Tuesday’s dead-tree New York Times piece about new CentCom commander James Mattis:

Petraeus’s Successor Is Admired on Front Lines, but Known for Impolitic Words

WASHINGTON — To those who have served under him, Gen. James N. Mattis is the consummate Marine commander, a warrior who chooses to lead from the front lines and speaks bluntly rather than concerning himself with political correctness.

But General Mattis, President Obama’s choice to command American forces across the strategic crescent that encompasses Iraq and Afghanistan, has also been occasionally seen by his civilian superiors as too rough-edged at a time when military strategy is as much about winning the allegiance of local populations as it is about firepower.

Too rough-edged for the Times as well, which cites examples that are linguistically, well, politic.

“You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap around women for five years because they didn’t wear a veil,” General Mattis said during a forum in San Diego in 2005. “You know guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway, so it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.”

Okay, but you need to check out The Weekly Standard for the 90 proof stuff.

From last week’s Scrapbook:

♦ Advice to soldiers and Marines: “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”

♦ Speaking to tribal leaders in Iraq: “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.”

Now that’s impolitic.