Meet General Mad Dog - he thinks war is 'a hell of a hoot' and 'some a**holes need to be shot'

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence pose for photographes with retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis. Photo / AP

Donald Trump said he will announce James 'Mad Dog' Mattis as his Secretary of Defense, the man who commanded a Marine division in the invasion of Iraq and who loves nothing more than being shot at.

It is a nickname he gained before the first Gulf War when he was a Marine Corps officer and, unsurprisingly, it stayed with him.

Known for his eccentric style and as a leader who liked to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his Marines, he has produced some dazzling quotes over the years proving he is worthy of his title.

He fought both in Iraq and Afghanistan before he commanded the Marines and British forces in Fallujah in 2004.

It is considered one of bloodiest and hard-fought battles of the Iraq war, but it wouldn't have been something to faze the Mad Dog, also known as The Warrior Monk, partly because he is not married and has no children.

His take on warfare is brutally straightforward, and is reported as saying: "The first time you blow someone away is not an insignificant event.

"That said, there are some a**holes in the world that just need to be shot."

He enlisted in the Corps in 1969, was commissioned three years later, and went on to serve in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

In Afghanistan he served first as a colonel before promotion to brigadier-general, to lead the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

He clearly enjoyed the face-to-face battle, and would need it when he commanded the 1st Marine Division for the invasion of Iraq.

He was back in command the next year when the Marines became engaged in a brutal and bloody street-by-street battle to restore order to Fallujah, a largely Sunni city which had become the heartland for insurgents and the scene of the murder of four U.S. contractors who were killed then had their bodies beaten, burned, dragged through the streets and hung from a bridge.

The murder prompted two successive efforts to pacify the city, with Mattis in charge of a mainly Marine force, along with Army and Navy units and a British detachment of special forces and infantry.

The six-week long second battle - Operation Phantom Fury - was the single most intensive engagement in Iraq, and saw tanks, artillery, massive airpower and Marine and Army infantry engaged in a building-by-building battle to end the insurgency.

The close combat pushed Mattis' buttons, and he said: "There is nothing better than getting shot at and missed. It's really great."

Trump has compared Mattis to George Patton, the US Army general who commanded the troops in Europe during the Second World War and was also well-known for his straight-talking and inspirational speeches.

At the rally last night where Mattis' appointment was confirmed, the President-elect told supporters: ''They say he's the closest thing to General George Patton that we have and it's about time."

In Iraq, Mattis led by example and was a studious Marine.

As well as gaining the respect of his comrades, his inquisitiveness earned him another nickname - Warrior Monk.

An avid reader with more than 6,000 books in his personal library, war became not only his work but his passion, and is understood to be able to quote Ulysses S Grant, George Patton, Shakespeare and the Bible at the drop of a hat.

Another reported tale is that he carried a book into battle with full of quotes from Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius - the Meditations, written when the emperor was himself in combat in 180AD.

The well-read former Marine may have used his literature as inspiration for his own stirring quotes.

Almost as if written for Liam Neeson in the film Taken, he is reported as saying: 'I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery.

"But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f*** with me, I'll kill you all."

Mad Dog is not all macho bravado.

Then-Marine Gen. James Mattis, commander, U.S. Central Command, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo / AP

One of his nuggets of wisdom to his troops is, "Engage your brain before you engage your weapon", and insisting, "The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears."

He also allegedly said, "Marines don't know how to spell the word defeat."

His view on US forces adhering to US values is that Marines "may not be perfect guys", but "we're the good guys" and advised his comrades to be polite and civil to everyone they meet, but to prepare to kill them.

This occasionally meant going behind enemy lines to make friends with the devil.

"Sometimes there are no good guys. There are no bad guys.

"It seems like everybody is in the middle. I'll tell you, I've slept peaceably among murderers who were on our side."

He was criticized in 2005 when he declared it was "fun to shoot some people" and fighting was "a hell of a hoot".

"Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot," he said in San Diego 11 years ago, while speaking on a panel about the Taliban.

"It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. I like brawling."

His call-sign in combat as he led forces in Iraq was 'chaos' - prompting the Marine Corps Times to write of his retirement two years ago after nearly 44 years service: "Chaos out."

His counterpart in the UK Sir Michael Fallon has sung his praises.

The British Defence Secretary said: "I congratulate General James Mattis on his nomination and wish him well with the confirmation process.

"He has a deep understanding of our shared military culture as well as experience of serving alongside British forces. The US is and will remain our closest partner on security and defense.

"I look forward to continuing our close cooperation to fight terrorism, deter aggression, and collaborate on innovative technologies to ensure the security of our nations."

President-elect Trump's nomination, however, will need to win approval in Congress with a waiver from rules which bar retired military officers from becoming defense secretary within seven years of leaving active duty.

Mattis may already have changed Trump's position, on what are known as enhanced interrogation techniques but also seen as torture, particularly waterboarding.

Mattis told Trump when asked about the banned practice which simulates drowning: "I've always found, give me a pack of cigarettes and a couple of beers and I do better with that than I do with torture."

In response, the President-elect said: "I'm not saying it changed my mind.

"Look, we have people that are chopping off heads and drowning people in steel cages, and we're not allowed to waterboard.

"But I'll tell you what, I was impressed by that answer."

Trump has been vocal about his desire to destroy ISIS, but under 'Mad Dog' the approach may be slightly more pragmatic than expected.

Talking of the future of the US armed forces, he said: "We must avoid being dominant and irrelevant at the same time," according to the Scientific American.

"Dominant in our chosen forms of war and irrelevant to the security of this country.

"So you've got to be able to adapt in the Darwinian sense. And we will continue to adapt.

"Wherever the enemy wants to fight, we will follow him to the ends of the Earth.

"We'll adapt, we'll train, we'll advise, we'll mentor and we'll fight, and we'll fight well."