U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler

Veterans Day: Thanks but No Thanks by Tim Kelly

On veteran's day, let's remember the words of a real hero: USMC General Butler:

"Eighty years ago, U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, lamenting his career, said,

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might 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."

Butler expanded on his thoughts in “War Is A Racket,” a book describing how the U.S. military is often used, not to defend the country, but to advance the narrow interests of the political and financial elite. Although his book was concerned primarily with America’s entry into World War I, the general’s conclusions could be applied to all American wars of the past century"

Bill