War Is A Racket (By Major General Smedley Butler)

[Nikki Stone1]

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.html

CHAPTER ONE

War Is A Racket

WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.

In the World War a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains in their income tax returns. How many other war millionaires falsified their tax returns no one knows.

How many of these war millionaires shouldered a rifle? How many of them dug a trench? How many of them knew what it meant to go hungry in a rat-infested dug-out? How many of them spent sleepless, frightened nights, ducking shells and shrapnel and machine gun bullets? How many of them parried a bayonet thrust of an enemy? How many of them were wounded or killed in battle?

More at the link. Several chapters.

[Bigmack]

1. Don't forget Gen. Shoup....

`I believe that if we had and would keep our dirty, bloody, dollar soaked fingers out of the business of these (Third World) nations so full of depressed, exploited people, they will arrive at a solution of their own. And if unfortunately their revolution must be of the violent type because the `haves' refuse to share with the `have-nots' by any peaceful method, at least what they get will be their own, and not the American style, which they don’t want and above all don’t want crammed down their throats by Americans.' –
Gen. David Shoup, United States Marine Commandant Medal of Honor recipient.

I sent this in a "Reply All" to a rightwingnut email that came my way, and it caused a shitstorm. At least two of them said I was lying and wouldn't accept any
other explanation.

Gen Shoup was Commandant during the first part of my time in the Corps.

[timtom]

2. Hey! I went to Parris Island in June of 1962.

He was my first commandant, too.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. San Diego 1961. I never knew our Commandant was anti-war.

I woulda liked him a lot better if I had.

[timtom]

10. Yeah, me too.

Semper Fi.

[invictus]

8. +1

[leftstreet]

3. K&R

[democracy1st]

4. K & R

[chill_wind]

5. Should be required reading in every American 9th grade civics class.

K & R.

[Nikki Stone1]

11. Agreed

:kick:

[DCKit]

13. They still teach civics? Who knew? n/t

[Echo In Light]

6. So the idea that govts need to create such profitable conditions isn't so far off the "CT" mark

[invictus]

7. K&R

[Orwellian_Ghost]

12. K&R

I gave it a K&R and it went from 17 recs to 17 recs. Who would UNREC this?

This needs to be seen every month. More war coming from all quarters these days. No changes in the military budget it seems. Always money for war dogs.

[autorank]

14. The gold standard on war and peace. THANKS k*r n/t