trump said, according to a Bloomberg News journalist, who reported a quote relayed by a colleague in the room.]
These “anonymous sources” reportings remind me of this scene from Ferris Bueller....
If it is true, who cares? Mattis essentially outed himself as a war-for-life government progressive with his temper tantrum of a resignation letter. There is NOTHING to “win” for us in Syria. Absolutely nothing. Both sides hate us. Let them kill each other. As for Afghanistan? It’s still a feudal mess. There’s nothing that us being there can accomplish that it didn’t already in the 18 (yes, eighteen) years we’ve already been there.
I remember learning this lesson in Kindergarten when the whole class was setting in a circle and the teacher whispered a word into one kids ear and it was whispered around the circle and was no where near what it started out to be when the 4th or 5th person relayed it.
Journalists today use this technique for hot tips.