{"id":21031,"date":"2019-12-13T16:49:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T16:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/12\/13\/mattis-says-iran-downing-a-us-aircraft-should-be-met-with-retaliation\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:15:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:15:47","slug":"mattis-says-iran-downing-a-us-aircraft-should-be-met-with-retaliation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/13\/mattis-says-iran-downing-a-us-aircraft-should-be-met-with-retaliation\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattis says Iran downing a US aircraft should be met with \u2018retaliation\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said Friday that Iran should be met with \u201csome sort of retaliation\u201d for taking a U.S. aircraft out of the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis did not elaborate what that retaliation would entail while responding to a question from the Washington Post\u2019s David Ignatius about whether America\u2019s policy of restraint was hurting efforts to deter Iranian aggression in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis visited the Washington Post Friday to discuss his new book \u201cCall Sign Chaos\u201d and current global events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran shot down a U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2019\/06\/20\/iran-revolutionary-guard-shoots-down-us-drone-amid-tensions\/\" target=_blank>RQ-4 Global Hawk<\/a> drone on June 20 over the Strait of Hormuz. In July, U.S. defense officials said Marines aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship operating an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/07\/18\/trump-says-american-warship-destroyed-iranian-drone\/\" target=_blank>electronic warfare jammer<\/a> downed an Iranian drone that threatened the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some analysts and national security experts criticized President Donald Trump for pulling back potential retaliatory strikes for the downing of the American drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump argued in a series of tweets that taking lives over an unmanned aircraft was not a proportionate response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOn Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters. We were cocked &amp; loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone,\u201d Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realDonaldTrump\/status\/1142055388965212161?s=20\" target=_blank>tweeted <\/a>June 21.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/12\/rockets-land-near-baghdad-airport-iran-backed-militias-approaching-a-red-line-us-official-says\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635628840070627897-mideast-iraq-islamicjpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Rockets land near Baghdad airport, Iran-backed militias approaching a red line US official says<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">\u201cIran should not mistake the United States\u2019 restraint for an unwillingness to respond with decisive military force should our forces or interests be attacked.&quot;<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis explained Friday that the decision to retaliate is not an easy choice to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOnce you enter into this, you\u2019re entering into a fundamental unpredictable phenomenon. It is war, or a war like act,&#8221; Mattis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the shoot down of a U.S drone in 2011, Mattis (then head of U.S. Central Command) wanted a strong, direct response to the Iranian military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI proposed to Washington that we launch another drone on the same track, position a few F-18 aircraft out of sight, and shoot down the Iranian aircraft if it attacked the drone,\u201d he wrote in his new book \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/09\/03\/in-new-book-mattis-takes-shots-at-the-president-but-not-that-one\/\" target=_blank>Call Sign Chaos<\/a>.\u201d \u201cThe White House refused to grant permission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis was ultimately relieved from that post in part because of his aggressive stance towards Iran, in contrast with Obama administration policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday pressed Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Army Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman, regarding fears that Iran may see America\u2019s restraint as a sign of weakness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There have been nearly 10 rocket attacks against U.S. installations and interests across Iraq over the last several weeks. A U.S. official told Military Times that several of those attacks were carried out by Iran-backed militias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And in September, U.S. officials blamed Iran for the attack on two Saudi Arabian oil fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIran should not mistake the United States\u2019 restraint for an unwillingness to respond with decisive military force should our forces or interests be attacked,&#8221; Esper told lawmakers Wednesday on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Milley told lawmakers that Iran should be \u201cvery very cautious\u201d with how it proceeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are in a period of heightened risk with respect to Iran,\u201d Milley said Wednesday. But the top American commander explained that \u201crestraint in this particular situation is an appropriate response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe ball is in the Iranian court,&#8221; Milley said. How they respond and the size and scope of that response will determine a U.S. answer, he explained to lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis said Friday that the U.S. is \u201cup against a revolutionary regime\u201d that\u2019s been killing it\u2019s own people in the streets. Iran erupted into violent protests several weeks ago following a spike in gas prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, told reporters Dec. 5, that more than 1,000 civilians may have been killed during the Iranian protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe know for certain it is many, many hundreds,\u201d Hook said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis told the Washington Post Friday that while he was the commander of CENTCOM, Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sent up a SU-25 Frogfoot to shoot down a U.S. drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Iranian fighter, Mattis said, made three runs on it trying to shoot it out of the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI didn\u2019t like that very much,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Iranian fighter missed the drone on each pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSays something about their accuracy that they missed all three times,\u201d Mattis joked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ten days later, Mattis explained, the U.S. put the drone up with two Navy F\/A-18s flying alongside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/11\/joint-chiefs-chairman-cautions-iran-to-be-very-cautious-following-recent-spate-of-attacks\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-1184012943.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Joint Chiefs chairman cautions Iran to be \u2018very cautious\u2019 following recent spate of attacks<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">&quot;We are in a period of heightened risk with respect to Iran,\u201d Gen. Mark Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman told lawmakers Wednesday on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Iranians decided not to come up and be brave that day,\u201d Mattis said. \u201cIt was a \u201cwise\u201d decision \u201cfor their pilot\u2019s retirement program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mattis served as the CENTCOM commander from 2010 to 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. has deployed nearly 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East over the last six months to respond to Iranian malign behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper says the DoD may send additional troops to the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Leo Shane III, the deputy editor and reporter covering Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times contributed to this story. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mattis said when he was the commander of CENTCOM an Iranian fighter made three attempts to shoot down a U.S. drone and missed each time. \u201cSays something about their accuracy that they missed all three times.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["flashpoints","news","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"4":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"6":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"7":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"}}},"categories":[100,8,23,93,25],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3351],"class_list":["post-21031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-middle-column","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GRIB4USR5NFX7I3Q6STPBTUJBQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2019\/12\/13\/mattis-says-iran-downing-a-us-aircraft-should-be-met-with-retaliation\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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