American Major General, Smedley D.
Butler, wrote in 1933:
'War is just a racket. There are only
two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other
is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.
It may seem odd for me, a military
man, to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent
thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of
this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all
commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that
period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business,
for Wall Street and for the Bankers.
I suspected I was just part of a
racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military
profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental
faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of
higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.
I helped make Mexico safe for
American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for
the National City Bank boys. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central
American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua
for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought
light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China
I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years, I had, as the
boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel
that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to
operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.'
No comments:
Post a Comment