Now Trump wants alliances to be protection rackets. The Mattis resignation in protest last year reflected disgust among officers trying to defend the U.S. That’s only gotten worse.

By James Kitfield @ DailyBeast.com, March 10

In light of the reported Trump plan to make America’s longtime allies pay what amounts to protection money, this is an important moment to revisit the resignation in protest last December of Defense Secretary James Mattis. It was a milestone in modern U.S. history that put in bold relief an avalanche of criticism from top national security officials, all with a common theme: the commander in chief is unfit.

The Letter: 

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was deep into a dark day of the soul that he had long seen coming when, on December 19, 2018, he received a call on his private phone. Mattis checked the identification, recognized a friend and answered the call. 

“Jim, say it isn’t so,” said William Cohen, himself a former Defense Secretary, and before that a Republican Senator from Maine. “It’s true Bill,” Mattis told him, confirming the shocking news that President Donald Trump had just fired off Tweets prematurely claiming victory in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and ordering the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Syria [....]