Four-star Marine speaks tonight at Bend High

By Keisha Burns, KTVZ.COM

Our enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot win unless we falter politically, Marine four-star Gen. James Mattis told a packed audience at Redmond High School Wednesday night.

Mattis, a top commander involved in the war and with NATO, spoke and then answered questions about security challenges in Iraq, Afghanistan and other trouble spots around the world.

His visit also coincided with the start of Redmond High's Marine JROTC program, the first in the state.

"I was in the Marine Corps 27 years before I shook the hand of a four-star general, and here they (the cadets) are, second day in school, and already had the opportunity," retired Marine David Ferguson said.

Mattis played a key role in the April 2004 battle of Fallujah, negotiating with the insurgent command inside of the city. He says at that time, he remembered a young Marine asking his squad how bad Fallujah would be.

"But he basically said, 'Hush and get some sleep. We took Iwo Jima, we'll take Fallujah,'" Mattis recalled.

One rarely-noticed challenge is the language barrier soldiers, sailors and Marines face - not just their own, but among those they are fighting or protecting.

"They go overseas and they're working with people that very often couldn't speak the same language with each other, cultural sensitivity was not there and so sometimes people of good role on both sides could not connect," Mattis said.

Overall, Mattis said, while the situation in Iraq has improved enormously, Afghanistan requires more attention.

"Afghanistan the enemy has been able to regenerate safe havens they have been able to use, and he (the president) is going to have to send more troops there, clearly," the general said.

Mattis says the enemy cannot win unless we politically falter.

"They cannot beat us on the ground," he said. "The ferocity of our sailors, soldiers, Marines as they close in on the enemy, in close combat, the enemy cannot stand up to them - that's the bottom line."

Besides initiating authority at multiple levels, Mattis, a native of the Northwest also was key in helping Redmond High launch its new Junior ROTC program, which already has more than 80 students and a goal of 150.

Mattis speaks Thursday night at Bend High, at 7 p.m.; doors open at 6. The event is free, but organizers say donations at the door are appreciated.