Time: Thu Jul 03 20:03:14 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id UAA05808; Thu, 3 Jul 1997 20:02:44 -0700 (MST) by usr07.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id UAA29210; Thu, 3 Jul 1997 20:02:37 -0700 (MST) Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 20:00:53 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: War is a racket (fwd) >Major General Smedley Butler also has a book by the same name. It's quite >good. In fact, check out anything by this old hero. Butler was an amazing >character, and his books are well worth finding and reading. >Patty > >Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General >Smedley Butler, former Commandant USMC. > >Tom > >------- > >War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, >as something that is not what it seems to the majority of >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 masses. > >I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing >else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. >The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns >6% over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to >get 100%. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers >follow the flag. > >I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some >lousy investment of the bankers. 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. > >There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military >gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out >enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain >men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" >Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism. > >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. >In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. > >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, 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 benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. >I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of >Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name >before?). 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. > > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >---------------- >To subscribe or unsubscribe, email >majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: > subscribe ignition-point > or > unsubscribe ignition-point > http://ic.net/~celano/ip/ > >=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >Unsub info - send e-mail to majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com, with >"unsubscribe liberty-and-justice" in the body (not the subject) >Liberty-and-Justice list-owner is Mike Goldman <whig@pobox.com> > > ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.2 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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