ARLINGTON: US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper holds a media briefing at the Pentagon. - AFP

WASHINGTON: New
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper picked his way through a political minefield in
his first public meeting with the media Wednesday, skirting anything that could
irritate his irascible boss President Donald Trump. Just hours after
predecessor James Mattis wrote that Trump's policies toward US allies are
damaging US security, the new Pentagon chief hewed the official line,
undoubtedly aware that the US leader studiously watches and assesses his
cabinet members' televised performances.

For most of two
years Mattis avoided appearing on camera, knowing that speaking his mind could
only worsen a tense White House relationship rooted in fundamental
disagreements over US defense policy. Mattis resigned late last year. Esper, a
close ally of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo -- now Trump's primary national
security advisor -- made clear he would not rock the boat, even given the
president's unorthodox policymaking and sharp turns in longstanding US defense
principles.

'All options on
the table'

He didn't blink
when asked about Trump's disturbing assertion that the US military could easily
settle the Afghanistan conflict. "We could win that war in a week if we
wanted to fight it, but I'm not looking to kill 10 million people," Trump
said last week, echoing similar comments he made previously and which led to
speculation that only nuclear weapons could quickly eliminate such a large
number.

"We reserve
the right to keep all options on the table," Esper said. "We're
hoping that we can reach some kind of conclusion that could result in a
political agreement" and bring peace to the country, he said. Esper also
smoothly took up Trump's apparent about-face toward Iran, whom he designated
the premier US enemy after taking office in January 2017. Trump said on Monday
he was willing to sit down and negotiate with Tehran's leaders, after an offer
to arrange a summit by French President Emmanuel Macron. "We hope that the
Iranians would agree to meet and talk and help us resolve these issues,"
Esper told reporters.

China is main US
rival

In laying out the
basis of his policies, he highlighted China as the foremost strategic rival to
the United States, while making only the slightest reference to Russia, which
Trump sees as a potential partner. He meanwhile highlighted the launch of the
Pentagon's US Space Command, a pet Trump project that Mattis opposed as
unnecessary. "The United States Space Command is the next crucial step towards
the creation of an independent space force as an additional armed
service," Esper said.

A classmate of
Pompeo's at the US Military Academy at West Point, Esper served in the military
for several years and then joined the defense industry, becoming an executive
of leading Pentagon supplier Raytheon. As Army Secretary under Mattis he was
closer to Pompeo and avoided the policy fights Mattis had with the White House.
Not Trump's first pick to lead the Pentagon, he nevertheless got the
president's blessing when he was sworn in on July 23. "There is no one
more qualified to lead the Department of Defense," the president said

Trump's shifting
policies

But his tenure
could be easier: Trump has already appeared to slightly back off the hardline
Iran policy that Mattis disagreed with, and likewise has moved to take
denuclearization talks with North Korea more slowly, as Mattis had reportedly
counseled. In addition, a policy Mattis resigned over -- pulling out of
Afghanistan -- is now well underway in negotiations with the Taliban, and Esper
could not likely reverse the process if he wanted.

Yet in a Wall
Street Journal opinion piece published Wednesday, Mattis highlighted perhaps
the foremost challenge his successor has in serving Trump. He assailed Trump for
shredding US alliances, days after the G7 summit showed the president out of
step with America's major partners. "An oft-spoken admonition in the
Marines is this: When you're going to a gunfight, bring all your friends with
guns," Mattis wrote in The Wall Street Journal, giving his first public
comments since quitting the Pentagon. "A leader must display strategic
acumen that incorporates respect for those nations that have stood with us when
trouble loomed," Mattis wrote. "Nations with allies thrive, and those without
them wither. Alone,
America cannot protect
our people and our economy."
- AFP